Detectionhighexperimental
Suspicious Uninstall of Windows Defender Feature via PowerShell
Detects the use of PowerShell with Uninstall-WindowsFeature or Remove-WindowsFeature cmdlets to disable or remove the Windows Defender GUI feature, a common technique used by adversaries to evade defenses.
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Log Source
WindowsProcess Creation
ProductWindows← raw: windows
CategoryProcess Creation← raw: process_creation
Events generated when a new process is spawned on the system. Covers command-line arguments, parent/child relationships, and process metadata.
Detection Logic
Detection Logic3 selectors
detection:
selection_img:
- Image|endswith:
- '\powershell_ise.exe'
- '\powershell.exe'
- '\pwsh.exe'
- OriginalFileName:
- 'PowerShell_ISE.EXE'
- 'PowerShell.EXE'
- 'pwsh.dll'
selection_cli_uninstall:
CommandLine|contains:
- 'Uninstall-WindowsFeature'
- 'Remove-WindowsFeature' # Only supported in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 2012 R2
selection_cli_defender_feature:
CommandLine|contains: 'Windows-Defender'
condition: all of selection_*False Positives
Unknown
False positive likelihood has not been assessed. Additional context may be needed during triage.
MITRE ATT&CK
Tactics
Sub-techniques
Rule Metadata
Rule ID
c443012c-7928-43bf-ac20-7eda5efe61ad
Status
experimental
Level
high
Type
Detection
Created
Fri Aug 22
Author
Path
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_powershell_uninstall_defender_feature.yml
Raw Tags
attack.defense-evasionattack.t1562.001