Detection rules › Sigma
New Service Creation Using Sc.EXE
Detects the creation of a new service using the "sc.exe" utility.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Persistence | T1543.003 Create or Modify System Process: Windows Service |
| Privilege Escalation | T1543.003 Create or Modify System Process: Windows Service |
Event coverage
| Provider | Event | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Sysmon | Event ID 1 | Process creation |
| Security-Auditing | Event ID 4688 | A new process has been created. |
Rule body yaml
title: New Service Creation Using Sc.EXE
id: 85ff530b-261d-48c6-a441-facaa2e81e48
related:
- id: c02e96b7-c63a-4c47-bd83-4a9f74afcfb2 # Using PowerShell
type: similar
status: test
description: Detects the creation of a new service using the "sc.exe" utility.
references:
- https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/f339e7da7d05f6057fdfcdd3742bfcf365fee2a9/atomics/T1543.003/T1543.003.md
author: Timur Zinniatullin, Daniil Yugoslavskiy, oscd.community
date: 2023-02-20
modified: 2025-09-01
tags:
- attack.persistence
- attack.privilege-escalation
- attack.t1543.003
logsource:
category: process_creation
product: windows
detection:
selection:
Image|endswith: '\sc.exe'
CommandLine|contains|all:
- 'create'
- 'binPath'
filter_optional_dropbox:
ParentImage|startswith:
- 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Dropbox\Client\'
- 'C:\Program Files\Dropbox\Client\'
ParentImage|endswith: '\Dropbox.exe'
condition: selection and not 1 of filter_optional_*
falsepositives:
- Legitimate administrator or user creates a service for legitimate reasons.
- Software installation
level: low
Stages and Predicates
Stage 0: condition
selection and not 1 of filter_optional_*Stage 1: selection
selection:
Image|endswith: '\sc.exe'
CommandLine|contains|all:
- 'create'
- 'binPath'
Stage 2: not filter_optional_dropbox
filter_optional_dropbox:
ParentImage|startswith:
- 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Dropbox\Client\'
- 'C:\Program Files\Dropbox\Client\'
ParentImage|endswith: '\Dropbox.exe'
Exclusions
Top-level NOT(...) conjuncts: predicates this rule actively suppresses.
| Field | Kind | Excluded values |
|---|---|---|
ParentImage | starts_with | C:\Program Files (x86)\Dropbox\Client\ |
ParentImage | starts_with | C:\Program Files\Dropbox\Client\ |
ParentImage | ends_with | \Dropbox.exe |
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 |
|---|---|---|
CommandLine | match |
|
Image | ends_with |
|