Sigma rule: New TimeProviders Registered With Uncommon DLL Name

Rule

Title

New TimeProviders Registered With Uncommon DLL Name

Status

test

Level

high

Author

frack113

Date

2022-06-19

Modified

2024-03-26

File

rules/windows/registry/registry_set/registry_set_timeproviders_dllname.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects processes setting a new DLL in DllName in under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\TimeProvider.
Adversaries may abuse time providers to execute DLLs when the system boots.
The Windows Time service (W32Time) enables time synchronization across and within domains.

Log source

product

windows

category

registry_set

Detection

selection:
    TargetObject|contains: '\Services\W32Time\TimeProviders'
    TargetObject|endswith: '\DllName'
filter_main_w32time:
    Details:
        - '%SystemRoot%\System32\vmictimeprovider.dll'
        - '%systemroot%\system32\w32time.dll'
        - 'C:\Windows\SYSTEM32\w32time.DLL'
condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Unknown

Tags

• attack.persistence
• attack.privilege-escalation
• attack.t1547.003

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1547.003

References

• https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/f339e7da7d05f6057fdfcdd3742bfcf365fee2a9/atomics/T1547.003/T1547.003.md

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/registry/registry_set/registry_set_timeproviders_dllname.yml