Registry Hive File Staged Outside Standard User Profile Path
Detects the creation of a registry hive file (UsrClass.dat or NTUSER.DAT) outside of the standard user profile path. These files generally contain various user-specific registry settings and are typically located in…
Description
Detects the creation of a registry hive file (UsrClass.dat or NTUSER.DAT) outside of the standard user profile path. These files generally contain various user-specific registry settings and are typically located in the user's profile directory. Staging these files outside of the standard path can be indicative of an attacker attempting to manipulate user registry settings for persistence, privilege escalation, or dump user registry hives for credential harvesting.
Detection logic
Detection requirements
- Platform
- IaaSIdentity ProviderLinuxmacOSOffice SuiteWindows
The rule states no platform. This is derived from the 2 ATT&CK techniques it maps to.
- Log source product
- windows
- Log source category
- file_event
Known benign triggers
- Backup or profile migration software
- Forensic acquisition tools
MITRE ATT&CK mappings
0 exclusive techniques.This is coverage no other published rule has; it is not this rule's total technique count.
References
| Reference | Cited by |
|---|---|
| git.projectnightcrawler.dev/NightmareEclipse/LegacyHive | 2 |
| github.com/MSNightmare/LegacyHive | 4 |
From the source
- At source
- Open at source
- Upstream identifier
- a7f3c891-2e4d-4b6a-9f8c-d5e2a1b04c73
- Tagged by the source as
- attack.credential-accessattack.privilege-escalation
Licence
- Published under
- Detection Rule License 1.1Read the licence
- Attribution
- Required
Authorship
- Published
- Aug 26, 2026
- Version
- 1