sigmalowHunting

New Service Creation Using Sc.EXE

Detects the creation of a new service using the "sc.exe" utility.

MITRE ATT&CK

persistenceprivilege-escalation

Detection Query

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_*

Author

Timur Zinniatullin, Daniil Yugoslavskiy, oscd.community

Created

2023-02-20

Data Sources

windowsProcess Creation Events

Platforms

windows

References

https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/f339e7da7d05f6057fdfcdd3742bfcf365fee2a9/atomics/T1543.003/T1543.003.md

Tags

attack.persistenceattack.privilege-escalationattack.t1543.003

Raw Content

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