huntrule

Windows Registry: Disabling Windows Defender PUA Protection via PUAProtection DWORD

Flags registry changes that set Windows Defender PUAProtection DWORD to 0x00000000 to disable PUA protection.

FreeReviewedSigma · High · 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 identifies changes to the Windows Registry value Details set to DWORD (0x00000000) within the Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\PUAProtection path. Disabling PUA protection can reduce defenses against potentially unwanted applications, which attackers may rely on to broaden what gets allowed or missed by security controls. The detection relies on registry set telemetry that captures the targeted key path and the value data.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1685 — drag to rearrange
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
Malicious PowMix AMSI Bypass via amsiInitFailed
Windows Registry: Disabling Windows Defender PUA Protection via PUAProtection DWORD
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.