Sigma rule: Systemd Service Creation

Rule

Title

Systemd Service Creation

Status

test

Level

medium

Author

Pawel Mazur

Date

2022-02-03

Modified

2022-02-06

File

rules/linux/auditd/path/lnx_auditd_systemd_service_creation.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects a creation of systemd services which could be used by adversaries to execute malicious code.

Log source

product

linux

service

auditd

Detection

path:
    type: 'PATH'
    nametype: 'CREATE'
name_1:
    name|startswith:
        - '/usr/lib/systemd/system/'
        - '/etc/systemd/system/'
name_2:
    name|contains: '/.config/systemd/user/'
condition: path and 1 of name_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Admin work like legit service installs.

Tags

• attack.privilege-escalation
• attack.persistence
• attack.t1543.002

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1543.002

References

• https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/f339e7da7d05f6057fdfcdd3742bfcf365fee2a9/atomics/T1543.002/T1543.002.md

Read on 2026-11-03T00:58:21.399Z under licence sigma-drl-1.1@d5f4c36a from https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/linux/auditd/path/lnx_auditd_systemd_service_creation.yml