Detection rules › Splunk

Windows Autostart Execution LSASS Driver Registry Modification

Author
Michael Haag, Splunk
Source
upstream

The following analytic detects modifications to undocumented registry keys that allow a DLL to load into lsass.exe, potentially capturing credentials. It leverages the Endpoint.Registry data model to identify changes to \CurrentControlSet\Services\NTDS\DirectoryServiceExtPt or \CurrentControlSet\Services\NTDS\LsaDbExtPt. This activity is significant as it indicates a possible attempt to inject malicious code into the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS), which can lead to credential theft. If confirmed malicious, this could allow attackers to gain unauthorized access to sensitive information and escalate privileges within the environment.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

TacticTechniques
PersistenceT1547.008 Boot or Logon Autostart Execution: LSASS Driver
Privilege EscalationT1547.008 Boot or Logon Autostart Execution: LSASS Driver

Event coverage

ProviderEvent IDTitle
Sysmon13RegistryEvent (Value Set)

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: tstats

tstats WHERE Registry.registry_path IN ("*\\CurrentControlSet\\Services\\NTDS\\DirectoryServiceExtPt", "*\\CurrentControlSet\\Services\\NTDS\\LsaDbExtPt") BY Registry.action, Registry.dest, Registry.process_guid, Registry.process_id, Registry.registry_hive, Registry.registry_path, Registry.registry_key_name, Registry.registry_value_data, Registry.registry_value_name, Registry.registry_value_type, Registry.status, Registry.user, Registry.vendor_product

Stage 2: search

search

Stage 3: search

search

Stage 4: search

search

Stage 5: search

search `macro`

Indicators

Each row is a field, operator, and value that the rule matches. The corpus column counts how many other rules in the catalog look for the same combination: high numbers point to widely-used, community-vetted indicators. Blank or 1 shows that the indicator is specific to this rule.

FieldKindValues
Registry.registry_pathin
  • "*\\CurrentControlSet\\Services\\NTDS\\DirectoryServiceExtPt"
  • "*\\CurrentControlSet\\Services\\NTDS\\LsaDbExtPt"