Sigma rule: Microsoft Office Trusted Location Updated

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-8213e5b6d0eb, updated 2023-08-17T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Microsoft Office Trusted Location Updated
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Date
2023-06-21
Modified
2023-08-17
File
rules-threat-hunting/windows/registry/registry_set/registry_set_office_trusted_location.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects changes to the registry keys related to "Trusted Location" of Microsoft Office. Attackers might add additional trusted locations to avoid macro security restrictions.

Log source

product
windows
category
registry_set

Detection

selection:
    TargetObject|contains: 'Security\Trusted Locations\Location'
    TargetObject|endswith: '\Path'
filter_main_office_click_to_run:
    Image|contains: ':\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ClickToRun\'
    Image|endswith: '\OfficeClickToRun.exe'
filter_main_office_apps:
    Image|contains:
        - ':\Program Files\Microsoft Office\'
        - ':\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\'
condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • During office installations or setup, trusted locations are added, which will trigger this rule.

Tags

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

MITRE ATT&CK ids 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-threat-hunting/windows/registry/registry_set/registry_set_office_trusted_location.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Microsoft Office Trusted Location Updated" by Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules-threat-hunting/windows/registry/registry_set/registry_set_office_trusted_location.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: Microsoft Office Trusted Location Updated",
entity page, dataset version ref-8213e5b6d0eb, updated 2023-08-17T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/a0bed973-45fa-4625-adb5-6ecdf9be70ac (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule a0bed973-45fa-4625-adb5-6ecdf9be70ac, 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.