huntrule

Windows Registry: Disable Windows Defender Exploit Guard Network Protection via Policy Override

Alerts on registry policy changes that override Exploit Guard Network Protection settings for Windows Defender.

FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v1
Product
windows
Category
registry_set
Author
Austin Songer @austinsonger (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2021-08-04
Updated
2026-07-30
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

  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 policy settings that set DisallowExploitProtectionOverride to 0x00000001 under the Windows Defender Security Center App and Browser protection key. Disabling or overriding Exploit Guard Network Protection can reduce host defenses and enable exploitation or malicious network activity. The detection relies on registry modification telemetry indicating the target key path and the specific DWORD value.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1685 — drag to rearrange
Suspicious WMI Query Against Windows Defender Namespace via wmic (via process_creation)
Malicious Microsoft Defender Tampering via PowerShell Preference Cmdlets
Suspicious Windows Defender Exclusion via Add-MpPreference (via process_creation)
Malicious Windows Defender Service Tampering via PowerShell (via process_creation)
Windows Defender Disabled via DisableAntiSpyware Registry Key
Suspicious Vulnerable Intel Ethernet Driver Load for BYOVD via SCATTERED SPIDER (via driver_load)
Malicious Defender Disable And Executable Exclusion Via Registry
Malicious UAC Disable via EnableLUA Registry Modification (via registry_set)
Malicious AMSI and ETW Patching via PowerShell Script
Windows Registry: Disable Windows Defender Exploit Guard Network Protection via Policy Override
Pivot detection · T1685 · 9 related

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