Windows Event Auditing Disabled

Status: test
Severity: low
Log source: product windows, service security
Author: @neu5ron, Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Source: github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma

Detects scenarios where system auditing (i.e.: Windows event log auditing) is disabled. This may be used in a scenario where an entity would want to bypass local logging to evade detection when Windows event logging is enabled and reviewed. Also, it is recommended to turn off "Local Group Policy Object Processing" via GPO, which will make sure that Active Directory GPOs take precedence over local/edited computer policies via something such as "gpedit.msc". Please note, that disabling "Local Group Policy Object Processing" may cause an issue in scenarios of one off specific GPO modifications - however, it is recommended to perform these modifications in Active Directory anyways.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Defense Impairment	`T1685.001` Disable or Modify Tools: Disable or Modify Windows Event Log

Event coverage

Provider	Event	Title
Security-Auditing	Event ID 4719	System audit policy was changed.

Rule body yaml

title: Windows Event Auditing Disabled
id: 69aeb277-f15f-4d2d-b32a-55e883609563
related:
    - id: ab4561b1-6c7e-48a7-ad08-087cfb9ce8f1
      type: derived
status: test
description: |
    Detects scenarios where system auditing (i.e.: Windows event log auditing) is disabled.
    This may be used in a scenario where an entity would want to bypass local logging to evade detection when Windows event logging is enabled and reviewed.
    Also, it is recommended to turn off "Local Group Policy Object Processing" via GPO, which will make sure that Active Directory GPOs take precedence over local/edited computer policies via something such as "gpedit.msc".
    Please note, that disabling "Local Group Policy Object Processing" may cause an issue in scenarios of one off specific GPO modifications - however, it is recommended to perform these modifications in Active Directory anyways.
references:
    - https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1dkrldTTlN3La-OjWtkWJBb4hVk6vfsSMBFBERs6R8zA/edit
author: '@neu5ron, Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)'
date: 2017-11-19
modified: 2023-11-15
tags:
    - attack.defense-impairment
    - attack.t1685.001
logsource:
    product: windows
    service: security
    definition: dfd8c0f4-e6ad-4e07-b91b-f2fca0ddef64
detection:
    selection:
        EventID: 4719
        AuditPolicyChanges|contains:
            - '%%8448' # This is "Success removed"
            - '%%8450' # This is "Failure removed"
    filter_main_guid:
        # Note: We filter these GUID to avoid alert duplication as these are covered by ab4561b1-6c7e-48a7-ad08-087cfb9ce8f1
        SubcategoryGuid:
            - '{0CCE9210-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}' # Audit Security State Change
            - '{0CCE9211-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}' # Audit Security System Extension
            - '{0CCE9212-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}' # Audit System Integrity
            - '{0CCE9215-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}' # Audit Logon
            - '{0CCE9217-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}' # Audit Account Lockout
            - '{0CCE921B-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}' # Audit Special Logon
            - '{0CCE922B-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}' # Audit Process Creation
            - '{0CCE922F-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}' # Audit Audit Policy Change
            - '{0CCE9230-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}' # Audit Authentication Policy Change
            - '{0CCE9235-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}' # Audit User Account Management
            - '{0CCE9236-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}' # Audit Computer Account Management
            - '{0CCE9237-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}' # Audit Security Group Management
            - '{0CCE923F-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}' # Audit Credential Validation
            - '{0CCE9240-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}' # Audit Kerberos Service Ticket Operations
            - '{0CCE9242-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}' # Audit Kerberos Authentication Service'
    condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_*
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: low # Increase this after a testing period in your environment

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

selection and not 1 of filter_main_*

Stage 1: `selection`

selection:
    EventID: 4719
    AuditPolicyChanges|contains:
        - '%%8448'
        - '%%8450'

Stage 2: `not filter_main_guid`

filter_main_guid:
    SubcategoryGuid:
        - '{0CCE9210-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}'
        - '{0CCE9211-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}'
        - '{0CCE9212-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}'
        - '{0CCE9215-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}'
        - '{0CCE9217-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}'
        - '{0CCE921B-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}'
        - '{0CCE922B-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}'
        - '{0CCE922F-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}'
        - '{0CCE9230-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}'
        - '{0CCE9235-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}'
        - '{0CCE9236-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}'
        - '{0CCE9237-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}'
        - '{0CCE923F-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}'
        - '{0CCE9240-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}'
        - '{0CCE9242-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}'

Exclusions

Top-level NOT(...) conjuncts: predicates this rule actively suppresses.

