Suspicious Task Manager Disabled via DisableTaskMgr Registry Value

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 the DisableTaskMgr policy value being set to 1, which blocks users from opening Task Manager. The NOVABLIGHT infostealer applies this change to hinder analysts and users from inspecting or terminating its running processes.

Reporting behind it

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Suspicious Task Manager Disabled via DisableTaskMgr Registry Value

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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