Sigma rule: UAC Secure Desktop Prompt Disabled

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-5d75053b2ebe, updated 2024-05-10T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
UAC Secure Desktop Prompt Disabled
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
frack113
Date
2024-05-10
File
rules/windows/registry/registry_set/registry_set_uac_disable_secure_desktop_prompt.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects when an attacker tries to change User Account Control (UAC) elevation request destination via the "PromptOnSecureDesktop" value.
The "PromptOnSecureDesktop" setting specifically determines whether UAC prompts are displayed on the secure desktop. The secure desktop is a separate desktop environment that's isolated from other processes running on the system. It's designed to prevent malicious software from intercepting or tampering with UAC prompts.
When "PromptOnSecureDesktop" is set to 0, UAC prompts are displayed on the user's current desktop instead of the secure desktop. This reduces the level of security because it potentially exposes the prompts to manipulation by malicious software.

Log source

product
windows
category
registry_set

Detection

selection:
    TargetObject|contains: '\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\PromptOnSecureDesktop'
    Details: 'DWORD (0x00000000)'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.privilege-escalation
  • attack.t1548.002

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

Related rules

References

Read on 2026-11-03T00:58:21.399Z under licence sigma-drl-1.1@d5f4c36a from https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/registry/registry_set/registry_set_uac_disable_secure_desktop_prompt.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "UAC Secure Desktop Prompt Disabled" by frack113 (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/registry/registry_set/registry_set_uac_disable_secure_desktop_prompt.yml.
    Licensed under the Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/Detection-Rule-License

    Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1

Cite this page

Dragons Eye Ransomware Tracker, "Sigma rule: UAC Secure Desktop Prompt Disabled",
entity page, dataset version ref-5d75053b2ebe, updated 2024-05-10T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/0d7ceeef-3539-4392-8953-3dc664912714 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 0d7ceeef-3539-4392-8953-3dc664912714, commit ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84.

Pages change. The dataset version identifies the data, but no archive of old versions is kept, so this citation cannot be replayed later.