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Removal Of Index Value to Hide Schedule Task - Registry

Detects when the "index" value of a scheduled task is removed or deleted from the registry. Which effectively hides it from any tooling such as "schtasks /query"

MITRE ATT&CK

T1562
defense-evasion

Detection Query

selection:
  TargetObject|contains|all:
    - \SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Schedule\TaskCache\Tree\
    - Index
condition: selection

Author

Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)

Created

2022-08-26

Data Sources

windowsRegistry Delete Events

Platforms

windows

References

Tags

attack.defense-evasionattack.t1562
Raw Content
title: Removal Of Index Value to Hide Schedule Task - Registry
id: 526cc8bc-1cdc-48ad-8b26-f19bff969cec
related:
    - id: acd74772-5f88-45c7-956b-6a7b36c294d2
      type: similar
    - id: 5b16df71-8615-4f7f-ac9b-6c43c0509e61
      type: similar
status: test
description: Detects when the "index" value of a scheduled task is removed or deleted from the registry. Which effectively hides it from any tooling such as "schtasks /query"
references:
    - https://blog.qualys.com/vulnerabilities-threat-research/2022/06/20/defending-against-scheduled-task-attacks-in-windows-environments
author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
date: 2022-08-26
modified: 2025-10-25
tags:
    - attack.defense-evasion
    - attack.t1562
logsource:
    product: windows
    category: registry_delete
detection:
    selection:
        TargetObject|contains|all:
            - '\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Schedule\TaskCache\Tree\'
            - 'Index'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: medium
regression_tests_path: regression_data/rules/windows/registry/registry_delete/registry_delete_schtasks_hide_task_via_index_value_removal/info.yml