Suspicious Winlogon Shell Persistence via Registry by Key Group

ATT&CK techniques

Persistence → Priv Esc

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
- T1547.001Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder
Priv Esc
- T1547.001Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects modification of the Winlogon Shell value to something other than the default explorer.exe, a persistence technique used by Key Group ransomware to auto-run its payload at logon. Any non-default shell value on this key indicates hijacked user-session startup and should be investigated.

Reporting behind it

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Suspicious Winlogon Shell Persistence via Registry by Key Group

Pivot detection · T1547.001 · 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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