Elastic Security Detection Rules

Modification of WDigest Security Provider

Last updated 13 days ago on 2026-04-29
Created 5 years ago on 2021-01-19

About

Identifies attempts to modify the WDigest security provider in the registry to force the user's password to be stored in clear text in memory. Windows 8.1+ and Server 2012 R2+ disable WDigest plaintext credential caching by default, but setting UseLogonCredential to 1 re-enables it, causing LSASS to retain cleartext passwords for subsequent interactive logons. Adversaries abuse this to prepare for credential dumping from LSASS memory.
Tags
Domain: EndpointOS: WindowsUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: Credential AccessData Source: Elastic EndgameData Source: Elastic DefendData Source: SysmonData Source: Microsoft Defender XDRLanguage: eql
Severity
high
Risk Score
73
MITRE ATT&CK™

Credential Access (TA0006)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

↳ OS Credential Dumping (T1003)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

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

↳ Modify Registry (T1112)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

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

Definition

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

endpoint(external, opens in a new tab or window)

windows(external, opens in a new tab or window)

m365_defender(external, opens in a new tab or window)

Query
text code block:
registry where host.os.type == "windows" and event.type in ("creation", "change") and
    registry.value : "UseLogonCredential" and
    registry.path : "*\\SYSTEM\\*ControlSet*\\Control\\SecurityProviders\\WDigest\\UseLogonCredential" and
    registry.data.strings : ("1", "0x00000001") and
    not (process.executable : "?:\\Windows\\System32\\svchost.exe" and user.id : "S-1-5-18")

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Modification of WDigest Security Provider 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(external, opens in a new tab or window).