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Scheduled Tasks AT Command Enabled

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Scheduled Tasks AT Command Enabled

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Identifies attempts to enable the Windows scheduled tasks AT command via the registry. Attackers may use this method to move laterally or persist locally. The AT command has been deprecated since Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012, but still exists for backwards compatibility.

Rule type: eql

Rule indices:

winlogbeat-*
logs-endpoint.events.*
logs-windows.*
endgame-*

Severity: medium

Risk score: 47

Runs every: 5 minutes

Searches indices from: now-9m (Date Math format, see also Additional look-back time)

Maximum alerts per execution: 100

References:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/cimwin32prov/win32-scheduledjob

Tags:

Elastic
Host
Windows
Threat Detection
Defense Evasion
Elastic Endgame

Version: 101 (version history)

Added (Elastic Stack release): 7.11.0

Last modified (Elastic Stack release): 8.6.0

Rule authors: Elastic

Rule license: Elastic License v2

Investigation guide

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Rule query

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registry where registry.path : (
"HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows
NT\\CurrentVersion\\Schedule\\Configuration\\EnableAt",
"\\REGISTRY\\MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows
NT\\CurrentVersion\\Schedule\\Configuration\\EnableAt" ) and
registry.data.strings : ("1", "0x00000001")

Threat mapping

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Framework: MITRE ATT&CK^TM

Tactic:
- Name: Defense Evasion
- ID: TA0005
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0005/
Technique:
- Name: Impair Defenses
- ID: T1562
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1562/

Rule version history

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Version 101 (8.6.0 release)

Updated query, changed from:

registry where registry.path : "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows
NT\\CurrentVersion\\Schedule\\Configuration\\EnableAt" and
registry.data.strings : ("1", "0x00000001")

Version 100 (8.5.0 release)

Formatting only

Version 7 (8.4.0 release)

Updated query, changed from:

registry where registry.path : "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows
NT\\CurrentVersion\\Schedule\\Configuration\\EnableAt" and
registry.data.strings : ("1", "0x00000001")

Version 5 (8.2.0 release)

Formatting only

Version 4 (8.1.0 release)

Updated query, changed from:

registry where registry.path : "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows
NT\\CurrentVersion\\Schedule\\Configuration\\EnableAt" and
registry.data.strings == "1"

Version 3 (7.12.0 release)

Formatting only

Version 2 (7.11.2 release)

Formatting only

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