RDP Enabled via Registry

Last updated 2 months ago on 2025-03-20
Created 4 years ago on 2020-11-25

About

Identifies registry write modifications to enable Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) access. This could be indicative of adversary lateral movement preparation.
Tags
Domain: EndpointOS: WindowsUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: Lateral MovementTactic: Defense EvasionData Source: Elastic EndgameData Source: Elastic DefendData Source: SysmonData Source: Microsoft Defender for EndpointData Source: SentinelOneLanguage: eql
Severity
medium
Risk Score
47
MITRE ATT&CK™

Lateral Movement (TA0008)(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-*winlogbeat-*logs-windows.sysmon_operational-*endgame-*logs-m365_defender.event-*logs-sentinel_one_cloud_funnel.*
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)

sentinel_one_cloud_funnel(opens in a new tab or window)

Query
registry where host.os.type == "windows" and event.type == "change" and
  registry.path : (
    "HKLM\\SYSTEM\\*ControlSet*\\Control\\Terminal Server\\fDenyTSConnections",
    "\\REGISTRY\\MACHINE\\SYSTEM\\*ControlSet*\\Control\\Terminal Server\\fDenyTSConnections",
    "MACHINE\\*ControlSet*\\Control\\Terminal Server\\fDenyTSConnections"
  ) and
  registry.data.strings : ("0", "0x00000000") and
  not process.executable : ("?:\\Windows\\System32\\SystemPropertiesRemote.exe", 
                            "?:\\Windows\\System32\\SystemPropertiesComputerName.exe", 
                            "?:\\Windows\\System32\\SystemPropertiesAdvanced.exe", 
                            "?:\\Windows\\System32\\SystemSettingsAdminFlows.exe", 
                            "?:\\Windows\\WinSxS\\*\\TiWorker.exe", 
                            "?:\\Windows\\system32\\svchost.exe")

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect RDP Enabled via Registry 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).