Sigma rule: Disable Windows Defender Functionalities Via Registry Keys

Rule

Title

Disable Windows Defender Functionalities Via Registry Keys

Status

test

Level

high

Author

AlertIQ, Ján Trenčanský, frack113, Nasreddine Bencherchali, Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel

Date

2022-08-01

Modified

2024-10-07

File

rules/windows/registry/registry_set/registry_set_windows_defender_tamper.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects when attackers or tools disable Windows Defender functionalities via the Windows registry

Log source

product

windows

category

registry_set

Detection

selection_main:
    TargetObject|contains:
        - '\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Defender\'
        - '\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender Security Center\'
        - '\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\'
selection_dword_1:
    TargetObject|endswith:
        - '\DisableAntiSpyware'
        - '\DisableAntiVirus'
        - '\DisableBehaviorMonitoring'
        - '\DisableBlockAtFirstSeen'
        - '\DisableEnhancedNotifications'
        - '\DisableIntrusionPreventionSystem'
        - '\DisableIOAVProtection'
        - '\DisableOnAccessProtection'
        - '\DisableRealtimeMonitoring'
        - '\DisableScanOnRealtimeEnable'
        - '\DisableScriptScanning'
    Details: 'DWORD (0x00000001)'
selection_dword_0:
    TargetObject|endswith:
        - '\DisallowExploitProtectionOverride'
        - '\Features\TamperProtection'
        - '\MpEngine\MpEnablePus'
        - '\PUAProtection'
        - '\Signature Update\ForceUpdateFromMU'
        - '\SpyNet\SpynetReporting'
        - '\SpyNet\SubmitSamplesConsent'
        - '\Windows Defender Exploit Guard\Controlled Folder Access\EnableControlledFolderAccess'
    Details: 'DWORD (0x00000000)'
filter_optional_symantec:
    Image|startswith: 'C:\Program Files\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection\'
    Image|endswith: '\sepWscSvc64.exe'
condition: selection_main and 1 of selection_dword_* and not 1 of filter_optional_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Administrator actions via the Windows Defender interface
• Third party Antivirus

Tags

• attack.defense-impairment
• attack.t1685

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1685

Related rules

• a64e4198-c1c8-46a5-bc9c-324c86455fd4 (obsolete)
• fd115e64-97c7-491f-951c-fc8da7e042fa (obsolete)

References

• https://thedfirreport.com/2021/10/18/icedid-to-xinglocker-ransomware-in-24-hours/
• https://gist.github.com/anadr/7465a9fde63d41341136949f14c21105
• https://admx.help/?Category=Windows_7_2008R2&Policy=Microsoft.Policies.WindowsDefender::SpyNetReporting
• https://symantec-enterprise-blogs.security.com/blogs/threat-intelligence/ransomware-hive-conti-avoslocker
• https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/32236-enable-disable-microsoft-defender-pua-protection-windows-10-a.html
• https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/105533-enable-disable-windows-defender-exploit-protection-settings.html
• https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/123792-turn-off-tamper-protection-microsoft-defender-antivirus.html
• https://securelist.com/key-group-ransomware-samples-and-telegram-schemes/114025/

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_windows_defender_tamper.yml