Detection rules › Sigma
Direct Autorun Keys Modification
Detects direct modification of autostart extensibility point (ASEP) in registry using reg.exe.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Persistence | T1547.001 Boot or Logon Autostart Execution: Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder |
| Privilege Escalation | T1547.001 Boot or Logon Autostart Execution: Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder |
Event coverage
| Provider | Event | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Sysmon | Event ID 1 | Process creation |
Rule body yaml
title: Direct Autorun Keys Modification
id: 24357373-078f-44ed-9ac4-6d334a668a11
status: test
description: Detects direct modification of autostart extensibility point (ASEP) in registry using reg.exe.
references:
- https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/f339e7da7d05f6057fdfcdd3742bfcf365fee2a9/atomics/T1547.001/T1547.001.md
- https://github.com/HackTricks-wiki/hacktricks/blob/e4c7b21b8f36c97c35b7c622732b38a189ce18f7/src/windows-hardening/windows-local-privilege-escalation/privilege-escalation-with-autorun-binaries.md
author: Victor Sergeev, Daniil Yugoslavskiy, oscd.community, Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems)
date: 2019-10-25
modified: 2026-01-05
tags:
- attack.privilege-escalation
- attack.persistence
- attack.t1547.001
logsource:
category: process_creation
product: windows
detection:
selection_img:
- Image|endswith: '\reg.exe'
- OriginalFileName: 'reg.exe'
selection_cli_add:
CommandLine|contains: 'add' # to avoid intersection with discovery tactic rules
selection_cli_keys:
CommandLine|contains: # need to improve this list, there are plenty of ASEP reg keys
- '\software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run' # Also covers the strings "RunOnce", "RunOnceEx", "RunServices", "RunServicesOnce"
- '\software\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run'
- '\software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\Run'
- '\software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Userinit'
- '\software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Shell'
- '\software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows'
- '\system\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot\AlternateShell'
condition: all of selection_*
falsepositives:
- Legitimate software automatically (mostly, during installation) sets up autorun keys for legitimate reasons.
- Legitimate administrator sets up autorun keys for legitimate reasons.
- Discord
level: medium
Stages and Predicates
Stage 0: condition
all of selection_*Stage 1: selection_img
selection_img:
- Image|endswith: '\reg.exe'
- OriginalFileName: 'reg.exe'
Stage 2: selection_cli_add
selection_cli_add:
CommandLine|contains: 'add'
Stage 3: selection_cli_keys
selection_cli_keys:
CommandLine|contains:
- '\software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run'
- '\software\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run'
- '\software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\Run'
- '\software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Userinit'
- '\software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Shell'
- '\software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows'
- '\system\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot\AlternateShell'
Indicators
Each row is a field, operator, and value that the rule matches. The corpus column counts how many other rules in the catalog look for the same combination: high numbers point to widely-used, community-vetted indicators. Blank or 1 shows that the indicator is specific to this rule.
| Field | Kind | Values |
|---|---|---|
CommandLine | match |
|
Image | ends_with |
|
OriginalFileName | eq |
|