Malicious UAC Bypass via COMAutoApprovalList Registry Modification (via registry_set)

ATT&CK techniques

Priv Esc → Defense Evasion

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
- T1548.002Bypass User Account Control
Defense Evasion
- T1548.002Bypass User Account Control
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects modification of the COMAutoApprovalList registry key used to auto-elevate COM objects and bypass User Account Control. Medusa ransomware abuses this key to silently elevate privileges via a trusted COM interface, avoiding the UAC prompt before deploying its payload.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1548.002 — drag to rearrange

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Malicious UAC Disable via EnableLUA Registry Modification via registry_set

Malicious UAC Bypass via ICMLuaUtil COM Elevation via process_creation

Malicious UAC Bypass via COMAutoApprovalList Registry Modification (via registry_set)

Pivot detection · T1548.002 · 9 related

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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