Sigma rule: Modify Group Policy Settings

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-99e61d25d487, updated 2022-08-19T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Modify Group Policy Settings
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
frack113
Date
2022-08-19
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_reg_modify_group_policy_settings.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detect malicious GPO modifications can be used to implement many other malicious behaviors.

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection_reg:
    - Image|endswith: '\reg.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: 'reg.exe'
selection_path:
    CommandLine|contains: '\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System'
selection_key:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - GroupPolicyRefreshTimeDC
        - GroupPolicyRefreshTimeOffsetDC
        - GroupPolicyRefreshTime
        - GroupPolicyRefreshTimeOffset
        - EnableSmartScreen
        - ShellSmartScreenLevel
condition: all of selection_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Legitimate use

Tags

  • attack.privilege-escalation
  • attack.defense-impairment
  • attack.t1484.001

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/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_reg_modify_group_policy_settings.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Modify Group Policy Settings" by frack113 (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_reg_modify_group_policy_settings.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: Modify Group Policy Settings",
entity page, dataset version ref-99e61d25d487, updated 2022-08-19T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/ada4b0c4-758b-46ac-9033-9004613a150d (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule ada4b0c4-758b-46ac-9033-9004613a150d, 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.