Sigma rule: Windows Defender Disabled Via SystemSettingsAdminFlows.EXE

Rule

Title

Windows Defender Disabled Via SystemSettingsAdminFlows.EXE

Status

experimental

Level

high

Author

Chirag Damani (KPMG India), Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems)

Date

2026-07-01

File

rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_systemsettingsadminflows_defender_disable.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects the usage of SystemSettingsAdminFlows.exe to disable Windows Defender.
SystemSettingsAdminFlows.exe is a legitimate Windows component used for administrative configuration tasks.
However, attackers may abuse it to disable Windows Defender as part of their attack chain, especially in the context of ransomware or other malware campaigns.

Log source

product

windows

category

process_creation

Detection

selection_ssaf_img:
    - Image|endswith: '\SystemSettingsAdminFlows.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: 'SystemSettingsAdminFlows.EXE'
selection_ssaf_cli:
    CommandLine|contains: 'defender'
selection_cli_enable_opt:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - 'RTP '
        - 'RealTimeProtection '
        - 'DisableEnhancedNotifications '
selection_cli_enable_value:
    CommandLine|contains: '1'
selection_cli_disable_opt:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - 'SubmitSamplesConsent '
        - 'SpyNetReporting '
        - 'DisableCDPUserAuthPolicy '
selection_cli_disable_value:
    CommandLine|contains: '0'
# In Enterprise environments, if defender was disabled via GUI, it would be expected to see the following parent-child process relationship:
# Thus, uncomment the below filter to exclude such cases because of high false positives:
# filter_main_gui_options:
#     ParentImage|endswith:
#         - '\SystemSettings.exe'
#         - '\Explorer.exe'
condition: all of selection_ssaf_* and (all of selection_cli_enable_* or all of selection_cli_disable_*)

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Legitimate turn off of Windows Defender by the technical users or administrators for troubleshooting or other purposes.

Tags

• attack.defense-impairment
• attack.t1685

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1685

References

• https://thedfirreport.com/2026/02/23/apache-activemq-exploit-leads-to-lockbit-ransomware/
• https://www.huntress.com/blog/lolbin-to-inc-ransomware

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_systemsettingsadminflows_defender_disable.yml