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Windows Registry: ClickOnce Trust PromptingLevel Set to Enabled for Multiple Locations

Alerts on Enabled ClickOnce trust prompting registry changes for Internet and related locations.

FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v1
Product
windows
Category
registry_set
Author
@SerkinValery, Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2023-06-12
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 updates that set the ClickOnce Trust Manager PromptingLevel to Enabled for location-based trust settings such as Internet, LocalIntranet, MyComputer, TrustedSites, and UntrustedSites. Attackers can use this to alter user trust prompts and facilitate installations from different locations, weakening user and security controls. It relies on Windows registry set telemetry matching TargetObject paths under the TrustManager PromptingLevel key and a Details value of Enabled.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1112 — drag to rearrange
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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 Registry: ClickOnce Trust PromptingLevel Set to Enabled for Multiple Locations
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.