huntrule

Windows ETW: Kernel-General resets registry hive access bits in temp hive paths

Detects ETW EventID 16 when access bits are reset for Temp \SAM or \SECURITY hives.

FreeReviewedSigma · High · v2
Product
windows
Service
system
Author
Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2017-05-15
Updated
2026-07-31
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

Cred Access

  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 identifies Kernel-General ETW events where a registry hive located under the temporary directory (containing \Temp\SAM or \Temp\SECURITY) has its access bits reset. Resetting hive access bits can indicate attempts to access or extract protected registry data from hives that have not been recognized recently. The detection relies on Windows System ETW telemetry (Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-General, EventID 16) including the hive name in the event.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1003.002 — drag to rearrange
Credential Dumping via Reg Save of SAM Hive
Malicious Registry Hive Dump via reg save
Suspicious Archiving of Registry Hives via WinRAR (UAT-8099)
Malicious Registry Hive Dump of SAM or SYSTEM via Reg Save (via process_creation)
Malicious Credential Hive Copy from Volume Shadow Copy
Malicious Secretdump Password Dumping via SMB Admin Share (via security)
Malicious Registry Hive Dump of SAM and SYSTEM via Reg Save (via process_creation)
Suspicious SAM Registry Hive Dump to Windows Temp by BianLian
Malicious SAM and SYSTEM Hive Dump via reg save (via process_creation)
Windows ETW: Kernel-General resets registry hive access bits in temp hive paths
Pivot detection · T1003.002 · 9 related

Changelog

v2
  1. v2
    Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
  2. v1
    No changelog recorded for this version.2026-07-30

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