Unauthorized System Time Modification

Status: test
Severity: low
Log source: product windows, service security
Author: @neu5ron
Source: github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma

Detect scenarios where a potentially unauthorized application or user is modifying the system time.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Stealth	`T1070.006` Indicator Removal: Timestomp

Event coverage

Provider	Event	Title
Security-Auditing	Event ID 4616	The system time was changed.

Rule body yaml

title: Unauthorized System Time Modification
id: faa031b5-21ed-4e02-8881-2591f98d82ed
status: test
description: Detect scenarios where a potentially unauthorized application or user is modifying the system time.
references:
    - Private Cuckoo Sandbox (from many years ago, no longer have hash, NDA as well)
    - Live environment caused by malware
    - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-10/security/threat-protection/auditing/event-4616
author: '@neu5ron'
date: 2019-02-05
modified: 2025-12-03
tags:
    - attack.stealth
    - attack.t1070.006
logsource:
    product: windows
    service: security
    definition: 'Requirements: Audit Policy : System > Audit Security State Change, Group Policy : Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Advanced Audit Policy Configuration\Audit Policies\System\Audit Security State Change'
detection:
    selection:
        EventID: 4616
    filter_main_svchost:
        ProcessName: 'C:\Windows\System32\svchost.exe'
        SubjectUserSid: 'S-1-5-19'
    filter_optional_vmtools:
        ProcessName:
            - 'C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Tools\vmtoolsd.exe'
            - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Tools\vmtoolsd.exe'
            - 'C:\Windows\System32\VBoxService.exe'
            - 'C:\Windows\System32\oobe\msoobe.exe'
    condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_* and not 1 of filter_optional_*
falsepositives:
    - HyperV or other virtualization technologies with binary not listed in filter portion of detection
level: low

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

selection and not 1 of filter_main_* and not 1 of filter_optional_*

Stage 1: `selection`

selection:
    EventID: 4616

Stage 2: `not filter_main_svchost`

filter_main_svchost:
    ProcessName: 'C:\Windows\System32\svchost.exe'
    SubjectUserSid: 'S-1-5-19'

Stage 3: `not filter_optional_vmtools`

filter_optional_vmtools:
    ProcessName:
        - 'C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Tools\vmtoolsd.exe'
        - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Tools\vmtoolsd.exe'
        - 'C:\Windows\System32\VBoxService.exe'
        - 'C:\Windows\System32\oobe\msoobe.exe'

Exclusions

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

Field	Kind	Excluded values
`ProcessName`	eq	`C:\Windows\System32\svchost.exe`
`SubjectUserSid`	eq	`S-1-5-19`
`ProcessName`	eq	`C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Tools\vmtoolsd.exe`
`ProcessName`	eq	`C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Tools\vmtoolsd.exe`
`ProcessName`	eq	`C:\Windows\System32\VBoxService.exe`
`ProcessName`	eq	`C:\Windows\System32\oobe\msoobe.exe`

`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)

Unauthorized System Time Modification

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection`

Stage 2: `not filter_main_svchost`

Stage 3: `not filter_optional_vmtools`

Exclusions

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Unauthorized System Time Modification

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

Stage 1: selection

Stage 2: not filter_main_svchost

Stage 3: not filter_optional_vmtools

Exclusions

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection`

Stage 2: `not filter_main_svchost`

Stage 3: `not filter_optional_vmtools`