Important Windows Event Auditing Disabled

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

Detects scenarios where system auditing for important events such as "Process Creation" or "Logon" events is disabled.

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: Important Windows Event Auditing Disabled
id: ab4561b1-6c7e-48a7-ad08-087cfb9ce8f1
related:
    - id: 69aeb277-f15f-4d2d-b32a-55e883609563
      type: derived
status: test
description: Detects scenarios where system auditing for important events such as "Process Creation" or "Logon" events is disabled.
references:
    - https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1dkrldTTlN3La-OjWtkWJBb4hVk6vfsSMBFBERs6R8zA/edit
    - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ad1bfd3d28aa0ccc9656240f845022518ef65a2e/documentation/logsource-guides/windows/service/security.md
author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
date: 2023-06-20
modified: 2023-11-17
tags:
    - attack.defense-impairment
    - attack.t1685.001
logsource:
    product: windows
    service: security
    definition: dfd8c0f4-e6ad-4e07-b91b-f2fca0ddef64
detection:
    selection_state_success_and_failure:
        EventID: 4719
        SubcategoryGuid:
            # Note: Add or remove GUID as you see fit in your env
            - '{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
            - '{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
        AuditPolicyChanges|contains:
            - '%%8448' # This is "Success removed"
            - '%%8450' # This is "Failure removed"
    selection_state_success_only:
        EventID: 4719
        SubcategoryGuid: '{0CCE9217-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}' # Audit Account Lockout
        AuditPolicyChanges|contains: '%%8448'
    condition: 1 of selection_*
falsepositives:
    - Unlikely
level: high

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

1 of selection_*

Stage 1: `selection_state_success_and_failure`

selection_state_success_and_failure:
    EventID: 4719
    SubcategoryGuid:
        - '{0CCE9210-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}'
        - '{0CCE9211-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}'
        - '{0CCE9212-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}'
        - '{0CCE9215-69AE-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}'
    AuditPolicyChanges|contains:
        - '%%8448'
        - '%%8450'

Stage 2: `selection_state_success_only`

selection_state_success_only:
    EventID: 4719
    SubcategoryGuid: '{0CCE9217-69AE-11D9-BED3-505054503030}'
    AuditPolicyChanges|contains: '%%8448'

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)
`SubcategoryGuid`	eq	`{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}`

`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)

Important Windows Event Auditing Disabled

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection_state_success_and_failure`

Stage 2: `selection_state_success_only`

Indicators

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Important Windows Event Auditing Disabled

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

Stage 1: selection_state_success_and_failure

Stage 2: selection_state_success_only

Indicators

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection_state_success_and_failure`

Stage 2: `selection_state_success_only`