Malicious Run Key Persistence Named SystemAgentService

PremiumReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
windows
Category
registry_set
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-10-22
Updated
2026-10-22

ATT&CK techniques

Persistence → Priv Esc
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Defense Evasion

  6. Cred Access

  7. Discovery

  8. Lateral Movement

  9. Collection

  10. C2

  11. Exfiltration

  12. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects a registry autorun value named SystemAgentService being written under the current user Run key. The Vidar stealer campaign creates this value to survive reboots while impersonating a Microsoft service name. Catching the run key write reveals user-level persistence established by the stealer loader.

Related detections9 linkedT1547.001 — drag to rearrange
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Suspicious RunOnce Persistence Pointing to User AppData
Malicious FalseFont Backdoor Run Key Persistence from AppData (via registry_set)
Malicious Registry Run Key Persistence via AHealthDB by Stately Taurus
Suspicious PikaBot Autorun Persistence Pointing to AppData Microsoft Dropzone via registry_set
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Malicious Run Key Persistence Named SystemAgentService
Pivot detection · T1547.001 · 9 related

Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.