Name:Disabling Task Manager id:dac279bc-9202-11eb-b7fb-acde48001122 version:9 date:2024-12-08 author:Teoderick Contreras, Splunk, Steven Dick status:production type:TTP Description:The following analytic identifies modifications to the Windows registry that disable Task Manager. It leverages data from the Endpoint.Registry data model, specifically looking for changes to the registry path "*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\System\\DisableTaskMgr" with a value of "0x00000001". This activity is significant as it is commonly associated with malware such as RATs, Trojans, and worms, which disable Task Manager to prevent users from terminating malicious processes. If confirmed malicious, this could allow attackers to maintain persistence and control over the infected 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= "*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\System\\DisableTaskMgr" Registry.registry_value_data = "0x00000001") BY Registry.dest Registry.user 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)` | `disabling_task_manager_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 disable this application for non technical user. References: -https://any.run/report/ea4ea08407d4ee72e009103a3b77e5a09412b722fdef67315ea63f22011152af/a866d7b1-c236-4f26-a391-5ae32213dfc4#registry -https://blog.talosintelligence.com/2020/05/threat-roundup-0424-0501.html drilldown_searches: name:'View the detection results for - "$user$" and "$dest$"' search:'%original_detection_search% | search user = "$user$" dest = "$dest$"' earliest_offset:'$info_min_time$' latest_offset:'$info_max_time$' name:'View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$user$" and "$dest$"' search:'| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$user$", "$dest$") 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: - 'Windows Defense Evasion Tactics' - 'Windows Registry Abuse' - 'NjRAT' asset_type:Endpoint confidence:60 impact:70 message:The Windows Task Manager was disabled on $dest$ by $user$. mitre_attack_id: - 'T1562.001' - 'T1562' observable: name:'user' type:'User' - role: - 'Victim' name:'dest' type:'Hostname' - role: - 'Victim' product: - 'Splunk Enterprise' - 'Splunk Enterprise Security' - 'Splunk Cloud' required_fields: - 'Registry.dest' - 'Registry.registry_value_name' - 'Registry.registry_key_name' - 'Registry.registry_path' - 'Registry.registry_value_data' - 'Registry.process_guid' risk_score:42 security_domain:endpoint
