Disable UAC Remote Restriction

Original Source: [splunk source]
Name:Disable UAC Remote Restriction
id:9928b732-210e-11ec-b65e-acde48001122
version:8
date:2024-12-08
author:Teoderick Contreras, Splunk, Steven Dick
status:production
type:TTP
Description:The following analytic detects the modification of the registry to disable UAC remote restriction by setting the "LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy" value to "0x00000001". It leverages data from the Endpoint.Registry data model, specifically monitoring changes to the registry path "*\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\System*". This activity is significant because disabling UAC remote restriction can allow an attacker to bypass User Account Control (UAC) protections, potentially leading to privilege escalation. If confirmed malicious, this could enable an attacker to execute unauthorized actions with elevated privileges, compromising the security of the affected system.
Data_source:
  • -Sysmon EventID 12
  • -Sysmon EventID 13
search:| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime FROM datamodel=Endpoint.Registry WHERE (Registry.registry_path="*\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\System*" Registry.registry_value_name="LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy" Registry.registry_value_data="0x00000001" ) BY Registry.user Registry.dest Registry.registry_path Registry.registry_key_name Registry.registry_value_name Registry.registry_value_data Registry.process_guid
| `drop_dm_object_name(Registry)`| where isnotnull(registry_value_data)
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
| `disable_uac_remote_restriction_filter`


how_to_implement:To successfully implement this search, you need to be ingesting logs with the registry value name, registry path, and registry value data from your endpoints. If you are using Sysmon, you must have at least version 2.0 of the official Sysmon TA. https://splunkbase.splunk.com/app/5709
known_false_positives:admin may set this policy for non-critical machine.
References:
  -https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/windows-security/user-account-control-and-remote-restriction
drilldown_searches:
name:'View the detection results for - "$dest$" and "$user$"'
search:'%original_detection_search% | search dest = "$dest$" user = "$user$"'
earliest_offset:'$info_min_time$'
latest_offset:'$info_max_time$'
name:'View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$dest$" and "$user$"'
search:'| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$dest$", "$user$") starthoursago=168 | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(search_name) as "Search Name" values(risk_message) as "Risk Message" values(analyticstories) as "Analytic Stories" values(annotations._all) as "Annotations" values(annotations.mitre_attack.mitre_tactic) as "ATT&CK Tactics" by normalized_risk_object | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`'
earliest_offset:'$info_min_time$'
latest_offset:'$info_max_time$'
tags:
  analytic_story:
    - 'Suspicious Windows Registry Activities'
    - 'Windows Defense Evasion Tactics'
    - 'CISA AA23-347A'
    - 'Windows Registry Abuse'
  asset_type:Endpoint
  confidence:100
  impact:80
  message:Modified/added/deleted registry entry $registry_path$ in $dest$
  mitre_attack_id:
    - 'T1548.002'
    - 'T1548'
  observable:
    name:'dest'
    type:'Hostname'
    - role:
      - 'Victim'
    name:'user'
    type:'User'
    - role:
      - 'Victim'
  product:
    - 'Splunk Enterprise'
    - 'Splunk Enterprise Security'
    - 'Splunk Cloud'
  required_fields:
    - '_time'
    - 'Registry.dest'
    - 'Registry.registry_value_name'
    - 'Registry.registry_key_name'
    - 'Registry.registry_path'
    - 'Registry.registry_value_data'
    - 'Registry.process_guid'
  risk_score:80
  security_domain:endpoint

tests:
name:'True Positive Test'
 attack_data:
  data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1548.002/LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy/sysmon.log
  source: XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational
  sourcetype: XmlWinEventLog
manual_test:None