Suspicious Monero Miner Service Registration via NSSM c3pool (via process_creation)

PremiumReviewedSigma · Medium · v1
Product
windows
Category
process_creation
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-11-08
Updated
2026-11-08

ATT&CK techniques

Impact
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Persistence

  6. Priv Esc

  7. Defense Evasion

  8. Cred Access

  9. Discovery

  10. Lateral Movement

  11. Collection

  12. C2

  13. Exfiltration

What it detects

This rule detects registration of a c3pool_miner service via NSSM, the persistence behavior RunningRAT uses to keep its XMRig Monero miner running for profit. Adversaries leverage the non-sucking service manager to install a coin miner as a resilient background service.

Related detections9 linkedT1496 — drag to rearrange
Suspicious React2Shell Cryptominer Masquerade and Crond Persistence on Linux
Malicious XMRig Masquerading as Logrotate in User Config Directory (JDWP Abuse)
Suspicious Download of XMRig Miner via Wget (JINX-0132)
Suspicious Stratum Mining Protocol Usage via Command Line
Suspicious DNS Query to Monero Cryptomining Pool via PyLoose (via dns_query)
Suspicious DNS Query for SupportXMR Mining Pool (JINX-0132)
Malicious XMRig Cryptomining Pool DNS Query to c3pool via Ivanti Compromise
Suspicious Competing Cryptominer Termination via killall
Malicious XMRig Miner Installation via c3pool Setup Script
Suspicious Monero Miner Service Registration via NSSM c3pool (via process_creation)
Pivot detection · T1496 · 9 related

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