Malicious UAC Disable via EnableLUA Registry Modification (via registry_set)

PremiumReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
windows
Category
registry_set
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-09-12
Updated
2026-09-12

ATT&CK techniques

  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Persistence

  6. Priv Esc

  7. Defense Evasion

  8. Cred Access

  9. Discovery

  10. Lateral Movement

  11. Collection

  12. C2

  13. Exfiltration

  14. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects the EnableLUA registry value being set to 0, which disables User Account Control, as performed by Phobos ransomware affiliates. Disabling UAC removes elevation prompts and eases silent execution of privileged operations during the intrusion.

Related detections9 linkedT1685 — drag to rearrange
Malicious FIN7 AvNeutralizer EDR Killer Execution via Masqueraded Binary (via process_creation)
Suspicious Process Explorer Kernel Driver Dropped as PED.sys via File Creation (via file_event)
Malicious Windows Defender Tampering via Set-MpPreference and Add-MpPreference (via ps_script)
Suspicious PowerShell AMSI Bypass via 8220 Gang Hadooken Loader
Malicious Microsoft Defender Services Stopped via sc.exe
Suspicious Microsoft Defender Definitions Removed via MpCmdRun
Suspicious Defender Behavior Monitoring Disable via PowerShell (via process_creation)
Suspicious Windows Defender Real-Time Monitoring Disable (via process_creation)
Malicious Microsoft Defender Real-Time Monitoring Disabled via Set-MpPreference (via process_creation)
Malicious UAC Disable via EnableLUA Registry Modification (via registry_set)
Pivot detection · T1685 · 9 related

Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.