Possible Persistence Attempt Through Existing Service Manipulation (via process_creation)

title: Possible Persistence Attempt Through Existing Service Manipulation (via process_creation)
id: f672e309-1d2e-5485-aa10-ad33afd74b45
status: stable
description: This rule detects the modification of an existing service to execute an arbitrary payload when the service is started or killed as a potential method for persistence.
references:
    - https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1574/011/
    - https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1543/003/
    - https://pentestlab.blog/2020/01/22/persistence-modify-existing-service/
author: Huntrule Team
date: 2026-01-06
tags:
    - attack.privilege-escalation
    - attack.persistence
    - attack.execution
    - attack.stealth
    - attack.t1543.003
    - attack.t1574.011
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_sc:
        - CommandLine|contains|all:
              - 'sc '
              - 'config '
              - 'binpath='
        - CommandLine|contains|all:
              - 'sc '
              - 'failure'
              - 'command='
    selection_reg_img:
        - CommandLine|contains|all:
              - 'reg '
              - 'add '
              - 'FailureCommand'
        - CommandLine|contains|all:
              - 'reg '
              - 'add '
              - 'ImagePath'
    selection_reg_ext:
        CommandLine|contains:
            - '.sh'
            - '.exe'
            - '.dll'
            - '.bin$'
            - '.bat'
            - '.cmd'
            - '.js'
            - '.msh$'
            - '.reg$'
            - '.scr'
            - '.ps'
            - '.vb'
            - '.jar'
            - '.pl'
    condition: selection_sc or all of selection_reg_*
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: medium