huntrule

Windows Service Control Manager: Detect PAExec- service installation

Flags creation of PAExec-named Windows services with image paths under C:\WINDOWS via Event ID 7045.

FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v2
Product
windows
Service
system
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2022-10-26
Updated
2026-07-31
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

Execution

  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 identifies creation of a Windows service via Service Control Manager where the service name begins with "PAExec-" and the configured image path starts with "C:\WINDOWS\PAExec-". Attackers can use service installation to run code with elevated privileges and persist access on the host. It relies on Windows System logs for Service Control Manager event ID 7045 and matches the service provider name, service name prefix, and image path prefix.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1569.002 — drag to rearrange
PsExec Remote Service Execution on Target Host (via process_creation)
Renamed Procdump Tool Used for Dumping LSASS Process (via process_creation)
Suspicious Service Installation Masquerading as winupd
Suspicious PSexec Application Execution (via process_creation)
Malicious Metasploit PsExec Named Pipe Command Execution
Malicious PsExec Service Installation via PSEXESVC
Malicious NotPetya Payload Execution via Rundll32 Ordinal Export from Windows Directory
Suspicious Lateral Movement via PsExec Service (via process_creation)
Possible PsExec Remote Service Installation with Randomly Named Service (via security)
Windows Service Control Manager: Detect PAExec- service installation
Pivot detection · T1569.002 · 9 related

Changelog

v2
  1. v2
    Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
  2. v1
    No changelog recorded for this version.2026-07-30

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