Detection rules › Splunk

Windows Modify Registry Disabling WER Settings

Author
Teoderick Contreras, Splunk
Source
upstream

The following analytic detects modifications in the Windows registry to disable Windows Error Reporting (WER) settings. It leverages data from the Endpoint.Registry datamodel, specifically monitoring changes to registry paths related to WER with a value set to "0x00000001". This activity is significant as adversaries may disable WER to suppress error notifications, hiding the presence of malicious activities. If confirmed malicious, this could allow attackers to operate undetected, potentially leading to prolonged persistence and further exploitation within the environment.

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\\Windows Error Reporting\\disable*" Registry.registry_value_data="0x00000001" 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
  • "*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\Windows Error Reporting\\disable*"
Registry.registry_value_dataeq
  • "0x00000001" corpus 42 (splunk 42)