Detection rules › Splunk

Windows Disable LogOff Button Through Registry

Author
Teoderick Contreras, Splunk, Steven Dick
Source
upstream

The following analytic detects a suspicious registry modification that disables the logoff feature on a Windows host. It leverages data from the Endpoint.Registry data model to identify changes to specific registry values associated with logoff functionality. This activity is significant because it can indicate ransomware attempting to make the compromised host unusable and hinder remediation efforts. If confirmed malicious, this action could prevent users from logging off, complicate incident response, and allow attackers to maintain persistence and control over the affected system.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

TacticTechniques
PersistenceT1112 Modify Registry
Defense EvasionT1112 Modify Registry

Event coverage

ProviderEvent IDTitle
Sysmon13RegistryEvent (Value Set)

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: tstats

tstats WHERE Registry.registry_path="*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\Explorer\\*" Registry.registry_value_data="0x00000001" Registry.registry_value_name IN ("NoLogOff", "StartMenuLogOff") 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: where

where isnotnull(registry_value_data)

Stage 4: search

search

Stage 5: search

search

Stage 6: 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_patheq
  • "*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\Explorer\\*" corpus 3 (splunk 3)
Registry.registry_value_dataeq
  • "0x00000001" corpus 42 (splunk 42)
Registry.registry_value_namein
  • "NoLogOff"
  • "StartMenuLogOff"