huntrule

Suspicious Windows Service ImagePath Pointing to AppData Directory

PremiumReviewedSigma · Medium · v1
Product
windows
Category
registry_set
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-05-02
Updated
2026-08-28
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

Persistence → Priv Esc

  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

  14. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects creation or modification of a Windows service whose ImagePath references a user AppData directory. Legitimate services rarely execute from per-user AppData paths, so this pattern commonly indicates malware establishing persistence as a service. Reviewing such services helps surface service-based persistence.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1543.003 — drag to rearrange
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Malicious Turla TinyTurla w64time DLL Load via image_load
Malicious APT15 Persistence via Nwsapagent Service or Run Key Registry Value
Possible Driver Enumeration via Driverquery for Rootkit Discovery
Malicious Kernel Driver Load from User AppData Directory
Suspicious Windows Service Masquerading as Windows Defend by APT41 (via registry_set)
Suspicious Windows Service ImagePath Pointing to AppData Directory
Pivot detection · T1543.003 · 9 related

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