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Windows Registry: Microsoft Office Protected View Disabled via Security Policy Keys

Flags Windows registry updates that disable Microsoft Office Protected View for attachments, internet files, UNC paths, or unsafe locations.

FreeReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
windows
Category
registry_set
Author
frack113, Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2021-06-08
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 registry changes under Microsoft Office Protected View policy paths where values indicate Protected View is disabled for specific content or locations. Disabling Protected View reduces safety checks on files opened from untrusted sources, which can help attackers increase the impact of malicious documents. It relies on Windows registry set telemetry matching the targeted Office ProtectedView key path and specific DWORD value settings.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1685 — drag to rearrange
Suspicious Windows Defender Exclusion of User Profile via PowerShell (via process_creation)
Malicious Vulnerable Driver Service Creation for BYOVD (via process_creation)
Malicious Microsoft Defender Disabled via Registry DisableAntiSpyware (via process_creation)
Suspicious Termination of Defender Tray Process via Taskkill
Malicious Windows Defender Disablement via MpCmdRun RemoveDefinitions
Malicious Unsigned VIB Installation on ESXi Host via esxcli (via process_creation)
Suspicious In-Memory PowerShell Execution from Web Server via Automation Assembly (via image_load)
Malicious EDR Evasion Driver Load from AnyDesk Directory via k.sys (via image_load)
Malicious Zemana Vulnerable Driver Load for EDR Termination (via image_load)
Windows Registry: Microsoft Office Protected View Disabled via Security Policy Keys
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.