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Detect Windows Update Disabled from Registry

Description

This analytic rule detects any registry value creation or modification of Windows Update registry keys to disable Windows Update. This could be an indication of defense evasion by an adversary on a compromised host.
Rule type
Scheduled
Version
1.0.0
Declared status
Available
Query frequency
1h
Query period
1h
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.

// List of Windows Firewall registry keys to monitor
let windowsUpdateRegistryList = dynamic([
  'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\Software\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Windows\\WindowsUpdate',
  'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\Software\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Windows\\WindowsUpdate\\AU'
  ]);
_ASim_RegistryEvent
| where EventType in ('RegistryValueSet', 'RegistryKeyCreated') 
| where RegistryKey has_any (windowsUpdateRegistryList) 
| where RegistryValue has_any ('AUOptions', 'NoAutoUpdate') and RegistryValueData == '1'
| project
    TimeGenerated,
    DvcHostname,
    ActorUsername,
    ActorUsernameType,
    ActingProcessId,
    ActingProcessName,
    ActingProcessCommandLine,
    RegistryKey,
    RegistryValue,
    RegistryValueType,
    RegistryValueData
| extend HostName = tostring(split(DvcHostname, '.')[0])
| extend DnsDomain = tostring(strcat_array(array_slice(split(DvcHostname, '.'), 1, -1), '.'))
| extend Username = iff(tostring(ActorUsernameType) == 'Windows', tostring(split(ActorUsername, '\\')[1]), ActorUsername)
| extend NTDomain = iff(tostring(ActorUsernameType) == 'Windows', tostring(split(ActorUsername, '\\')[0]), ActorUsername)
| extend Username = iff(tostring(ActorUsernameType) == 'UPN', tostring(split(ActorUsername, '@')[0]), Username)
| extend UPNSuffix = iff(tostring(ActorUsernameType) == 'UPN', tostring(split(ActorUsername, '@')[1]), '')
| extend RegHive = tostring(split(RegistryKey, '\\')[0]), RegKey = tostring(strcat_array(array_slice(split(RegistryKey, '\\'), 1, -1), '\\')) 

Declared entities

HostAccountProcessRegistryKeyRegistryValue

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
f1443a87-78d5-40c3-b051-f468f0f2def0
Additional source files 2Solutions/Malware Protection Essentials/Analytic Rules/WindowsUpdateDisabled.yamlsource ↗Solutions/Malware Protection Essentials/Data/Solution_MalwareProtectionEssentials.jsonsolution-membership ↗
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.