Field	Kind	Excluded values
`SubcategoryGuid`	eq	`{0CCE9210-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}`
`SubcategoryGuid`	eq	`{0CCE9211-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}`
`SubcategoryGuid`	eq	`{0CCE9212-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}`
`SubcategoryGuid`	eq	`{0CCE9215-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}`
`SubcategoryGuid`	eq	`{0CCE9217-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}`
`SubcategoryGuid`	eq	`{0CCE921B-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}`
`SubcategoryGuid`	eq	`{0CCE922B-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}`
`SubcategoryGuid`	eq	`{0CCE922F-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}`
`SubcategoryGuid`	eq	`{0CCE9230-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}`
`SubcategoryGuid`	eq	`{0CCE9235-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}`
`SubcategoryGuid`	eq	`{0CCE9236-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}`
`SubcategoryGuid`	eq	`{0CCE9237-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}`
`SubcategoryGuid`	eq	`{0CCE923F-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}`
`SubcategoryGuid`	eq	`{0CCE9240-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}`
`SubcategoryGuid`	eq	`{0CCE9242-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}`

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
`AuditPolicyChanges`	match	`%%8448` corpus 3 (sigma 3) `%%8450` corpus 3 (sigma 3)

`j` / `k`	Scroll down / up
`d` / `u`	Half-page down / up
`gg` / `G`	Top / bottom
`h` / `l`	History back / forward
`f`	Follow link (`Shift` = new tab)
`/`	Focus search
`?`	Toggle this help
`↑` / `↓`	Navigate search results
`Enter`	Open highlighted result
`Esc`	Close results / dialog

`type:`	`events` / `rules` / `providers`
`vendor:`	`sigma` / `elastic` / `splunk` / `kusto` / `chronicle` (vendor name alone also works: `sigma:`, `kql:`, `secops:`…)
`tactic:`	TA-id, slug, or name: `credential_access`, `TA0006`
`technique:`	technique or sub-technique ID: `T1003`, `T1003.001` (alias `tech:`)
`severity:`	`critical` / `high` / `medium` / `low` / `informational` (alias `sev:`)
`risk_score`	Numeric comparison on the Elastic risk score (0 to 100): `risk_score>50`, `risk_score<=20`, `risk_score=99` (alias `risk`; Elastic rules only)
`stages:`	Rules with exactly N pipeline stages
`correlation:`	`single_event` / `sequence` / `alternatives` / `alternatives_cross_log` / `all_required` / `correlated`
`with:`	Co-occurrence event-id; stacks (`with:4624 with:4769`) to require all, while a comma list in one occurrence (`with:4624,4769`) is an either-or group. Implies multi-event
`like:`	Structural neighbors of a rule slug (equivalents + subsumption stricter / broader): `like:comsvcs_lsass_memory_dump-splunk-sysmon`
`groupby:`	Entity-grouping substring match against `group_by_keys`: `groupby:user`, `groupby:host`
`uses:`	Rules whose predicate tree touches the field (any kind, any value): `uses:CommandLine`
`excludes:`	Rules with top-level `not()` clauses on the field (FP whitelists): `excludes:ParentImage`
`field:` / `value:`	Predicate search; narrows rule cards to those with a matching leaf and drives the indicator tier. Unquoted = substring, wildcards allowed (`value:mimikatz`)
`indicator:`	Shorthand for `field:F value:V`: `indicator:Image=*\powershell.exe`
`kind:`	Filter by predicate kind. Narrows rule cards to those carrying a matching predicate leaf (`vendor:elastic kind:cidr_match`) and drives the indicator tier: `contains` / `starts_with` / `ends_with` / `regex` / `cidr` / `eq` / `in` … (operator aliases `op:`/`match:`)
`has:` / `no:`	`sample`, `field`, `notes`, `refs`, `trace`, `thirdparty`, `rule`, `pattern`, `timewindow`, `threshold`, `newterms`, `sigma`/`elastic`/`splunk`/`kusto`/`chronicle`
`-op:val`	Exclude matches; works on most operators but not `type:`/`like:`/`has:`/`no:` (use `no:<flag>` to exclude a rule flag): `tactic:execution -vendor:splunk`. Standalone `-kind:`/`-field:`/`-value:` drop every rule carrying a matching predicate leaf (`type:rules -kind:is_null`)
`field:"…"` / `value:"…"`	Quoted value = anchored exact match (also allows spaces): `value:"net user"`
`a,b`	Comma = OR inside one operator (`vendor:sigma,elastic`, `severity:high,critical`); repeating a facet merges the same way. `field:`/`value:` never split (literal commas)
`vendors:` / `stage:`	Singular and plural spellings fold to the canonical operator and value: `tactics:` = `tactic:`, `type:event` = `type:events`, `correlation:sequences` = `correlation:sequence`, `has:thresholds` = `has:threshold`
`"quoted phrase"`	Exact-match a multi-word phrase (free text)

Windows Event Auditing Disabled

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection`

Stage 2: `not filter_main_guid`

Exclusions

Indicators

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Windows Event Auditing Disabled

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

Stage 1: selection

Stage 2: not filter_main_guid

Exclusions

Indicators

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection`

Stage 2: `not filter_main_guid`