Windows Event ID 5035: The Windows Firewall Driver failed to start
- Applicable version
- Windows Server 2008 R2 and later
- Last reviewed
- 2026-07-21
Quick summary
Windows Security Event ID 5035 records that the Windows Firewall Driver failed to start or unexpectedly terminated.
Technical Metadata
| Event ID | 5035 |
|---|---|
| Provider | Microsoft-Windows-Security-Auditing |
| Channel | Security |
| Level | Information |
| Audit keyword | Audit Failure |
| MITRE ATT&CK | TA0005 Defense Evasion / T1562.004 Impair Defenses: Disable or Modify System Firewall |
| Key fields to watch | Error Code, Computer, EventID |
Trigger Scenarios
Windows logs this event when the Windows Firewall driver fails to start or unexpectedly terminates and includes an Error Code in the message text.
Key Fields
Error Code
The Microsoft schema exposes Error Code:%1 as the concrete driver-failure reason. Preserve the exact value from the event.
Computer
Identifies the host where packet filtering may be impaired before or during service startup.
EventID
Event 5035 is firewall-driver specific; correlate it with 5030 for service failure and boot/service events.
Threat Hunting Queries
SecurityEvent
| where EventID == 5035
| project TimeGenerated, Computer, Account, EventData
| order by TimeGenerated desc- Data source
- Microsoft Sentinel SecurityEvent table
- Assumptions
- The Windows Security Events connector populates SecurityEvent. Apply the event-specific field and correlation guidance on this page after retrieving the base events.
index=wineventlog source="WinEventLog:Security" EventCode=5035
| table _time, host, user, EventCode, Message- Data source
- Splunk Windows Security event data
- Assumptions
- Index, source, and field aliases vary by Splunk deployment and Windows add-on version. Map provider fields from the raw event before adding event-specific filtering or aggregation.
dataset = microsoft_windows_raw
| filter edr_event_id = 5035- Data source
- Cortex XDR microsoft_windows_raw
- Assumptions
- The Windows Security channel is ingested into Cortex XDR. Inspect raw provider fields because parsed names vary by collection path.
title: Windows Security Event ID 5035
status: experimental
logsource:
product: windows
service: security
detection:
selection:
EventID: 5035
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 field conditions and correlations documented on this page in the destination SIEM.
MITRE ATT&CK Mapping
- T1562.004Impair Defenses: Disable or Modify System Firewall
Detection Notes
T1562.004 Disable or Modify System Firewall is supported when threshold=1 Event 5035 follows unauthorized driver, service, or firewall-policy modification. Retain the rendered ErrorCode from Error Code:%1 and correlate 5030, 5038, boot-time driver telemetry, and change records; no universal numeric error code is defined by the event reference.
Common False Positives
- Microsoft notes software or operating-system issues can cause this event.
- Driver corruption or dependency failures during maintenance can create non-malicious failures.
Related Events
Sample Log
EventID: 5035
Computer: HOST01
Error Code: 5Frequently Asked Questions
What does Windows Event ID 5035 mean?
Event ID 5035 records that the Windows Firewall driver failed to start and includes a rendered error code.
Why is a firewall-driver failure high impact?
The driver enforces network filtering below the service layer, so failure can reduce host firewall protection even when caused by a nonmalicious system problem.
Which telemetry should be correlated with 5035?
Review 5030, driver and code-integrity events, service configuration, boot diagnostics, and recent security-product or operating-system changes.
Sources
- 5035: Microsoft Windows security auditing event reference
Microsoft · vendor
- Impair Defenses: Disable or Modify System Firewall (T1562.004)
MITRE ATT&CK · attack
- XDR Collector datasets
Palo Alto Networks · vendor
- Sigma Rules Specification
SigmaHQ · detection rule