Detection: Windows Default Rdp File Deletion

Updated Date: 2025-07-30 ID: 30a334c1-f9a5-4fbd-8958-5b65a8435cb2 Author: Teoderick Contreras, Splunk Type: Anomaly Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

This detection identifies the deletion of the Default.rdp file from a user’s Documents folder. This file is automatically created or updated by the Remote Desktop Connection client (mstsc.exe) whenever a user initiates an RDP session. It contains session configuration data, such as the remote hostname and display settings. While the presence of this file is normal during legitimate RDP usage, its deletion may indicate an attempt to conceal evidence of remote access activity. Threat actors and red team operators often remove Default.rdp as part of post-access cleanup to evade forensic detection. Detecting this action—especially when correlated with recent RDP activity—can help identify defense evasion techniques and uncover potentially malicious use of remote desktop connections. Monitoring for this file's deletion adds an important layer of visibility into user behavior and can serve as an early indicator of interactive attacker presence.

Search

1`sysmon` EventCode IN ("23", "26") TargetFilename = "*\\default.rdp" 
2| stats count min(_time) as firstTime, max(_time) as lastTime by action dest dvc file_path file_hash file_name file_modify_time process_exec process_guid process_id process_name process_path signature signature_id user user_id vendor_product 
3| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` 
4| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
5| `windows_default_rdp_file_deletion_filter`

Data Source

Name	Platform	Sourcetype	Source
Sysmon EventID 23	Windows	`'XmlWinEventLog'`	`'XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational'`
Sysmon EventID 26	Windows	`'XmlWinEventLog'`	`'XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational'`

Macros Used

Name	Value
security_content_ctime	`convert timeformat="%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S" ctime($field$)`
windows_default_rdp_file_deletion_filter	`search *`

windows_default_rdp_file_deletion_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
T1070.004	File Deletion	Defense Evasion

Exploitation

DE.AE

CIS 10

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 Risk Event	True

This configuration file applies to all detections of type anomaly. These detections will use Risk Based Alerting.

Implementation

To successfully implement this search, you need to ingest logs that include the deleted target file name, process name, and process ID from your endpoints. If you are using Sysmon, ensure you have at least version 2.0 of the Sysmon TA installed.

Known False Positives

unknown

Associated Analytic Story

Windows RDP Artifacts and Defense Evasion

Risk Based Analytics (RBA)

Risk Message:

a file related to rdp connection named as default.rdp has been deleted on $dest$.

Risk Object	Risk Object Type	Risk Score	Threat Objects
dest	system	40	No Threat Objects

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: 1