Sigma rule: ScreenConnect User Database Modification - Security

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-1845305c4114, updated 2024-02-20T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
ScreenConnect User Database Modification - Security
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
Matt Anderson, Kris Luzadre, Andrew Schwartz, Huntress
Date
2024-02-20
File
rules-emerging-threats/2024/Exploits/CVE-2024-1709/win_security_exploit_cve_2024_1709_user_database_modification_screenconnect.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

This detects file modifications to the temporary xml user database file indicating local user modification in the ScreenConnect server.
This will occur during exploitation of the ScreenConnect Authentication Bypass vulnerability (CVE-2024-1709) in versions <23.9.8, but may also be observed when making legitimate modifications to local users or permissions.
This requires an Advanced Auditing policy to log a successful Windows Event ID 4663 events and with a SACL set on the directory.

Log source

product
windows
service
security
definition
Requirements: SACLs must be enabled for the ScreenConnect directory

Detection

selection:
    EventID: 4663
    ObjectType: 'File'
    AccessMask: '0x6'
    ObjectName|endswith: '.xml'
    ObjectName|contains|all:
        - 'Temp'
        - 'ScreenConnect'
    ProcessName|contains: 'ScreenConnect.Service.exe'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • This will occur legitimately as well and will result in some benign activity.

Tags

  • cve.2024-1709
  • detection.emerging-threats
  • attack.defense-impairment

CVEs 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-emerging-threats/2024/Exploits/CVE-2024-1709/win_security_exploit_cve_2024_1709_user_database_modification_screenconnect.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "ScreenConnect User Database Modification - Security" by Matt Anderson, Kris Luzadre, Andrew Schwartz, Huntress (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules-emerging-threats/2024/Exploits/CVE-2024-1709/win_security_exploit_cve_2024_1709_user_database_modification_screenconnect.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: ScreenConnect User Database Modification - Security",
entity page, dataset version ref-1845305c4114, updated 2024-02-20T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/4109cb6a-a4af-438a-9f0c-056abba41c6f (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 4109cb6a-a4af-438a-9f0c-056abba41c6f, 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.