Detection rules › Splunk

Windows Impair Defense Define Win Defender Threat Action

Author
Teoderick Contreras, Splunk
Source
upstream

The following analytic detects modifications to the Windows Defender ThreatSeverityDefaultAction registry setting. It leverages data from the Endpoint.Registry datamodel to identify changes in registry values that define how Windows Defender responds to threats. This activity is significant because altering these settings can impair the system's defense mechanisms, potentially allowing threats to go unaddressed. If confirmed malicious, this could enable attackers to bypass antivirus protections, leading to persistent threats and increased risk of data compromise or further system exploitation.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

TacticTechniques
Defense EvasionT1562.001 Impair Defenses: Disable or Modify Tools

Event coverage

ProviderEvent IDTitle
Sysmon13RegistryEvent (Value Set)

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: tstats

tstats WHERE Registry.registry_path="*\\Windows Defender\\Threats\\ThreatSeverityDefaultAction*" Registry.registry_value_data IN ("0x00000001", "9") 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_patheq
  • "*\\Windows Defender\\Threats\\ThreatSeverityDefaultAction*"
Registry.registry_value_datain
  • "0x00000001"
  • "9"