CurrentVersion Autorun Keys Modification

  1title: CurrentVersion Autorun Keys Modification
  2id: 20f0ee37-5942-4e45-b7d5-c5b5db9df5cd
  3related:
  4    - id: 17f878b8-9968-4578-b814-c4217fc5768c
  5      type: obsolete
  6status: test
  7description: Detects modification of autostart extensibility point (ASEP) in registry.
  8references:
  9    - https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/f339e7da7d05f6057fdfcdd3742bfcf365fee2a9/atomics/T1547.001/T1547.001.md
 10    - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns
 11    - https://gist.github.com/GlebSukhodolskiy/0fc5fa5f482903064b448890db1eaf9d # a list with registry keys
 12    - https://oddvar.moe/2018/03/21/persistence-using-runonceex-hidden-from-autoruns-exe/
 13author: Victor Sergeev, Daniil Yugoslavskiy, Gleb Sukhodolskiy, Timur Zinniatullin, oscd.community, Tim Shelton, frack113 (split)
 14date: 2019-10-25
 15modified: 2025-10-07
 16tags:
 17    - attack.persistence
 18    - attack.t1547.001
 19logsource:
 20    category: registry_set
 21    product: windows
 22detection:
 23    selection_current_version_base:
 24        TargetObject|contains: '\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion'
 25    selection_current_version_keys:
 26        TargetObject|contains:
 27            - '\ShellServiceObjectDelayLoad'
 28            - '\Run\'
 29            - '\RunOnce\'
 30            - '\RunOnceEx\'
 31            - '\RunServices\'
 32            - '\RunServicesOnce\'
 33            - '\Policies\System\Shell'
 34            - '\Policies\Explorer\Run'
 35            - '\Group Policy\Scripts\Startup'
 36            - '\Group Policy\Scripts\Shutdown'
 37            - '\Group Policy\Scripts\Logon'
 38            - '\Group Policy\Scripts\Logoff'
 39            - '\Explorer\ShellServiceObjects'
 40            - '\Explorer\ShellIconOverlayIdentifiers'
 41            - '\Explorer\ShellExecuteHooks'
 42            - '\Explorer\SharedTaskScheduler'
 43            - '\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects'
 44            - '\Authentication\PLAP Providers'
 45            - '\Authentication\Credential Providers'
 46            - '\Authentication\Credential Provider Filters'
 47    filter_main_all:
 48        - Details: '(Empty)'
 49        - TargetObject|endswith: '\NgcFirst\ConsecutiveSwitchCount'
 50        - Image|endswith:
 51              - '\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive\Update\OneDriveSetup.exe' # C:\Users\*\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive\Update\OneDriveSetup.exe
 52              - '\AppData\Roaming\Spotify\Spotify.exe'
 53              - '\AppData\Local\WebEx\WebexHost.exe'
 54        - Image:
 55              - 'C:\WINDOWS\system32\devicecensus.exe'
 56              - 'C:\Windows\system32\winsat.exe'
 57              - 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft OneDrive\StandaloneUpdater\OneDriveSetup.exe'
 58              - 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft OneDrive\Update\OneDriveSetup.exe'
 59              - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft OneDrive\Update\OneDriveSetup.exe'
 60              - 'C:\Program Files\KeePass Password Safe 2\ShInstUtil.exe'
 61              - 'C:\Program Files\Everything\Everything.exe'
 62              - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\integration\integrator.exe'
 63              - 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\integration\integrator.exe'
 64    filter_main_logonui:
 65        Image: 'C:\Windows\system32\LogonUI.exe'
 66        TargetObject|contains:
 67            - '\Authentication\Credential Providers\{D6886603-9D2F-4EB2-B667-1971041FA96B}\'  # PIN
 68            - '\Authentication\Credential Providers\{BEC09223-B018-416D-A0AC-523971B639F5}\'  # fingerprint
 69            - '\Authentication\Credential Providers\{8AF662BF-65A0-4D0A-A540-A338A999D36F}\'  # facial recognizion
 70            - '\Authentication\Credential Providers\{27FBDB57-B613-4AF2-9D7E-4FA7A66C21AD}\'  # Trusted Signal (Phone proximity, Network location)
 71    filter_main_edge:
 72        Image|startswith:
 73            - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\EdgeUpdate\Install\'
 74            - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\EdgeWebView\'
 75            - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe'
 76    filter_main_officeclicktorun:
 77        Image|startswith:
 78            - 'C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ClickToRun\'
 79            - 'C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ClickToRun\Updates\'
 80        Image|endswith: '\OfficeClickToRun.exe'
 81    filter_main_defender:
 82        Image: 'C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\MsMpEng.exe'
 83    filter_main_teams:
 84        Image|endswith: '\Microsoft\Teams\current\Teams.exe'
 85        Details|contains: '\Microsoft\Teams\Update.exe --processStart '
 86    filter_main_ctfmon:
 87        Image: 'C:\Windows\system32\userinit.exe'
