↳ GitHub sourceAnalytics ruleMedium

Midnight Blizzard - Script payload stored in Registry

Description

'This query identifies when a process execution command-line indicates that a registry value is written to allow for later execution a malicious script References: https://www.microsoft.com/security/blog/2021/03/04/goldmax-goldfinder-sibot-analyzing-nobelium-malware/'
Rule type
Scheduled
Version
1.1.5
Query frequency
1d
Query period
1d
Trigger
gt 0

Declared MITRE coverage

Declared sources

Metadata from the source file. No dependencies inferred from KQL.

Connectors

Data types

KQL query

Original query, unchanged.

let cmdTokens0 = dynamic(['vbscript','jscript']);
let cmdTokens1 = dynamic(['mshtml','RunHTMLApplication']);
let cmdTokens2 = dynamic(['Execute','CreateObject','RegRead','window.close']);
(union isfuzzy=true 
(SecurityEvent
| where TimeGenerated >= ago(14d)
| where EventID == 4688
| where CommandLine has @'\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion'
| where not(CommandLine has_any (@'\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run', @'\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce'))
// If you are receiving false positives, then it may help to make the query more strict by uncommenting one or both of the lines below to refine the matches
//| where CommandLine has_any (cmdTokens0)
//| where CommandLine has_all (cmdTokens1)
| where CommandLine has_all (cmdTokens2)
| project TimeGenerated, Computer, Account, Process, NewProcessName, CommandLine, ParentProcessName, _ResourceId
),
(WindowsEvent
| where TimeGenerated >= ago(14d)
| where EventID == 4688 and EventData has_all(cmdTokens2) and  EventData has @'\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion'
| where not(EventData has_any (@'\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run', @'\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce'))
| extend CommandLine = tostring(EventData.CommandLine)
| where CommandLine has @'\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion'
| where not(CommandLine has_any (@'\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run', @'\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce'))
// If you are receiving false positives, then it may help to make the query more strict by uncommenting one or both of the lines below to refine the matches
//| where CommandLine has_any (cmdTokens0)
//| where CommandLine has_all (cmdTokens1)
| where CommandLine has_all (cmdTokens2)
| extend Account =  strcat(EventData.SubjectDomainName,"\\", EventData.SubjectUserName)
| extend NewProcessName = tostring(EventData.NewProcessName)
| extend Process=tostring(split(NewProcessName, '\\')[-1])
| extend ParentProcessName = tostring(EventData.ParentProcessName)  
| project TimeGenerated, Computer, Account, Process, NewProcessName, CommandLine, ParentProcessName, _ResourceId)
| extend Name = tostring(split(Account, "\\")[1]), NTDomain = tostring(split(Account, "\\")[0])
| extend DnsDomain = tostring(strcat_array(array_slice(split(Computer, '.'), 1, -1), '.')), HostName = tostring(split(Computer, '.', 0)[0]))

Declared entities

AccountHost

Related content

Links established from declared identifiers and solution manifests.

Source provenance

GitHub

Displayed values come from files in Azure/Azure-Sentinel. They describe the published template, not your workspace configuration.

Source identifier
00cb180c-08a8-4e55-a276-63fb1442d5b5
Additional source files 1Detections/SecurityEvent/MidnightBlizzard_SuspiciousScriptRegistryWrite.yamlsource ↗
GSTEP / CATALOG TRACKING

Added to catalog : 16 Sept 2026 · 05:49 UTC
Last change observed : 16 Sept 2026 · 05:49 UTC

GSTEP sync dates, separate from the source content’s publication dates.