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Windows Registry Set AccessVBOM DWORD=1 Disables Access Security for Access VBA

Alerts on Windows registry changes setting Security\AccessVBOM to DWORD 1, disabling VBA trust access to bypass Office warnings.

FreeReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
windows
Category
registry_set
Author
Trent Liffick (@tliffick), Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2020-05-22
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 flags a Windows registry modification where AccessVBOM is set to DWORD value 0x00000001 under the Security\AccessVBOM path. Changing this setting disables trust access checks for VBA, which can enable malicious macros to run without Microsoft Office security warnings. It relies on telemetry that records registry set events, including the target path and the written value type and data.

Reporting behind it

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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 Set AccessVBOM DWORD=1 Disables Access Security for Access VBA
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.