Detection rules › Splunk
Windows Modify Registry AuthenticationLevelOverride
The following analytic detects modifications to the Windows registry key "AuthenticationLevelOverride" within the Terminal Server Client settings. It leverages data from the Endpoint.Registry datamodel to identify changes where the registry value is set to 0x00000000. This activity is significant as it may indicate an attempt to override authentication levels for remote connections, a tactic used by DarkGate malware for malicious installations. If confirmed malicious, this could allow attackers to gain unauthorized remote access, potentially leading to data exfiltration or further system compromise.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Persistence | T1112 Modify Registry |
| Defense Evasion | T1112 Modify Registry |
Event coverage
| Provider | Event ID | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Sysmon | 13 | RegistryEvent (Value Set) |
Stages and Predicates
Stage 1: tstats
tstats WHERE Registry.registry_path="*\\Terminal Server Client\\AuthenticationLevelOverride" Registry.registry_value_data=0x00000000 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
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Stage 3: search
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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.
| Field | Kind | Values |
|---|---|---|
Registry.registry_path | eq |
|
Registry.registry_value_data | eq |
|