The Windows Firewall policy has changed when rule added
A new local or Group Policy firewall rule was added to the Windows Filtering Platform (`WFP`).
Event ID 4944 records the creation of a new Windows Firewall rule (`Rule Name`, `Rule ID`, `Direction`, `Action`). When adversaries deploy remote access backdoors or bind custom command-and-control listeners on internal servers, they run `netsh advfirewall` or PowerShell `New-NetFirewallRule` (`4944` / `4946`) to open inbound TCP/UDP ports through the local host firewall.
Failure Reason / Root Cause:
Windows Firewall rule creation (`RuleName` added allowing/blocking traffic).
Raw Event XML snippet
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-Security-Auditing" Guid="{54849625-5478-4994-A5BA-3E3B0328C30D}" />
<EventID>4944</EventID>
<Version>0</Version>
<Level>0</Level>
<Task>12544</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x8020000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2026-07-17T09:54:44.923Z" />
<EventRecordID>1048576</EventRecordID>
<Correlation />
<Execution ProcessID="612" ThreadID="1024" />
<Channel>Security</Channel>
<Computer>DC01.enterprise.internal</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data Name="SubjectUserSid">S-1-5-18</Data>
<Data Name="SubjectUserName">SYSTEM</Data>
<Data Name="SubjectDomainName">NT AUTHORITY</Data>
<Data Name="SubjectLogonId">0x3e7</Data>
<!-- Event telemetry fields specific to The Windows Firewall policy has changed when rule added -->
</EventData>
</Event>MITRE ATT&CK mapping
| ID | Technique | Tactic |
|---|---|---|
T1562.004 | Impair Defenses: Disable or Modify System Firewall | Defense Evasion |
T1543 | Create or Modify System Process | Persistence |
Recommended actions
- Inspect `Direction` and `Action`. If an inbound rule (`Inbound`) allowing traffic (`Allow`) to uncommon ports (e.g., `4444`, `8888`, `1337`) is added on production endpoints, investigate immediately for C2 listener deployment.