 88        Details: 'ctfmon.exe /n'
 89    filter_optional_dropbox:
 90        Image: 'C:\Windows\system32\regsvr32.exe'
 91        TargetObject|contains: 'DropboxExt'
 92        Details|endswith: 'A251-47B7-93E1-CDD82E34AF8B}'
 93    filter_optional_opera_1:
 94        TargetObject|endswith: '\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\Opera Browser Assistant'
 95        Details: 'C:\Program Files\Opera\assistant\browser_assistant.exe'
 96    filter_optional_opera_2:
 97        TargetObject|endswith: '\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\Opera Stable'
 98        Details:
 99            - 'C:\Program Files\Opera\launcher.exe'
100            - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Opera\launcher.exe'
101    filter_optional_itunes:
102        TargetObject|endswith: '\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\iTunesHelper'
103        Details: '"C:\Program Files\iTunes\iTunesHelper.exe"'
104    filter_optional_zoom:
105        TargetObject|endswith: '\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce\zoommsirepair'
106        Details: '"C:\Program Files\Zoom\bin\installer.exe" /repair'
107    filter_optional_greenshot:
108        TargetObject|endswith: '\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\Greenshot'
109        Details: 'C:\Program Files\Greenshot\Greenshot.exe'
110    filter_optional_googledrive1:
111        TargetObject|endswith: '\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\GoogleDriveFS'
112        Details|startswith: 'C:\Program Files\Google\Drive File Stream\'
113        Details|contains: '\GoogleDriveFS.exe'
114    filter_optional_googledrive2:
115        TargetObject|contains: 'GoogleDrive'
116        Details:
117            - '{CFE8B367-77A7-41D7-9C90-75D16D7DC6B6}'
118            - '{A8E52322-8734-481D-A7E2-27B309EF8D56}'
119            - '{C973DA94-CBDF-4E77-81D1-E5B794FBD146}'
120            - '{51EF1569-67EE-4AD6-9646-E726C3FFC8A2}'
121    filter_optional_onedrive:
122        Details|startswith:
123            - 'C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe /q /c rmdir /s /q "C:\Users\'
124            - 'C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe /q /c del /q "C:\Users\'
125        Details|contains: '\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive\'
126    filter_optional_python:
127        TargetObject|contains: '\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce\{'
128        Details|contains|all:
129            - '\AppData\Local\Package Cache\{'
130            - '}\python-'
131        Details|endswith: '.exe" /burn.runonce'
132    filter_optional_AVG_setup:
133        Image|contains:
134            - 'C:\Program Files\AVG\Antivirus\Setup\'
135            - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\AVG\Antivirus\Setup\'
136            - '\instup.exe'
137        Details:
138            - '"C:\Program Files\AVG\Antivirus\AvLaunch.exe" /gui'
139            - '"C:\Program Files (x86)\AVG\Antivirus\AvLaunch.exe" /gui'
140            - '{472083B0-C522-11CF-8763-00608CC02F24}'
141            - '{472083B1-C522-11CF-8763-00608CC02F24}'
142    filter_optional_Avast:
143        Image|contains:
144            - 'C:\Program Files\Avast Software\Avast\Setup\'
145            - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Avast Software\Avast\Setup\'
146            - '\instup.exe'
147        Details:
148            - '"C:\Program Files\Avast Software\Avast\AvLaunch.exe" /gui'
149            - '"C:\Program Files (x86)\Avast Software\Avast\AvLaunch.exe" /gui'
150    filter_optional_AVG_avgtoolsvc:
151        Image:
152            - 'C:\Program Files\AVG\Antivirus\avgToolsSvc.exe'
153            - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\AVG\Antivirus\avgToolsSvc.exe'
154        TargetObject|contains: '\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartupApproved\Run\'
155        Details: 'Binary Data'
156    filter_optional_aurora_dashboard:
157        Image|endswith:
158            - '\aurora-agent-64.exe'
159            - '\aurora-agent.exe'
160        TargetObject|endswith: '\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\aurora-dashboard'
161        Details: 'C:\Program Files\Aurora-Agent\tools\aurora-dashboard.exe'
162    filter_optional_everything:
163        TargetObject|endswith: '\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\Everything'
164        Details|endswith: '\Everything\Everything.exe" -startup' # We remove the starting part as it could be installed in different locations
165    filter_optional_discord:
166        TargetObject|endswith: '\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\Discord'
167        Details|endswith: '\Discord\Update.exe --processStart Discord.exe'
168    condition: all of selection_* and not 1 of filter_main_* and not 1 of filter_optional_*
169falsepositives:
170    - Legitimate software automatically (mostly, during installation) sets up autorun keys for legitimate reason
171    - Legitimate administrator sets up autorun keys for legitimate reason
172level: medium