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Windows ETW Logging Disabled via SCM Registry TracingDisabled Key

Detects SCM ETW logging being disabled by setting the TracingDisabled registry DWORD for services.exe.

FreeReviewedSigma · Low · v1
Product
windows
Category
registry_set
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2022-12-09
Updated
2026-07-30
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

Persistence → Defense Evasion

  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 flags registry changes to the TracingDisabled DWORD for the Service Control Manager (SCM) under the ETW tracing configuration path. Setting this value to 0x00000001 disables ETW logging for services.exe (SCM), reducing visibility into system activity and potentially aiding defense evasion. It relies on registry set telemetry capturing the target object path and the specific DWORD value.

Reporting behind it

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Malicious WDigest UseLogonCredential Enabled for Cleartext Credential Theft (via registry_set)
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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.