Credential Dumping via Reg Save of SAM Hive
- Product
- windows
- Category
- process_creation
- Author
- HuntRule
- Published
- 2026-09-13
- Updated
- 2026-09-13
ATT&CK techniques
Cred AccessRecon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact
What it detects
This rule detects reg.exe saving the HKLM SAM registry hive to disk, an offline credential extraction step observed in Operation Soft Cell. Exporting the SAM hive lets attackers crack local account hashes away from the endpoint.
Reporting behind it
- cybereason.comhttps://www.cybereason.com/blog/research/operation-soft-cell-a-worldwide-campaign-against-telecommunications-providers
- attack.mitre.orghttps://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1003/002/
- esentire.comhttps://www.esentire.com/blog/ransomware-precursor-activity-traced-to-compromised-vendor-account
- sentinelone.comhttps://www.sentinelone.com/labs/operation-digital-eye-chinese-apt-compromises-critical-digital-infrastructure-via-visual-studio-code-tunnels/
Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.
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