Windows Disable Memory Crash Dump

Original Source: [splunk source]
Name:Windows Disable Memory Crash Dump
id:59e54602-9680-11ec-a8a6-acde48001122
version:4
date:2024-09-30
author:Michael Haag, Splunk
status:production
type:TTP
Description:The following analytic detects attempts to disable the memory crash dump feature on Windows systems by setting the registry value to 0. It leverages data from the Endpoint.Registry datamodel, specifically monitoring changes to the CrashDumpEnabled registry key. This activity is significant because disabling crash dumps can hinder forensic analysis and incident response efforts. If confirmed malicious, this action could be part of a broader attack strategy, such as data destruction or system destabilization, as seen with HermeticWiper, potentially leading to significant operational disruptions and data loss.
Data_source:
  • -Sysmon EventID 12
  • -Sysmon EventID 13
search:| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count FROM datamodel=Endpoint.Registry where (Registry.registry_path="*\\CurrentControlSet\\Control\\CrashControl\\CrashDumpEnabled") AND Registry.registry_value_data="0x00000000" by _time span=1h Registry.dest Registry.user Registry.registry_path Registry.registry_value_name Registry.registry_value_data Registry.process_guid Registry.registry_key_name
| `drop_dm_object_name(Registry)`
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
| `windows_disable_memory_crash_dump_filter`


how_to_implement:To successfully implement this search you need to be ingesting information on process that include the name of the Filesystem responsible for the changes from your endpoints into the `Endpoint` datamodel in the `Filesystem` and `Registry` node.
known_false_positives:unknown
References:
  -https://blog.talosintelligence.com/2022/02/threat-advisory-hermeticwiper.html
  -https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/performance/memory-dump-file-options
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:
    - 'Ransomware'
    - 'Data Destruction'
    - 'Windows Registry Abuse'
    - 'Hermetic Wiper'
  asset_type:Endpoint
  confidence:100
  impact:90
  message:A process was identified attempting to disable memory crash dumps on $dest$.
  mitre_attack_id:
    - 'T1485'
  observable:
    name:'user'
    type:'User'
    - role:
      - 'Victim'
    name:'dest'
    type:'Hostname'
    - 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:90
  security_domain:endpoint

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