ETW Logging Disabled For SCM

Hunt Hypothesis

Detects changes to the “TracingDisabled” key in order to disable ETW logging for services.exe (SCM)

Detection Rule

Sigma (Original)

title: ETW Logging Disabled For SCM
id: 4f281b83-0200-4b34-bf35-d24687ea57c2
status: test
description: Detects changes to the "TracingDisabled" key in order to disable ETW logging for services.exe (SCM)
references:
    - http://redplait.blogspot.com/2020/07/whats-wrong-with-etw.html
author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
date: 2022-12-09
modified: 2023-08-17
tags:
    - attack.persistence
    - attack.defense-impairment
    - attack.t1112
    - attack.t1685
logsource:
    product: windows
    category: registry_set
detection:
    selection:
        TargetObject|endswith: 'Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Tracing\SCM\Regular\TracingDisabled'
        Details: 'DWORD (0x00000001)' # Funny (sad) enough, this value is by default 1.
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: low

KQL (Azure Sentinel)

imRegistry
| where RegistryKey endswith "Software\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Tracing\\SCM\\Regular\\TracingDisabled" and RegistryValueData =~ "DWORD (0x00000001)"

KQL (Microsoft 365 Defender)

DeviceRegistryEvents
| where RegistryKey endswith "Software\\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\Tracing\\SCM\\Regular\\TracingDisabled" and RegistryValueData =~ "DWORD (0x00000001)"

Required Data Sources

False Positive Guidance

• Unknown

MITRE ATT&CK Context

• Tactic: Persistence
• Technique: T1112 — T1112
• Technique: T1685 — T1685

References

• http://redplait.blogspot.com/2020/07/whats-wrong-with-etw.html
• SigmaHQ Rule