Detect Active Setup in Splunk
Adversaries may achieve persistence by adding a Registry key to the Active Setup of the local machine. Active Setup is a Windows mechanism that is used to execute programs when a user logs in. The value stored in the Registry key will be executed after a user logs into the computer. These programs will be executed under the context of the user and will have the account's associated permissions level. Adversaries may abuse Active Setup by creating a key under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\ and setting a malicious value for StubPath. This value will serve as the program that will be executed when a user logs into the computer. Adversaries can abuse these components to execute malware, such as remote access tools, to maintain persistence through system reboots.
MITRE ATT&CK
- Tactic
- Persistence Privilege Escalation
- Technique
- T1547 Boot or Logon Autostart Execution
- Sub-technique
- T1547.014 Active Setup
- Canonical reference
- https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1547/014/
SPL Detection Query
index=wineventlog sourcetype="XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational" EventCode=13
TargetObject="HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Active Setup\\Installed Components\\*"
| eval is_stubpath=if(match(TargetObject, "StubPath$"), 1, 0)
| eval guid=replace(TargetObject, ".*Installed Components\\\\(\{[^}]+\}).*", "\1")
| eval suspicious_stub=if(match(lower(Details), "(cmd\.exe|powershell|mshta|rundll32|regsvr32|wscript|cscript|certutil|\.bat|\.vbs|\.js|\.hta|http://|https://)"), 1, 0)
| eval known_guid=if(match(guid, "(89820200-ECBD|22d6f312-b0f6|2C7339CF-2B09|44BBA840-CC51|6BF52A52-394A|89B4C1CD-B018)"), 1, 0)
| where is_stubpath=1 OR known_guid=0
| table _time, host, User, Image, TargetObject, Details, guid, is_stubpath, suspicious_stub, known_guid
| sort - _timeDetects Active Setup persistence using Sysmon Event ID 13 (Registry Value Set) monitoring of HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components. Extracts the GUID from the registry path and evaluates StubPath values for suspicious patterns including LOLBins, scripting engines, and URL references. Known legitimate GUIDs are flagged but not excluded, while any StubPath modification triggers the alert. The suspicious_stub field helps analysts prioritize entries with known-malicious command patterns.
Data Sources
Required Sourcetypes
False Positives & Tuning
- Software installations using Active Setup for per-user first-run configuration (Office, Visual Studio, .NET)
- Windows component updates modifying Active Setup version numbers to trigger per-user re-configuration
- GPO-deployed applications using Active Setup for per-user installation on shared workstations
- Endpoint security products registering Active Setup entries for per-user agent configuration
Other platforms for T1547.014
Testing Methodology
Validate this detection against 3 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 1Active Setup StubPath Persistence with Custom GUID
Expected signal: Sysmon Event ID 12: Registry Key Created for the GUID subkey. Sysmon Event ID 13: Registry Value Set for StubPath, ComponentID, and Version values. Security Event ID 4688: Process creation for reg.exe with the full command line.
- Test 2Active Setup with Suspicious LOLBin StubPath
Expected signal: Sysmon Event ID 13: Registry Value Set with Details containing 'cmd.exe /c'. On next user logon: Sysmon Event ID 1 for cmd.exe spawned by userinit.exe/explorer.exe. Sysmon Event ID 11 for file creation in %TEMP%.
- Test 3Active Setup via PowerShell Registry Manipulation
Expected signal: Sysmon Event ID 1: Process Create for powershell.exe with the registry manipulation command. Sysmon Event ID 12: Registry Key Created. Sysmon Event ID 13: Registry Value Set for StubPath and Version. PowerShell ScriptBlock Log Event ID 4104 with the full script.
References (8)
- https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1547/014/
- https://helgeklein.com/blog/2010/04/active-setup-explained/
- https://digital-forensics.sans.org/summit-archives/2010/35-glyer-apt-persistence-mechanisms.pdf
- https://citizenlab.ca/2015/12/packrat-report/
- https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/unit42-tropic-trooper-targets-taiwanese-government-and-fossil-fuel-provider-with-poison-ivy/
- https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902
- https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/master/atomics/T1547.014/T1547.014.md
- https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/tree/master/rules/windows/registry/registry_set
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