Microsoft Defender AV must report Dynamic Signature dropped events.
Severity | Group ID | Group Title | Version | Rule ID | Date | STIG Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| medium | V-278675 | SRG-APP-000210 | WNDF-AV-000071 | SV-278675r1190765_rule | 2026-02-17 | 2 |
Description
Microsoft Defender Antivirus logs "Dynamic Signature dropped" events when it blocks or removes a file based on a dynamically updated signature, but the signature itself is dropped, meaning it was not fully processed or applied. This can indicate a potential issue with signature updates or the system's ability to handle them.
ℹ️ Check
Verify the policy value for Computer Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Windows Components >> Microsoft Defender Antivirus >> Reporting >> Configure whether to report Dynamic Signature dropped events is set to "Enabled"; otherwise, this is a finding.
Procedure: Use the Windows Registry Editor to navigate to the following key:
HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Reporting
Criteria: If the value "EnableDynamicSignatureDroppedEventReporting" is REG_DWORD = 1, this is not a finding.
If the value is 0, this is a finding.
✔️ Fix
Set the policy value for Computer Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Windows Components >> Microsoft Defender Antivirus >> Reporting >> Configure whether to report Dynamic Signature dropped events to "Enabled".