Sigma rule: Audit Policy Tampering Via NT Resource Kit Auditpol

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-3c098e9433e0, updated 2023-02-21T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Audit Policy Tampering Via NT Resource Kit Auditpol
Status
test
Level
high
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Date
2021-12-18
Modified
2023-02-21
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_auditpol_nt_resource_kit_usage.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Threat actors can use an older version of the auditpol binary available inside the NT resource kit to change audit policy configuration to impair detection capability.
This can be carried out by selectively disabling/removing certain audit policies as well as restoring a custom policy owned by the threat actor.

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - '/logon:none'
        - '/system:none'
        - '/sam:none'
        - '/privilege:none'
        - '/object:none'
        - '/process:none'
        - '/policy:none'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • The old auditpol utility isn't available by default on recent versions of Windows as it was replaced by a newer version. The FP rate should be very low except for tools that use a similar flag structure

Tags

  • attack.defense-impairment
  • attack.t1685.001

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_auditpol_nt_resource_kit_usage.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Audit Policy Tampering Via NT Resource Kit Auditpol" by Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_auditpol_nt_resource_kit_usage.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: Audit Policy Tampering Via NT Resource Kit Auditpol",
entity page, dataset version ref-3c098e9433e0, updated 2023-02-21T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/c6c56ada-612b-42d1-9a29-adad3c5c2c1e (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule c6c56ada-612b-42d1-9a29-adad3c5c2c1e, 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.