huntrule

Windows Registry: DisableRestrictedAdmin Value Tampering to Change Restricted Admin Mode

Flags registry modifications to DisableRestrictedAdmin that change Restricted Admin mode settings.

FreeReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
windows
Category
registry_set
Author
frack113 (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2023-01-13
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 identifies updates to the DisableRestrictedAdmin registry value under System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa\DisableRestrictedAdmin, which controls whether Restricted Admin mode is enabled. Disabling RestrictedAdmin mode matters because it can allow reusable credentials to be transmitted during Remote Desktop connections, increasing exposure if the remote host is compromised. The detection relies on Windows registry set activity telemetry that records the TargetObject being modified.

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 Registry: DisableRestrictedAdmin Value Tampering to Change Restricted Admin Mode
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.