Sigma rule: Suspicious Windows Defender Folder Exclusion Added Via Reg.EXE

Rule

Title

Suspicious Windows Defender Folder Exclusion Added Via Reg.EXE

Status

test

Level

medium

Author

frack113

Date

2022-02-13

Modified

2023-02-04

File

rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_reg_defender_exclusion.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects the usage of "reg.exe" to add Defender folder exclusions. Qbot has been seen using this technique to add exclusions for folders within AppData and ProgramData.

Log source

product

windows

category

process_creation

Detection

selection:
    Image|endswith: '\reg.exe'
    CommandLine|contains:
        - 'SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Exclusions\Paths'
        - 'SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft Antimalware\Exclusions\Paths'
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - 'ADD '
        - '/t '
        - 'REG_DWORD '
        - '/v '
        - '/d '
        - '0'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Legitimate use

Tags

• attack.defense-impairment
• attack.t1685

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1685

References

• https://thedfirreport.com/2022/02/07/qbot-likes-to-move-it-move-it/
• https://redcanary.com/threat-detection-report/threats/qbot/

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/process_creation/proc_creation_win_reg_defender_exclusion.yml