Detection: Windows Impair Defense Disable Win Defender Report Infection

Description

The following analytic detects modifications to the Windows registry that disable Windows Defender's infection reporting. It leverages data from the Endpoint.Registry datamodel, specifically monitoring changes to the "DontReportInfectionInformation" registry key. This activity is significant because it can prevent Windows Defender from reporting detailed threat information to Microsoft, potentially allowing malware to evade detection. If confirmed malicious, this action could enable attackers to bypass security measures, maintain persistence, and avoid detection, leading to prolonged unauthorized access and potential data breaches.

1
2| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime FROM datamodel=Endpoint.Registry where Registry.registry_path= "*\\Microsoft\\MRT\\DontReportInfectionInformation" Registry.registry_value_data="0x00000001" by Registry.registry_key_name Registry.user Registry.registry_path Registry.registry_value_data Registry.action Registry.dest 
3| `drop_dm_object_name(Registry)` 
4| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` 
5| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
6| `windows_impair_defense_disable_win_defender_report_infection_filter`

Data Source

Name Platform Sourcetype Source Supported App
Sysmon EventID 12 Windows icon Windows 'xmlwineventlog' 'XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational' N/A

Macros Used

Name Value
security_content_ctime convert timeformat="%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S" ctime($field$)
windows_impair_defense_disable_win_defender_report_infection_filter search *
windows_impair_defense_disable_win_defender_report_infection_filter is an empty macro by default. It allows the user to filter out any results (false positives) without editing the SPL.

Annotations

- MITRE ATT&CK
+ Kill Chain Phases
+ NIST
+ CIS
- Threat Actors
ID Technique Tactic
T1562.001 Disable or Modify Tools Defense Evasion
T1562 Impair Defenses Defense Evasion
KillChainPhase.EXPLOITAITON
NistCategory.DE_CM
Cis18Value.CIS_10
Aquatic Panda
BRONZE BUTLER
Ember Bear
FIN6
Gamaredon Group
Gorgon Group
Indrik Spider
Kimsuky
Lazarus Group
Magic Hound
MuddyWater
Putter Panda
Rocke
TA2541
TA505
TeamTNT
Turla
Wizard Spider
Magic Hound

Default Configuration

This detection is configured by default in Splunk Enterprise Security to run with the following settings:

Setting Value
Disabled true
Cron Schedule 0 * * * *
Earliest Time -70m@m
Latest Time -10m@m
Schedule Window auto
Creates Notable Yes
Rule Title %name%
Rule Description %description%
Notable Event Fields user, dest
Creates Risk Event True
This configuration file applies to all detections of type TTP. These detections will use Risk Based Alerting and generate Notable Events.

Implementation

To successfully implement this search you need to be ingesting information on process that include the name of the process responsible for the changes from your endpoints into the Endpoint datamodel in the Registry node.

Known False Positives

It is unusual to turn this feature off a Windows system since it is a default security control, although it is not rare for some policies to disable it. Although no false positives have been identified, use the provided filter macro to tune the search.

Associated Analytic Story

Risk Based Analytics (RBA)

Risk Message Risk Score Impact Confidence
Windows Defender DontReportInfectionInformation registry is enabled on $dest$. 49 70 70
The Risk Score is calculated by the following formula: Risk Score = (Impact * Confidence/100). Initial Confidence and Impact is set by the analytic author.

References

Detection Testing

Test Type Status Dataset Source Sourcetype
Validation Passing N/A N/A N/A
Unit Passing Dataset XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational xmlwineventlog
Integration ✅ Passing Dataset XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational xmlwineventlog

Replay any dataset to Splunk Enterprise by using our replay.py tool or the UI. Alternatively you can replay a dataset into a Splunk Attack Range


Source: GitHub | Version: 2