Starting or Stopping HealthService to Avoid Detection

Status: available
Severity: medium
Time window: 1d
Source: github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel

This query detects events where an actor is stopping or starting HealthService to disable telemetry collection/detection from the agent. The query requires a SACL to audit for access request to the service.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Stealth	`T1562.001` Impair Defenses: Disable or Modify Tools

Event coverage

Provider	Event	Title
Security-Auditing	Event ID 4624	An account was successfully logged on.
Security-Auditing	Event ID 4656	A handle to an object was requested.

Rule body kusto

id: 2bc7b4ae-eeaa-4538-ba15-ef298ec1ffae
name: Starting or Stopping HealthService to Avoid Detection
description: |
   'This query detects events where an actor is stopping or starting HealthService to disable telemetry collection/detection from the agent.
    The query requires a SACL to audit for access request to the service.'
severity: Medium
requiredDataConnectors:
  - connectorId: SecurityEvents
    dataTypes:
      - SecurityEvent
  - connectorId: WindowsSecurityEvents
    dataTypes:
      - SecurityEvent
queryFrequency: 1d
queryPeriod: 1d
triggerOperator: gt
triggerThreshold: 0
status: Available
tactics:
  - DefenseEvasion
relevantTechniques:
  - T1562.001
tags:
  - Solorigate
  - NOBELIUM
query: |
  SecurityEvent
  | where EventID == 4656
  | extend EventData = parse_xml(EventData).EventData.Data
  | mv-expand bagexpansion=array EventData
  | evaluate bag_unpack(EventData)
  | extend Key = tostring(column_ifexists('@Name', "")), Value = column_ifexists('#text', "")
  | evaluate pivot(Key, any(Value), TimeGenerated, TargetAccount, Computer, EventSourceName, Channel, Task, Level, EventID, Activity, TargetLogonId, SourceComputerId, EventOriginId, Type, _ResourceId, TenantId, SourceSystem, ManagementGroupName, IpAddress, Account)
  | extend ObjectServer = column_ifexists('ObjectServer', ""), ObjectType = column_ifexists('ObjectType', ""), ObjectName = column_ifexists('ObjectName', "")
  | where isnotempty(ObjectServer) and isnotempty(ObjectType) and isnotempty(ObjectName)
  | where ObjectServer =~ "SC Manager" and ObjectType =~ "SERVICE OBJECT" and ObjectName =~ "HealthService"
  // Comment out the join below if the SACL only audits users that are part of the Network logon users, i.e. with user/group target pointing to "NU."
  | join kind=leftouter (
    SecurityEvent
    | where EventID == 4624
  ) on TargetLogonId
  | project TimeGenerated, Computer, Account, TargetAccount, IpAddress,TargetLogonId, ObjectServer, ObjectType, ObjectName
  | extend HostName = tostring(split(Computer, ".")[0]), DomainIndex = toint(indexof(Computer, '.'))
  | extend HostNameDomain = iff(DomainIndex != -1, substring(Computer, DomainIndex + 1), Computer)
  | extend AccountName = tostring(split(TargetAccount, @'\')[1]), AccountNTDomain = tostring(split(TargetAccount, @'\')[0])
  | extend timestamp = TimeGenerated
entityMappings:
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: FullName
        columnName: TargetAccount
      - identifier: Name
        columnName: AccountName
      - identifier: NTDomain
        columnName: AccountNTDomain
  - entityType: Host
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: FullName
        columnName: Computer
      - identifier: HostName
        columnName: HostName
      - identifier: DnsDomain
        columnName: HostNameDomain
  - entityType: IP
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: Address
        columnName: IpAddress
version: 1.0.2
kind: Scheduled

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: `source`

SecurityEvent

Stage 2: `where`

| where EventID == 4656

Stage 3: `extend`

| extend EventData = parse_xml(EventData).EventData.Data

Stage 4: `mv-expand`

| mv-expand bagexpansion=array EventData

Stage 5: `evaluate`

| evaluate bag_unpack(EventData)

Stage 6: `extend`

| extend Key = tostring(column_ifexists('@Name', "")), Value = column_ifexists('#text', "")

