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Windows System Service Control: Obfuscated cmd Launching clip.exe for PowerShell

Flags service creation (Event 7045) with obfuscated cmd ImagePath using clip.exe/clipboard PowerShell execution patterns.

FreeReviewedSigma · High · v2
Product
windows
Service
system
Author
Jonathan Cheong, oscd.community (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2020-10-13
Updated
2026-07-31
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

Execution → Defense Evasion

  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

Identifies Windows Service Control Manager events where the service ImagePath contains command execution patterns including cmd, an inline command separator (&&), and PowerShell clipboard access (clipboard]::), consistent with obfuscated invocation via clip.exe. Attackers may use this approach to conceal PowerShell payload execution and stage commands through built-in utilities. The detection relies on System channel telemetry capturing Service Control Manager event 7045 and matching the ImagePath string for these specific obfuscation indicators.

Reporting behind it

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Obfuscated Encoded PowerShell Payload Deployed - PowerShell (via powershell)
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Windows System Service Control: Obfuscated cmd Launching clip.exe for PowerShell
Pivot detection · T1027 · 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.