Sigma rule: Potential Registry Reconnaissance Via PowerShell Script

Rule

Title

Potential Registry Reconnaissance Via PowerShell Script

Status

test

Level

medium

Author

frack113

Date

2023-07-02

File

rules-threat-hunting/windows/powershell/powershell_script/posh_ps_registry_reconnaissance.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects PowerShell scripts with potential registry reconnaissance capabilities. Adversaries may interact with the Windows registry to gather information about the system credentials, configuration, and installed software.

Log source

product

windows

category

ps_script

definition

Requirements: Script Block Logging must be enabled

Detection

selection:
    # TODO: switch to |re|i: after sigma specification v2 is released
    ScriptBlockText|re: '(Get-Item|gci|Get-ChildItem).{1,64}-Path.{1,64}\\(currentcontrolset\\services|CurrentVersion\\Policies\\Explorer\\Run|CurrentVersion\\Run|CurrentVersion\\ShellServiceObjectDelayLoad|CurrentVersion\\Windows\winlogon)\\'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Due to the nature of the script block, the matching of the string could sometimes result in a false positive. Use this rule to hunt for potential malicious or suspicious scripts.

Tags

• attack.discovery
• attack.t1012
• attack.t1007
• detection.threat-hunting

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1007
• T1012

Related rules

• 970007b7-ce32-49d0-a4a4-fbef016950bd (similar)

References

• https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/f339e7da7d05f6057fdfcdd3742bfcf365fee2a9/atomics/T1012/T1012.md

Read on 2026-11-03T00:58:21.399Z under licence sigma-drl-1.1@d5f4c36a from https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules-threat-hunting/windows/powershell/powershell_script/posh_ps_registry_reconnaissance.yml