Stage 7: `evaluate`

| evaluate pivot(Key, any(Value), TimeGenerated, TargetAccount, Computer, EventSourceName, Channel, Task, Level, EventID, Activity, TargetLogonId, SourceComputerId, EventOriginId, Type, _ResourceId, TenantId, SourceSystem, ManagementGroupName, IpAddress, Account)

Stage 8: `extend`

| extend ObjectServer = column_ifexists('ObjectServer', ""), ObjectType = column_ifexists('ObjectType', ""), ObjectName = column_ifexists('ObjectName', "")

Stage 9: `where`

| where isnotempty(ObjectServer) and isnotempty(ObjectType) and isnotempty(ObjectName)

Stage 10: `where`

| where ObjectServer =~ "SC Manager" and ObjectType =~ "SERVICE OBJECT" and ObjectName =~ "HealthService"

Stage 11: `join`

| join kind=leftouter (
  SecurityEvent
  | where EventID == 4624
) on TargetLogonId

Stage 12: `project`

| project TimeGenerated, Computer, Account, TargetAccount, IpAddress,TargetLogonId, ObjectServer, ObjectType, ObjectName

Stage 13: `extend` (4 consecutive steps)

| extend HostName = tostring(split(Computer, ".")[0]), DomainIndex = toint(indexof(Computer, '.'))
| extend HostNameDomain = iff(DomainIndex != -1, substring(Computer, DomainIndex + 1), Computer)
| extend AccountName = tostring(split(TargetAccount, @'\')[1]), AccountNTDomain = tostring(split(TargetAccount, @'\')[0])
| extend timestamp = TimeGenerated

Indicators

Each row is a field, operator, and value that the rule matches. The corpus column counts how many other rules in the catalog look for the same combination: high numbers point to widely-used, community-vetted indicators. Blank or 1 shows that the indicator is specific to this rule.

Field	Kind	Values
`EventID`	eq	`4624` transforms: `cased` corpus 25 (splunk 13, kusto 8, chronicle 4) `4656` transforms: `cased` corpus 19 (splunk 15, kusto 4)
`ObjectName`	eq	`HealthService`
`ObjectName`	is_not_null	(no value, null check)
`ObjectServer`	eq	`SC Manager` corpus 2 (sigma 1, kusto 1)
`ObjectServer`	is_not_null	(no value, null check)
`ObjectType`	eq	`SERVICE OBJECT`
`ObjectType`	is_not_null	(no value, null check)

Output fields

Fields the rule emits when it matches. Chronicle authors list these in the outcome block; they appear on the detection and $risk_score drives alerting. Sentinel / Defender XDR rules build them up through project / summarize / extend stages. Sentinel maps these into alert fields via entityMappings and customDetails; Defender XDR custom detections surface them as alert fields directly.

Field	Source
`Account`	`project`
`Computer`	`project`
`IpAddress`	`project`
`ObjectName`	`project`
`ObjectServer`	`project`
`ObjectType`	`project`
`TargetAccount`	`project`
`TargetLogonId`	`project`
`TimeGenerated`	`project`
`DomainIndex`	`extend`
`HostName`	`extend`
`HostNameDomain`	`extend`
`AccountNTDomain`	`extend`
`AccountName`	`extend`
`timestamp`	`extend`

`j` / `k`	Scroll down / up
`d` / `u`	Half-page down / up
`gg` / `G`	Top / bottom
`h` / `l`	History back / forward
`f`	Follow link (`Shift` = new tab)
`/`	Focus search
`?`	Toggle this help
`↑` / `↓`	Navigate search results
`Enter`	Open highlighted result
`Esc`	Close results / dialog

