huntrule

Windows Registry Key Change Disabling System Restore

Detects registry writes that disable Windows System Restore via policy/config keys set to DWORD 0x00000001.

FreeReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
windows
Category
registry_set
Author
frack113 (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2022-04-04
Updated
2026-07-30
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

Impact

  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 Windows registry modifications that set the System Restore policy configuration to disable it. Disabling recovery functionality can help an attacker reduce recovery options and hinder incident response. It relies on registry set telemetry, matching specific TargetObject paths ending in DisableConfig or DisableSR with a DWORD value of 0x00000001.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1490 — drag to rearrange
Malicious Volume Shadow Copy Deletion for Ransomware Recovery Inhibition
Malicious Volume Shadow Copy Deletion via wmic and vssadmin (via process_creation)
Malicious System Recovery Inhibition via bcdedit and vssadmin in Mallox
Malicious Shadow Copy Deletion via WMIC via Process Creation (via process_creation)
Suspicious Anti-Recovery Zeroing via fsutil setZeroData (via process_creation)
Malicious Shadow Copy Removal via WMI PowerShell
Malicious Volume Shadow Copy Deletion via vssadmin
Malicious Inhibit System Recovery via Shadow Copy and Boot Config Tampering (via process_creation)
Malicious Recovery Disablement via Bcdedit RecoveryEnabled No
Windows Registry Key Change Disabling System Restore
Pivot detection · T1490 · 9 related

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