Sigma rule: Sysmon Configuration Error

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-6562fce6b4d9, updated 2026-07-23T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title: Sysmon Configuration Error
Status: test
Level: high
Author: frack113
Date: 2021-06-04
Modified: 2026-07-23
File: rules/windows/sysmon/sysmon_config_modification_error.yml
Commit: ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects when an adversary is trying to hide it's action from Sysmon logging based on error messages

Log source

product: windows
category: sysmon_error

Detection

selection_error:
    Description|contains:
        - 'Failed to open service configuration with error'
        - 'Failed to connect to the driver to update configuration'
filter_generic_english:
    Description|contains|all:
        - 'Failed to open service configuration with error'
        - 'Last error: The media is write protected.'
filter_generic_french:
    Description|contains|all:
        - 'Failed to open service configuration with error'
        - 'Last error: Média protégé en écriture.'
filter_by_errorcode:
    Description|contains:
        - 'Failed to open service configuration with error 19'
        - 'Failed to open service configuration with error 93'
condition: selection_error and not 1 of filter*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

Legitimate administrative action

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

T1564

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/windows/sysmon/sysmon_config_modification_error.yml

Sources and licences

SigmaHQ
"Sysmon Configuration Error" by frack113 (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/sysmon/sysmon_config_modification_error.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: Sysmon Configuration Error",
entity page, dataset version ref-6562fce6b4d9, updated 2026-07-23T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/815cd91b-7dbc-4247-841a-d7dd1392b0a8 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 815cd91b-7dbc-4247-841a-d7dd1392b0a8, 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.