Windows Defender Disabled via Registry Modification

Last updated 4 months ago on 2025-03-20
Created 5 years ago on 2020-12-23

About

Identifies modifications to the Windows Defender registry settings to disable the service or set the service to be started manually.
Tags
Domain: EndpointOS: WindowsUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: Defense EvasionData Source: Elastic EndgameData Source: Elastic DefendData Source: SysmonData Source: Microsoft Defender for EndpointLanguage: eql
Severity
low
Risk Score
21
MITRE ATT&CK™

Defense Evasion (TA0005)(opens in a new tab or window)

License
Elastic License v2(opens in a new tab or window)

Definition

Rule Type
Event Correlation Rule
Integration Pack
Prebuilt Security Detection Rules
Index Patterns
logs-endpoint.events.registry-*endgame-*logs-windows.sysmon_operational-*winlogbeat-*logs-m365_defender.event-*
Related Integrations

endpoint(opens in a new tab or window)

windows(opens in a new tab or window)

m365_defender(opens in a new tab or window)

Query
registry where host.os.type == "windows" and event.type == "change" and
  (
    (
      registry.path: (
        "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Windows Defender\\DisableAntiSpyware",
        "\\REGISTRY\\MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Windows Defender\\DisableAntiSpyware"
      ) and
      registry.data.strings: ("1", "0x00000001")
   ) or
   (
      registry.path: (
        "HKLM\\System\\*ControlSet*\\Services\\WinDefend\\Start",
        "\\REGISTRY\\MACHINE\\System\\*ControlSet*\\Services\\WinDefend\\Start"
      ) and
      registry.data.strings in ("3", "4", "0x00000003", "0x00000004")
   )
  ) and

  not
    (
      process.executable : (
          "?:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\services.exe",
          "?:\\Windows\\System32\\svchost.exe",
          "?:\\Program Files (x86)\\Trend Micro\\Security Agent\\NTRmv.exe"
      ) and user.id : "S-1-5-18"
    )

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Windows Defender Disabled via Registry Modification in the Elastic Security detection engine by installing this rule into your Elastic Stack.

To setup this rule, check out the installation guide for Prebuilt Security Detection Rules(opens in a new tab or window).