Sigma rule: Hypervisor-protected Code Integrity (HVCI) Related Registry Tampering Via CommandLine

Rule

Title

Hypervisor-protected Code Integrity (HVCI) Related Registry Tampering Via CommandLine

Status

experimental

Level

high

Author

Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems)

Date

2026-01-26

File

rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_hvci_registry_tampering.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects the tampering of Hypervisor-protected Code Integrity (HVCI) related registry values via command line tool reg.exe.
HVCI uses virtualization-based security to protect code integrity by ensuring that only trusted code can run in kernel mode.
Adversaries may tamper with HVCI to load malicious or unsigned drivers, which can be used to escalate privileges, maintain persistence, or evade security mechanisms.

Log source

product

windows

category

process_creation

Detection

selection_img:
    - Image|endswith:
          - '\powershell.exe'
          - '\pwsh.exe'
          - '\reg.exe'
    - OriginalFileName:
          - 'PowerShell.EXE'
          - 'pwsh.dll'
          - 'reg.exe'
selection_cli:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - 'add '
        - 'New-ItemProperty '
        - 'Set-ItemProperty '
        - 'si '  # SetItem Alias
selection_cli_base:
    CommandLine|contains: '\DeviceGuard'
selection_cli_key:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - 'EnableVirtualizationBasedSecurity'
        - 'HypervisorEnforcedCodeIntegrity'
condition: all of selection_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Legitimate system administration tasks that require disabling HVCI for troubleshooting purposes when certain drivers or applications are incompatible with it.

Tags

• attack.defense-impairment
• attack.t1685

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1685

Related rules

• 8b7273a4-ba5d-4d8a-b04f-11f2900d043a (similar)

References

• https://www.sophos.com/en-us/blog/sharpening-the-knife-gold-blades-strategic-evolution
• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/hardware-security/enable-virtualization-based-protection-of-code-integrity

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_hvci_registry_tampering.yml