huntrule

Windows RDP Registry Settings Modified to Zero

Alerts when RDP-related registry values are set to 0, potentially weakening remote access controls.

FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v1
Product
windows
Category
registry_set
Author
Samir Bousseaden, David ANDRE, Roberto Rodriguez @Cyb3rWard0g, Nasreddine Bencherchali (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2022-09-29
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 specific Remote Desktop (Terminal Services) settings where the value is set to DWORD 0x00000000. It matters because disabling restrictions or changing authentication/session controls can enable unauthorized remote access or weaken RDP defenses. The detection relies on Windows registry-set telemetry matching targeted value names ending with fDenyTSConnections, fSingleSessionPerUser, and UserAuthentication, and the data value being zero.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1112 — drag to rearrange
Malicious Enabling of Restricted Admin Mode via Registry by UAT-8837
Suspicious Enabling of Remote Desktop via fDenyTSConnections Registry by DeadLock Ransomware
Malicious Service DLL Hijack for Persistence via Lotus Blossom
Suspicious Loopback Proxy Server Configured via Registry (via registry_set)
Malicious WDigest Credential Caching Enabled via Registry (via registry_set)
Suspicious Remote Desktop Enabled via fDenyTSConnections Registry by Sandworm
Malicious Gh0stBins RAT Registry Marker HHClient
Suspicious PebbleDash C2 Configuration Stored Under WMI Security Key (via registry_set)
Suspicious WDigest UseLogonCredential Enablement for Plaintext Credential Theft (via registry_set)
Windows RDP Registry Settings Modified to Zero
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.