Detection rules › Splunk
Windows Excessive Disabled Services Event
The following analytic identifies an excessive number of system events where services are modified from start to disabled. It leverages Windows Event Logs (EventCode 7040) to detect multiple service state changes on a single host. This activity is significant as it may indicate an adversary attempting to disable security applications or other critical services, potentially leading to defense evasion or destructive actions. If confirmed malicious, this behavior could allow attackers to disable security defenses, disrupt system operations, and achieve their objectives on the compromised system.
Known false positives
- No false positives have been identified at this time.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Defense Impairment |
Telemetry coverage
Rule body
name: Windows Excessive Disabled Services Event
id: c3f85976-94a5-11ec-9a58-acde48001122
version: 15
creation_date: '2022-02-23'
modification_date: '2026-05-13'
author: Teoderick Contreras, Splunk
status: production
type: TTP
description: The following analytic identifies an excessive number of system events where services are modified from start to disabled. It leverages Windows Event Logs (EventCode 7040) to detect multiple service state changes on a single host. This activity is significant as it may indicate an adversary attempting to disable security applications or other critical services, potentially leading to defense evasion or destructive actions. If confirmed malicious, this behavior could allow attackers to disable security defenses, disrupt system operations, and achieve their objectives on the compromised system.
data_source:
- Windows Event Log System 7040
search: |-
`wineventlog_system` EventCode=7040 "disabled"
| stats count values(EventData_Xml) as MessageList dc(EventData_Xml) as MessageCount min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime
BY Computer EventCode UserID
| rename Computer as dest
| where count >=10
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
| `windows_excessive_disabled_services_event_filter`
how_to_implement: To successfully implement this search, you need to be ingesting logs with the Service name, Service File Name Service Start type, and Service Type from your endpoints.
known_false_positives: No false positives have been identified at this time.
references:
- https://blog.talosintelligence.com/2018/02/olympic-destroyer.html
finding:
title: An excessive number (Count - $MessageCount$) of Windows services were disabled on dest - $dest$.
entity:
field: dest
type: system
score: 50
analytic_story:
- CISA AA23-347A
- Compromised Windows Host
- Windows Defense Evasion Tactics
asset_type: Endpoint
mitre_attack_id:
- T1685
product:
- Splunk Enterprise
- Splunk Enterprise Security
- Splunk Cloud
category: endpoint
security_domain: endpoint
Stages and Predicates
Stage 1: search
`wineventlog_system` EventCode=7040 "disabled"
Stage 2: stats
| stats count values(EventData_Xml) as MessageList dc(EventData_Xml) as MessageCount min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime
BY Computer EventCode UserID
Stage 3: rename
| rename Computer as dest
Stage 4: where
| where count >=10
Stage 5: search
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
Stage 6: search
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
Stage 7: search
| `windows_excessive_disabled_services_event_filter`
Indicators
These rows show field, operator, and value matches.
| Field | Kind | Values | Search |
|---|---|---|---|
EventCode | eq |
| field:"EventID" kind:eq value:"7040" |
count | ge |
| field:"count" kind:ge value:"10" |
Search terms
These SPL tokens match against raw event text.
| Stage | Term |
|---|---|
| 1 | "disabled" |