Detect Modify Registry in Elastic Security
Adversaries may interact with the Windows Registry to aid in defense evasion, persistence, and execution. The Registry may be modified to hide configuration information or malicious payloads, disable security controls (e.g., enabling WDigest plaintext credential caching, disabling Windows Defender, enabling Office macros), establish persistence via run keys or services, and store C2 configuration data. Common tools include the built-in reg.exe utility, PowerShell registry cmdlets (Set-ItemProperty, New-Item), and direct Win32 API calls (RegSetValueEx, RegCreateKeyEx). Adversaries may also target remote registries over SMB using valid accounts, or employ null-byte prefix tricks to create pseudo-hidden keys invisible to standard utilities.
MITRE ATT&CK
- Tactic
- Defense Evasion Persistence
- Technique
- T1112 Modify Registry
- Canonical reference
- https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1112/
Elastic Detection Query
sequence by host.name, process.entity_id with maxspan=5m
[registry where event.type in ("creation", "change") and
(
registry.path : (
"*\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Run*",
"*\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\RunOnce*",
"*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Run*",
"*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\RunOnce*",
"*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Winlogon*",
"*\\SYSTEM\\CurrentControlSet\\Services\\*",
"*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Image File Execution Options*",
"*\\SYSTEM\\CurrentControlSet\\Control\\Lsa*",
"*\\SOFTWARE\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Windows Defender*",
"*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows Defender*",
"*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\System*",
"*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Office*",
"*\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Internet Settings\\ZoneMap*"
)
) and
process.name : (
"powershell.exe", "pwsh.exe", "cmd.exe", "wscript.exe", "cscript.exe",
"mshta.exe", "rundll32.exe", "regsvr32.exe", "msbuild.exe", "wmic.exe",
"certutil.exe", "bitsadmin.exe", "installutil.exe", "reg.exe"
)
]
// Alternate single-event query for broader coverage:
// registry where event.type in ("creation", "change") and
// registry.path : ("*CurrentVersion\\Run*", "*Winlogon*", "*Lsa*", "*Windows Defender*", "*Image File Execution Options*", "*Policies\\System*", "*\\Services\\*", "*\\Office\\*", "*ZoneMap*")Detects suspicious Windows Registry modifications targeting persistence keys (Run/RunOnce, Winlogon, Services, IFEO) and defense evasion keys (LSA WDigest, Windows Defender disable, Office macro enable, UAC bypass) initiated by commonly abused processes such as PowerShell, cmd.exe, reg.exe, and LOLBins.
Data Sources
Required Tables
False Positives & Tuning
- Software installers and updaters legitimately write to Run keys and service registry paths during installation or updates.
- Group Policy processing (gpupdate) and system management tools may modify Windows Defender and security policy registry keys as part of authorized configuration management.
- Administrative scripts and configuration management tools (Ansible, Chef, Puppet) may use PowerShell or cmd.exe to write registry values during infrastructure provisioning.
Other platforms for T1112
Testing Methodology
Validate this detection against 4 adversary techniques from Atomic Red Team. Each test below lists the behaviour to exercise and the telemetry you should expect to see. Executable commands and cleanup steps are available with Pro.
- Test 1Add Persistence via Run Key using reg.exe
Expected signal: Sysmon Event ID 13 (RegistryEvent - Value Set): TargetObject=HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\df00tech_test, Details=C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /c echo persistence_test, Image=C:\Windows\System32\reg.exe. Sysmon Event ID 1 (Process Create): Image=reg.exe with CommandLine showing add and Run key path. Security Event ID 4657 if SACL auditing is configured on the Run key.
- Test 2Enable WDigest Plaintext Credential Caching
Expected signal: Sysmon Event ID 13: TargetObject=HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa\UseLogonCredential, Details=DWORD (0x00000001), Image=C:\Windows\System32\reg.exe. Security Event ID 4657 (if SACL configured on LSA key): OldValue=0 or empty, NewValue=1. Process creation event for reg.exe with the full command line visible.
- Test 3Disable Windows Defender via Registry
Expected signal: Sysmon Event ID 13: TargetObject=HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\DisableAntiSpyware, Details=DWORD (0x00000001). If Tamper Protection is active: Windows Defender Event ID 5001 (Real-time protection disabled) or Event ID 5013 (Tamper protection blocked change) in Microsoft-Windows-Windows Defender/Operational log. Process creation: reg.exe with DisableAntiSpyware in command line.
- Test 4IFEO Debugger Injection for Sticky Keys Backdoor
Expected signal: Sysmon Event ID 13: TargetObject=HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\sethc.exe\Debugger, Details=C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe, Image=reg.exe. Sysmon Event ID 1 for reg.exe with full command line. If the backdoor is triggered: Sysmon Event ID 1 showing sethc.exe spawning cmd.exe from the winlogon.exe parent context.
References (12)
- https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1112/
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/reghide
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/regdelnull
- https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc732643.aspx
- https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc754820.aspx
- https://docs.microsoft.com/windows/security/threat-protection/auditing/event-4657
- https://posts.specterops.io/hiding-registry-keys-with-psreflect-b18ec5ac8353
- https://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs-security-intelligence/poweliks-malware-hides-in-windows-registry/
- https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/new-babyshark-malware-targets-u-s-national-security-think-tanks/
- https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/master/atomics/T1112/T1112.md
- https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/tree/master/rules/windows/registry
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/defender-endpoint/advanced-hunting-deviceregistryevents-table
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