Adversaries may interact with the Windows Registry to hide configuration information within Registry keys, remove information as part of cleaning up, or as part of other techniques to aid in persistence and execution.
Access to specific areas of the Registry depends on account permissions, some requiring administrator-level access. The built-in Windows command-line utility Reg may be used for local or remote Registry modification. (Citation: Microsoft Reg) Other tools may also be used, such as a remote access tool, which may contain functionality to interact with the Registry through the Windows API.
Registry modifications may also include actions to hide keys, such as prepending key names with a null character, which will cause an error and/or be ignored when read via Reg or other utilities using the Win32 API. (Citation: Microsoft Reghide NOV 2006) Adversaries may abuse these pseudo-hidden keys to conceal payloads/commands used to maintain persistence. (Citation: TrendMicro POWELIKS AUG 2014) (Citation: SpectorOps Hiding Reg Jul 2017)
The Registry of a remote system may be modified to aid in execution of files as part of lateral movement. It requires the remote Registry service to be running on the target system. (Citation: Microsoft Remote) Often Valid Accounts are required, along with access to the remote system's SMB/Windows Admin Shares for RPC communication.
View in MITRE ATT&CK®| Capability ID | Capability Description | Mapping Type | ATT&CK ID | ATT&CK Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AC-6 | Least Privilege | Protects | T1112 | Modify Registry | |
| CM-7 | Least Functionality | Protects | T1112 | Modify Registry | |
| alerts_for_windows_machines | Alerts for Windows Machines | technique_scores | T1112 | Modify Registry |
Comments
This control may detect several methods used to modify the registry for purposes of persistence, privilege elevation, and execution. The following alerts may be generated: "Detected change to a registry key that can be abused to bypass UAC", "Detected enabling of the WDigest UseLogonCredential registry key", "Detected suppression of legal notice displayed to users at logon", "Suspicious WindowPosition registry value detected", "Windows registry persistence method detected".
References
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| sql_vulnerability_assessment | SQL Vulnerability Assessment | technique_scores | T1112 | Modify Registry |
Comments
This control may scan for any stored procedures that can access the Registry and checks that permission to execute those stored procedures have been revoked from all users (other than dbo).
References
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