Windows PsExec Service Installation via Service Control Manager (Event ID 7045)

ATT&CK techniques

Execution

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
- T1569.002Service Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule matches Windows Service Control Manager events where a new service is created with the name PSEXESVC and the service executable path ends with \PSEXESVC.exe. Service creation followed by execution can indicate remote tooling being staged and run under the Windows service mechanism. It relies on System event telemetry for Event ID 7045, including the provider name, service name, and ImagePath details.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1569.002 — drag to rearrange

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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)

Windows PsExec Service Installation via Service Control Manager (Event ID 7045)

Pivot detection · T1569.002 · 9 related

Changelog

v2

v2
Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
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.

windows-psexec-service-installation-via-service-control-manager-event-id-7045-42c575ea

title: Windows PsExec Service Installation via Service Control Manager (Event ID 7045)
id: 4dbdbbf8-d633-4c2b-b9a2-12c83c81eaff
status: test
description: This rule matches Windows Service Control Manager events where a new service is created with the name PSEXESVC and the service executable path ends with \PSEXESVC.exe. Service creation followed by execution can indicate remote tooling being staged and run under the Windows service mechanism. It relies on System event telemetry for Event ID 7045, including the provider name, service name, and ImagePath details.
references:
  - https://www.jpcert.or.jp/english/pub/sr/ir_research.html
  - https://jpcertcc.github.io/ToolAnalysisResultSheet
  - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/windows/builtin/system/service_control_manager/win_system_service_install_sysinternals_psexec.yml
author: Thomas Patzke, Huntrule Team
date: 2017-06-12
modified: 2023-08-04
tags:
  - attack.execution
  - attack.t1569.002
  - attack.s0029
logsource:
  product: windows
  service: system
detection:
  selection_eid:
    Provider_Name: Service Control Manager
    EventID: 7045
  selection_service:
    - ServiceName: PSEXESVC
    - ImagePath|endswith: \PSEXESVC.exe
  condition: all of selection_*
falsepositives:
  - Unknown
level: medium
license: DRL-1.1
related:
  - id: 42c575ea-e41e-41f1-b248-8093c3e82a28
    type: derived

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