Windows Service Installation with Suspicious ProgramData/Root Executable Image Paths

Flags Windows service installs (Event 7045) that reference suspicious EXE paths in ProgramData or directly under C:\.

FreeReviewedSigma · High · v2

Product: windows
Service: system
Author: pH-T (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published: 2022-03-18
Updated: 2026-07-31

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 flags Windows service creation events from the Service Control Manager (EventID 7045) where the service executable path matches suspicious patterns rooted in ProgramData or the filesystem root. Attackers may use services for persistence or privilege escalation by pointing a new service to an unexpected executable location. Detection relies on Windows service installation telemetry, specifically the ImagePath value reported in Event 7045, and applies regex checks to identify the anomalous path formats.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1543.003 — drag to rearrange

Malicious Service DLL Hijack for Persistence via Lotus Blossom

Malicious TinyTurla ServiceDll Registration via svchost Group (via registry_set)

Suspicious ToyMaker LAGTOY Service Creation Masquerading as WmiPrvSV via sc.exe

Malicious Service Creation With Autostart binPath via sc.exe (via process_creation)

Malicious svchost Service Creation for TinyTurla Persistence (via process_creation)

Malicious Service Creation Masquerading as nslookup (via process_creation)

Interactive Service Creation Executing cmd via sc.exe

Malicious Known Vulnerable Driver Load for BYOVD Attack

Malicious ValleyRAT KernelQuick Rootkit Service and Shellcode Store Registry Keys

Windows Service Installation with Suspicious ProgramData/Root Executable Image Paths

Pivot detection · T1543.003 · 9 related

Changelog

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-service-installation-referencing-suspicious-programdata-root-exe-paths-e-1b2ae822

title: Windows Service Installation with Suspicious ProgramData/Root Executable Image Paths
id: fd37403b-2202-475d-8906-3d8b8ebd3130
status: test
description: This rule flags Windows service creation events from the Service Control Manager (EventID 7045) where the service executable path matches suspicious patterns rooted in ProgramData or the filesystem root. Attackers may use services for persistence or privilege escalation by pointing a new service to an unexpected executable location. Detection relies on Windows service installation telemetry, specifically the ImagePath value reported in Event 7045, and applies regex checks to identify the anomalous path formats.
references:
  - Internal Research
  - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/windows/builtin/system/service_control_manager/win_system_susp_service_installation_folder_pattern.yml
author: pH-T (Nextron Systems), Huntrule Team
date: 2022-03-18
modified: 2022-03-24
tags:
  - attack.persistence
  - attack.privilege-escalation
  - car.2013-09-005
  - attack.t1543.003
logsource:
  product: windows
  service: system
detection:
  selection_eid:
    Provider_Name: Service Control Manager
    EventID: 7045
  selection_img_paths:
    - ImagePath|re: ^[Cc]:\\[Pp]rogram[Dd]ata\\.{1,9}\.exe
    - ImagePath|re: ^[Cc]:\\.{1,9}\.exe
  condition: all of selection_*
falsepositives:
  - Unknown
level: high
license: DRL-1.1
related:
  - id: 1b2ae822-6fe1-43ba-aa7c-d1a3b3d1d5f2
    type: derived

Convert

This rule as a query you can run. Uses no unlock credit.

SplunkSPL