Active Setup Registry Autostart

name: Active Setup Registry Autostart
id: f64579c0-203f-11ec-abcc-acde48001122
version: 12
date: '2026-03-10'
author: Steven Dick, Teoderick Contreras, Splunk
status: production
type: TTP
description: The following analytic detects suspicious modifications to the Active Setup registry for persistence and privilege escalation. It leverages data from the Endpoint.Registry data model, focusing on changes to the "StubPath" value within the "SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Active Setup\\Installed Components" path. This activity is significant as it is commonly used by malware, adware, and APTs to maintain persistence on compromised machines. If confirmed malicious, this could allow attackers to execute code upon system startup, potentially leading to further system compromise and unauthorized access.
data_source:
    - Sysmon EventID 13
search: '| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime FROM datamodel=Endpoint.Registry WHERE (Registry.registry_value_name= "StubPath" Registry.registry_path = "*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Active Setup\\Installed Components*") by Registry.action Registry.dest Registry.process_guid Registry.process_id Registry.registry_hive Registry.registry_path Registry.registry_key_name Registry.registry_value_data Registry.registry_value_name Registry.registry_value_type Registry.status Registry.user Registry.vendor_product | `drop_dm_object_name(Registry)` | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`| `active_setup_registry_autostart_filter`'
how_to_implement: To successfully implement this search, you need to be ingesting logs with the registry value name, registry path, and registry value data from your endpoints. If you are using Sysmon, you must have at least version 2.0 of the official Sysmon TA. https://splunkbase.splunk.com/app/5709
known_false_positives: Active setup installer may add or modify this registry.
references:
    - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/wdsi/threats/malware-encyclopedia-description?Name=Backdoor%3AWin32%2FPoisonivy.E
    - https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1547/014/
drilldown_searches:
    - name: View the detection results for - "$dest$" and "$user$"
      search: '%original_detection_search% | search  dest = "$dest$" user = "$user$"'
      earliest_offset: $info_min_time$
      latest_offset: $info_max_time$
    - name: View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$dest$" and "$user$"
      search: '| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$dest$", "$user$") starthoursago=168  | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(search_name) as "Search Name" values(risk_message) as "Risk Message" values(analyticstories) as "Analytic Stories" values(annotations._all) as "Annotations" values(annotations.mitre_attack.mitre_tactic) as "ATT&CK Tactics" by normalized_risk_object | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`'
      earliest_offset: $info_min_time$
      latest_offset: $info_max_time$
rba:
    message: modified/added/deleted registry entry $registry_path$ on $dest$
    risk_objects:
        - field: dest
          type: system
          score: 50
        - field: user
          type: user
          score: 50
    threat_objects: []
tags:
    analytic_story:
        - Data Destruction
        - Windows Privilege Escalation
        - Hermetic Wiper
        - Windows Persistence Techniques
    asset_type: Endpoint
    mitre_attack_id:
        - T1547.014
    product:
        - Splunk Enterprise
        - Splunk Enterprise Security
        - Splunk Cloud
    security_domain: endpoint
tests:
    - name: True Positive Test
      attack_data:
        - data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/t1547.014/active_setup_stubpath/sysmon.log
          source: XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational
          sourcetype: XmlWinEventLog