Detection rules › Splunk

Windows Outlook LoadMacroProviderOnBoot Persistence

Author
Raven Tait, Splunk
Source
upstream

The following analytic detects the modification of the Windows Registry key "LoadMacroProviderOnBoot" under Outlook. This enables automatic loading of macros, which could allow malicious scripts to run without notice. This detection leverages data from the Endpoint.Registry datamodel to search for this key being enabled. This activity is significant as it is commonly associated with some malware infections, indicating potential malicious intent to harvest email information.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

TacticTechniques
PersistenceT1112 Modify Registry, T1137 Office Application Startup
Defense EvasionT1112 Modify Registry

Event coverage

ProviderEvent IDTitle
Sysmon13RegistryEvent (Value Set)

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: tstats

tstats WHERE Registry.registry_path="*\\Outlook\\*" Registry.registry_value_data="0x00000001" Registry.registry_value_name="LoadMacroProviderOnBoot" 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
  • "*\\Outlook\\*"
Registry.registry_value_dataeq
  • "0x00000001" corpus 42 (splunk 42)
Registry.registry_value_nameeq
  • "LoadMacroProviderOnBoot"