Suspicious Windows Service ImagePath Pointing to AppData Directory

ATT&CK techniques

Persistence → Priv Esc

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
- T1543.003Windows Service
Priv Esc
- T1543.003Windows Service
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
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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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.

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