Windows Disable Shutdown Button Through Registry

SPLUNK detection rule by Teoderick Contreras, Splunk, Steven Dick · Apache-2.0

The following analytic detects suspicious registry modifications that disable the shutdown button on a user's logon screen. It leverages data from the Endpoint.Registry data model, specifically monitoring changes to registry paths associated with shutdown policies. This activity is significant because it is a tactic used by malware, particularly ransomware like KillDisk, to hinder system usability and prevent the removal of malicious changes. If confirmed malicious, this could impede system recovery efforts, making it difficult to restart the machine and remove other harmful modifications.

name: Windows Disable Shutdown Button Through Registry
id: 55fb2958-9ecd-11ec-a06a-acde48001122
version: 15
creation_date: '2022-03-08'
modification_date: '2026-08-05'
author: Teoderick Contreras, Splunk, Steven Dick
status: production
type: Anomaly
description: |-
    The following analytic detects suspicious registry modifications that disable the shutdown button on a user's logon screen.
    It leverages data from the Endpoint.Registry data model, specifically monitoring changes to registry paths associated with shutdown policies.
    This activity is significant because it is a tactic used by malware, particularly ransomware like KillDisk, to hinder system usability and prevent the removal of malicious changes.
    If confirmed malicious, this could impede system recovery efforts, making it difficult to restart the machine and remove other harmful modifications.
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_path= "*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\System\\shutdownwithoutlogon"
        Registry.registry_value_data = "0x00000000"
        )
    OR
        (
            Registry.registry_path="*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\Explorer\\NoClose"
            Registry.registry_value_data = "0x00000001"
        )
    )

    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)`
    | where isnotnull(registry_value_data)
    | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
    | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
    | `windows_disable_shutdown_button_through_registry_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: |-
    This Windows feature may be implemented by an administrator on some servers where shutdown is restricted.
    In that scenario, filtering by the machines and users allowed to modify this registry key is recommended.
references:
    - https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/1ba1dd8d9ce6f74700f7aec2e60de5632f667f03/atomics/T1112/T1112.md
drilldown_searches:
    - name: View the detection results for - "$dest$"
      search: '%original_detection_search% | search  dest = "$dest$"'
      earliest_offset: $info_min_time$
      latest_offset: $info_max_time$
    - name: View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$dest$"
      search: '| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$dest$") | 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: 7d
      latest_offset: "0"
intermediate_findings:
    entities:
        - field: dest
          type: system
          score: 20
          message: The registry key [$registry_path$] was modified to disable the shutdown button on [$dest$].
analytic_story:
    - Ransomware
    - Windows Registry Abuse
asset_type: Endpoint
mitre_attack_id:
    - T1112
product:
    - Splunk Enterprise
    - Splunk Enterprise Security
    - Splunk Cloud
category: endpoint
security_domain: endpoint
tests:
    - name: True Positive Test
      attack_data:
        - data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1112/ransomware_disable_reg/sysmon.log
          source: XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational
          sourcetype: XmlWinEventLog
      test_type: unit

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