Suspicious Office VBA Object Model Access Enabled via Registry (via registry_set)

ATT&CK techniques

Persistence → Defense Evasion

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
- T1112Modify Registry
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
- T1112Modify Registry
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects a Word macro enabling programmatic access to the VBA object model by setting AccessVBOM in the Office Security registry key. This technique is used in the Double-Tap campaign linked to APT28 to allow further malicious VBA execution and lower macro security. Enabling AccessVBOM is a strong indicator of malicious document activity because legitimate users rarely toggle this setting.

Reporting behind it

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Suspicious Office VBA Object Model Access Enabled via Registry (via registry_set)

Pivot detection · T1112 · 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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