SOC Event Lookup
Event ID 5027FirewallP3

Windows Event ID 5027: Windows Firewall Service unable to retrieve security policy

Applicable version
Windows Server 2008 and later; Windows Vista and later
Last reviewed
2026-07-22

Quick summary

Windows Security Event ID 5027 records that the Windows Firewall Service could not retrieve security policy from local storage and continued enforcing the current policy.

Technical Metadata

Technical metadata for Event ID 5027
Event ID5027
ProviderMicrosoft-Windows-Security-Auditing
ChannelSecurity
LevelInformation
MITRE ATT&CKTA0112 Defense Impairment / T1686.003 Disable or Modify System Firewall: Windows Host Firewall
Key fields to watchErrorCode, Computer, Related Event 5028

Trigger Scenarios

Microsoft states the event indicates low memory resources or Windows Firewall group policy registry corruption and often appears with Event ID 5028.

Key Fields

ErrorCode

The UInt32 error code for the retrieval failure. Microsoft examples show ErrorCode 2147942413.

Computer

The host whose firewall service could not read local policy. Internet-facing and remote-access systems should be prioritized.

Related Event 5028

Microsoft states 5027 typically occurs with 5028 when the service cannot parse the new security policy.

Threat Hunting Queries

Microsoft Sentinel KQL: Retrieve Windows Security Event ID 5027
SecurityEvent
| where EventID == 5027
| project TimeGenerated, Computer, Account, EventData
| order by TimeGenerated desc
Data source
Microsoft Sentinel SecurityEvent table
Assumptions
The Windows Security Events connector populates SecurityEvent. Map raw XML fields to the event-specific fields documented on this page.
Query reference
Splunk SPL: Retrieve Windows Security Event ID 5027
index=wineventlog source="WinEventLog:Security" EventCode=5027
| table _time, host, user, EventCode, Message
Data source
Splunk Windows Security event data
Assumptions
Index, source and field aliases vary by deployment. Apply event-specific field conditions after validating local extraction.
Cortex XQL: Retrieve Windows Security Event ID 5027
dataset = microsoft_windows_raw
| filter edr_event_id = 5027
Data source
Cortex XDR microsoft_windows_raw
Assumptions
The applicable Windows event channel is ingested into Cortex XDR. Inspect raw provider fields because parsed names vary by collection path.
Query reference
Sigma rule: Windows Security Event ID 5027
title: Windows Security Event ID 5027
status: experimental
logsource:
    product: windows
    service: security
detection:
    selection:
        EventID: 5027
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate administrative or system activity
level: informational
Data source
Sigma Windows Security log source
Assumptions
This rule retrieves the event and is not a standalone malicious-behavior detection. Add the documented conditions and correlations in the destination SIEM.
Query reference

Documented Values and Codes

Documented event values and their security relevance
FieldValueMeaningSecurity relevance
ErrorCode2147942413The error-code example in Microsoft's event reference; retain the actual code for troubleshooting.Interpret ErrorCode with the complete event and correlated activity; this value alone is not proof of compromise. Source
EventID5027Windows Firewall Service could not retrieve its security policy.Interpret EventID with the complete event and correlated activity; this value alone is not proof of compromise. Source

MITRE ATT&CK Mapping

  • T1686.003Disable or Modify System Firewall: Windows Host Firewall

Detection Notes

Microsoft says 5027 is usually configuration-related, so escalate to T1686.003 when threshold=1 occurrence is paired with firewall policy changes, 5028 parse failures, or 5030/5035 service-start failures on the same host. ErrorCode 2147942413 is the Microsoft example and should be retained for troubleshooting; the attack signal is that the Windows Firewall Service cannot retrieve local policy, potentially leaving an older or attacker-favorable policy enforced while remote access rules are changed elsewhere.

Common False Positives

  • Low memory, registry corruption, or Group Policy misconfiguration can cause the error without malicious activity.
  • Broken firewall policy deployments may generate 5027 across many hosts at the same time.

Related Events

Sample Log

Sanitized event sample
The Windows Firewall Service was unable to retrieve the security policy from the local storage.
ErrorCode: 2147942413
Computer: WEB01

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Windows Event ID 5027 mean?

Windows Firewall Service could not retrieve its security policy.

Does Event ID 5027 always indicate malicious activity?

No. Microsoft describes this as commonly configuration-related.

How should Event ID 5027 be investigated?

Decode ErrorCode and correlate with firewall policy changes, service failures and the last successfully applied policy.

Sources