Name:Windows Chrome Auto-Update Disabled via Registry id:619eac6c-0f03-4699-ae29-5f337877bcf9 version:4 date:None author:Teoderick Contreras, Splunk status:production type:Anomaly Description:The following analytic detects modifications to Windows registry values that disable Google Chrome auto-updates.
Changes to values such as DisableAutoUpdateChecksCheckboxValue = 1, Update{8A69D345-D564-463C-AFF1-A69D9E530F96} = 0, UpdateDefault = 0, and AutoUpdateCheckPeriodMinutes = 0 can prevent Chrome from receiving security updates.
This behavior may indicate attempts to bypass update policies, maintain unauthorized extensions, or facilitate malware persistence.
Monitoring these registry changes helps identify potential policy violations or malicious activity targeting browser security.
Data_source:
-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 = "*\\Google\\Update*" AND ( Registry.registry_value_name = "DisableAutoUpdateChecksCheckboxValue" Registry.registry_value_data = 0x00000001 ) OR ( Registry.registry_value_name IN ( "AutoUpdateCheckPeriodMinutes", "Update{8A69D345-D564-463C-AFF1-A69D9E530F96}", "UpdateDefault" ) Registry.registry_value_data = 0x00000000 )
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:IT administrators intentionally disabling auto-updates in managed environments for testing, compatibility, or deployment purposes.
References: -https://www.gdatasoftware.com/blog/2025/11/38298-learning-about-browser-hijacking drilldown_searches: name:'View the detection results for - "$dest$"' search:'%original_detection_search% | search dest = "$dest$"' earliest_offset:'$info_min_time$' latest_offset:'$info_max_time$' name:'View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$dest$"' search:'| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$dest$") | 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:'7d' latest_offset:'0' analytic_story:['Browser Hijacking']