`type:`	`events` / `rules` / `providers`
`vendor:`	`sigma` / `elastic` / `splunk` / `kusto` / `chronicle` (vendor name alone also works: `sigma:`, `kql:`, `secops:`…)
`tactic:`	TA-id, slug, or name: `credential_access`, `TA0006`
`technique:`	technique or sub-technique ID: `T1003`, `T1003.001` (alias `tech:`)
`severity:`	`critical` / `high` / `medium` / `low` / `informational` (alias `sev:`)
`risk_score`	Numeric comparison on the Elastic risk score (0 to 100): `risk_score>50`, `risk_score<=20`, `risk_score=99` (alias `risk`; Elastic rules only)
`stages:`	Rules with exactly N pipeline stages
`correlation:`	`single_event` / `sequence` / `alternatives` / `alternatives_cross_log` / `all_required` / `correlated`
`with:`	Co-occurrence event-id; stacks (`with:4624 with:4769`) to require all, while a comma list in one occurrence (`with:4624,4769`) is an either-or group. Implies multi-event
`like:`	Structural neighbors of a rule slug (equivalents + subsumption stricter / broader): `like:comsvcs_lsass_memory_dump-splunk-sysmon`
`groupby:`	Entity-grouping substring match against `group_by_keys`: `groupby:user`, `groupby:host`
`uses:`	Rules whose predicate tree touches the field (any kind, any value): `uses:CommandLine`
`excludes:`	Rules with top-level `not()` clauses on the field (FP whitelists): `excludes:ParentImage`
`field:` / `value:`	Predicate search; narrows rule cards to those with a matching leaf and drives the indicator tier. Unquoted = substring, wildcards allowed (`value:mimikatz`)
`indicator:`	Shorthand for `field:F value:V`: `indicator:Image=*\powershell.exe`
`kind:`	Filter by predicate kind. Narrows rule cards to those carrying a matching predicate leaf (`vendor:elastic kind:cidr_match`) and drives the indicator tier: `contains` / `starts_with` / `ends_with` / `regex` / `cidr` / `eq` / `in` … (operator aliases `op:`/`match:`)
`has:` / `no:`	`sample`, `field`, `notes`, `refs`, `trace`, `thirdparty`, `rule`, `pattern`, `timewindow`, `threshold`, `newterms`, `sigma`/`elastic`/`splunk`/`kusto`/`chronicle`
`-op:val`	Exclude matches; works on most operators but not `type:`/`like:`/`has:`/`no:` (use `no:<flag>` to exclude a rule flag): `tactic:execution -vendor:splunk`. Standalone `-kind:`/`-field:`/`-value:` drop every rule carrying a matching predicate leaf (`type:rules -kind:is_null`)
`field:"…"` / `value:"…"`	Quoted value = anchored exact match (also allows spaces): `value:"net user"`
`a,b`	Comma = OR inside one operator (`vendor:sigma,elastic`, `severity:high,critical`); repeating a facet merges the same way. `field:`/`value:` never split (literal commas)
`vendors:` / `stage:`	Singular and plural spellings fold to the canonical operator and value: `tactics:` = `tactic:`, `type:event` = `type:events`, `correlation:sequences` = `correlation:sequence`, `has:thresholds` = `has:threshold`
`"quoted phrase"`	Exact-match a multi-word phrase (free text)

Starting or Stopping HealthService to Avoid Detection

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `extend`

Stage 4: `mv-expand`

Stage 5: `evaluate`

Stage 6: `extend`

Stage 7: `evaluate`

Stage 8: `extend`

Stage 9: `where`

Stage 10: `where`

Stage 11: `join`

Stage 12: `project`

Stage 13: `extend` (4 consecutive steps)

Indicators

Output fields

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Starting or Stopping HealthService to Avoid Detection

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: source

Stage 2: where

Stage 3: extend

Stage 4: mv-expand

Stage 5: evaluate

Stage 6: extend

Stage 7: evaluate

Stage 8: extend

Stage 9: where

Stage 10: where

Stage 11: join

Stage 12: project

Stage 13: extend (4 consecutive steps)

Indicators

Output fields

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `extend`

Stage 4: `mv-expand`

Stage 5: `evaluate`

Stage 6: `extend`

Stage 7: `evaluate`

Stage 8: `extend`

Stage 9: `where`

Stage 10: `where`

Stage 11: `join`

Stage 12: `project`

Stage 13: `extend` (4 consecutive steps)