Windows Registry SIP Provider Modification


Description

The following analytic detects modifications to the Windows Registry SIP Provider. It leverages Sysmon EventID 7 to monitor registry changes in paths and values related to Cryptography Providers and OID Encoding Types. This activity is significant as it may indicate an attempt to subvert trust controls, a common tactic for bypassing security measures and maintaining persistence. If confirmed malicious, an attacker could manipulate the system's cryptographic functions, potentially leading to unauthorized access, data theft, or other damaging outcomes. Review the modified registry paths and concurrent processes to identify the attack source.

Query · spl

| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count values(Registry.registry_key_name) as registry_key_name values(Registry.registry_path) as registry_path min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime from datamodel=Endpoint.Registry where Registry.registry_path IN ("*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Cryptography\\Providers\\*", "*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Cryptography\\OID\\EncodingType*", "*\\SOFTWARE\\WOW6432Node\\Microsoft\\Cryptography\\Providers\\*", "*\\SOFTWARE\\WOW6432Node\\Microsoft\\Cryptography\\OID\\EncodingType*") Registry.registry_value_name IN ("Dll","$DLL") 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 | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `drop_dm_object_name(Registry)`| `windows_registry_sip_provider_modification_filter`

Implementation guide

To successfully implement this search you need to be ingesting information on process that include the name of the process responsible for the changes from your endpoints into the Endpoint datamodel in the Registry node. In addition, confirm the latest CIM App 4.20 or higher is installed and the latest TA for the endpoint product.

Known false positives

  • Be aware of potential false positives - legitimate applications may cause benign activities to be flagged.

Analyst notes

Known false positives: Be aware of potential false positives - legitimate applications may cause benign activities to be flagged.

Raw source Windows Registry SIP Provider Modification · SPL
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Published by splunk/security_content ↗, licensed under Apache 2.0 ↗. Reproduced here unmodified.
name: Windows Registry SIP Provider Modification
id: 3b4e18cb-497f-4073-85ad-1ada7c2107ab
version: 10
creation_date: '2023-10-10'
modification_date: '2026-05-13'
author: Michael Haag, Splunk
status: production
type: TTP
description: The following analytic detects modifications to the Windows Registry SIP Provider. It leverages Sysmon EventID 7 to monitor registry changes in paths and values related to Cryptography Providers and OID Encoding Types. This activity is significant as it may indicate an attempt to subvert trust controls, a common tactic for bypassing security measures and maintaining persistence. If confirmed malicious, an attacker could manipulate the system's cryptographic functions, potentially leading to unauthorized access, data theft, or other damaging outcomes. Review the modified registry paths and concurrent processes to identify the attack source.
data_source:
    - Sysmon EventID 13
search: '| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count values(Registry.registry_key_name) as registry_key_name values(Registry.registry_path) as registry_path min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime from datamodel=Endpoint.Registry where Registry.registry_path IN ("*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Cryptography\\Providers\\*", "*\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Cryptography\\OID\\EncodingType*", "*\\SOFTWARE\\WOW6432Node\\Microsoft\\Cryptography\\Providers\\*", "*\\SOFTWARE\\WOW6432Node\\Microsoft\\Cryptography\\OID\\EncodingType*") Registry.registry_value_name IN ("Dll","$DLL") by Registry.action Registry.dest Registry.process_guid Registry.process_id Registry.registry_hive Registry.registry_path Registry.registry_key_name Registry.registry_value_data Registry.registry_value_name Registry.registry_value_type Registry.status Registry.user Registry.vendor_product | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `drop_dm_object_name(Registry)`| `windows_registry_sip_provider_modification_filter`'
how_to_implement: To successfully implement this search you need to be ingesting information on process that include the name of the process responsible for the changes from your endpoints into the `Endpoint` datamodel in the `Registry` node. In addition, confirm the latest CIM App 4.20 or higher is installed and the latest TA for the endpoint product.
known_false_positives: Be aware of potential false positives - legitimate applications may cause benign activities to be flagged.
references:
    - https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1553/003/
    - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/windows/registry/registry_set/registry_set_sip_persistence.yml
    - https://specterops.io/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/06/SpecterOps_Subverting_Trust_in_Windows.pdf
    - https://github.com/gtworek/PSBits/tree/master/SIP
    - https://github.com/mattifestation/PoCSubjectInterfacePackage
    - https://pentestlab.blog/2017/11/06/hijacking-digital-signatures/
drilldown_searches:
    - name: View the detection results for - "$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"
finding:
    title: Windows Registry SIP Provider Modification detected on $dest$.
    entity:
        field: dest
        type: system
        score: 50
analytic_story:
    - Subvert Trust Controls SIP and Trust Provider Hijacking
asset_type: Endpoint
mitre_attack_id:
    - T1553.003
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/T1553.003/sip/sip_windows-sysmon.log
          source: XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational
          sourcetype: XmlWinEventLog
      test_type: unit

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