Uncommon Registry Persistence Change

Last updated 3 months ago on 2025-03-20
Created 5 years ago on 2020-11-18

About

Detects changes to registry persistence keys that are not commonly used or modified by legitimate programs. This could be an indication of an adversary's attempt to persist in a stealthy manner.
Tags
Domain: EndpointOS: WindowsUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: PersistenceData Source: Elastic DefendData Source: SysmonLanguage: eql
Severity
medium
Risk Score
47
MITRE ATT&CK™

Persistence (TA0003)(opens in a new tab or window)

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-*logs-windows.sysmon_operational-*winlogbeat-*
Related Integrations

endpoint(opens in a new tab or window)

windows(opens in a new tab or window)

Query
registry where host.os.type == "windows" and event.type == "change" and
 length(registry.data.strings) > 0 and
 registry.path : (
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Terminal Server\\Install\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Run\\*",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Terminal Server\\Install\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Runonce\\*",
      "HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Windows\\Load",
      "HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Windows\\Run",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Windows\\IconServiceLib",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Winlogon\\Shell",
      "HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Winlogon\\Shell",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Winlogon\\AppSetup",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Winlogon\\Taskman",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Winlogon\\Userinit",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Winlogon\\VmApplet",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\Explorer\\Run\\*",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\System\\Shell",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Windows\\System\\Scripts\\Logoff\\Script",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Windows\\System\\Scripts\\Logon\\Script",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Windows\\System\\Scripts\\Shutdown\\Script",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Windows\\System\\Scripts\\Startup\\Script",
      "HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\Explorer\\Run\\*",
      "HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\System\\Shell",
      "HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Windows\\System\\Scripts\\Logoff\\Script",
      "HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Windows\\System\\Scripts\\Logon\\Script",
      "HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Windows\\System\\Scripts\\Shutdown\\Script",
      "HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Windows\\System\\Scripts\\Startup\\Script",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Active Setup\\Installed Components\\*\\ShellComponent",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows CE Services\\AutoStartOnConnect\\MicrosoftActiveSync",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows CE Services\\AutoStartOnDisconnect\\MicrosoftActiveSync",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Ctf\\LangBarAddin\\*\\FilePath",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Internet Explorer\\Extensions\\*\\Exec",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Internet Explorer\\Extensions\\*\\Script",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Command Processor\\Autorun",
      "HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Ctf\\LangBarAddin\\*\\FilePath",
      "HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Internet Explorer\\Extensions\\*\\Exec",
      "HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Internet Explorer\\Extensions\\*\\Script",
      "HKEY_USERS\\*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Command Processor\\Autorun",
      "HKEY_USERS\\*\\Control Panel\\Desktop\\scrnsave.exe",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Image File Execution Options\\*\\VerifierDlls",
      "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Winlogon\\GpExtensions\\*\\DllName",
      "HKLM\\SYSTEM\\ControlSet*\\Control\\SafeBoot\\AlternateShell",
      "HKLM\\SYSTEM\\ControlSet*\\Control\\Terminal Server\\Wds\\rdpwd\\StartupPrograms",
      "HKLM\\SYSTEM\\ControlSet*\\Control\\Terminal Server\\WinStations\\RDP-Tcp\\InitialProgram",
      "HKLM\\SYSTEM\\ControlSet*\\Control\\Session Manager\\BootExecute",
      "HKLM\\SYSTEM\\ControlSet*\\Control\\Session Manager\\BootExecuteNoPnpSync",
      "HKLM\\SYSTEM\\ControlSet*\\Control\\Session Manager\\SetupExecute",
      "HKLM\\SYSTEM\\ControlSet*\\Control\\Session Manager\\SetupExecuteNoPnpSync",
      "HKLM\\SYSTEM\\ControlSet*\\Control\\Session Manager\\PlatformExecute",
      "HKLM\\SYSTEM\\ControlSet*\\Control\\Session Manager\\Execute",
      "HKLM\\SYSTEM\\ControlSet*\\Control\\Session Manager\\S0InitialCommand",
      "HKLM\\SYSTEM\\ControlSet*\\Control\\ServiceControlManagerExtension",
      "HKLM\\SYSTEM\\ControlSet*\\Control\\BootVerificationProgram\\ImagePath",
      "HKLM\\SYSTEM\\Setup\\CmdLine",
      "HKEY_USERS\\*\\Environment\\UserInitMprLogonScript") and

 not registry.data.strings : ("C:\\Windows\\system32\\userinit.exe", "cmd.exe", "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\*.exe",
                              "C:\\Program Files\\*.exe") and
 not (process.name : "rundll32.exe" and registry.path : "*\\Software\\Microsoft\\Internet Explorer\\Extensions\\*\\Script") and
 not process.executable : ("C:\\Windows\\System32\\msiexec.exe",
                           "C:\\Windows\\SysWOW64\\msiexec.exe",
                           "C:\\ProgramData\\Microsoft\\Windows Defender\\Platform\\*\\MsMpEng.exe",
                           "C:\\Program Files\\*.exe",
                           "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\*.exe") and
 not (process.name : ("TiWorker.exe", "poqexec.exe") and registry.value : "SetupExecute" and
      registry.data.strings : (
        "C:\\windows\\System32\\poqexec.exe /display_progress \\SystemRoot\\WinSxS\\pending.xml",
        "C:\\Windows\\System32\\poqexec.exe /skip_critical_poq /display_progress \\SystemRoot\\WinSxS\\pending.xml"
      )
     ) and
 not (process.name : "svchost.exe" and registry.value : "SCRNSAVE.EXE" and
      registry.data.strings : (
        "%windir%\\system32\\rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation",
        "scrnsave.scr",
        "%windir%\\system32\\Ribbons.scr"
      )
     )

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Uncommon Registry Persistence Change 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).