Sigma rule: Access To .Reg/.Hive Files By Uncommon Applications

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-3244ee3f3bcc, updated 2024-07-29T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Access To .Reg/.Hive Files By Uncommon Applications
Status
test
Level
low
Author
frack113
Date
2023-09-15
Modified
2024-07-29
File
rules-threat-hunting/windows/file/file_access/file_access_win_susp_reg_and_hive.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects file access requests to files ending with either the ".hive"/".reg" extension, usually associated with Windows Registry backups.

Log source

product
windows
category
file_access
definition
Requirements: Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-File ETW provider

Detection

selection:
    FileName|endswith:
        - '.hive'
        - '.reg'
filter_main_generic:
    Image|startswith:
        - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\'
        - 'C:\Program Files\'
        - 'C:\Windows\System32\'
        - 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\'
condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Third party software installed in the user context might generate a lot of FPs. Heavy baselining and tuning might be required.

Tags

  • attack.defense-impairment
  • attack.t1112
  • attack.persistence
  • detection.threat-hunting

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

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-threat-hunting/windows/file/file_access/file_access_win_susp_reg_and_hive.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Access To .Reg/.Hive Files By Uncommon Applications" by frack113 (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules-threat-hunting/windows/file/file_access/file_access_win_susp_reg_and_hive.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: Access To .Reg/.Hive Files By Uncommon Applications",
entity page, dataset version ref-3244ee3f3bcc, updated 2024-07-29T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/337a31c6-46c4-46be-886a-260d7aa78cac (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 337a31c6-46c4-46be-886a-260d7aa78cac, 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.