Sigma rule: Suspicious Service DACL Modification Via Set-Service Cmdlet - PS

Rule

Title

Suspicious Service DACL Modification Via Set-Service Cmdlet - PS

Status

test

Level

high

Author

Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)

Date

2022-10-24

File

rules/windows/powershell/powershell_script/posh_ps_susp_service_dacl_modification_set_service.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects usage of the "Set-Service" powershell cmdlet to configure a new SecurityDescriptor that allows a service to be hidden from other utilities such as "sc.exe", "Get-Service"...etc. (Works only in powershell 7)

Log source

product

windows

category

ps_script

definition

Requirements: Script Block Logging must be enabled

Detection

selection_sddl_flag:
    ScriptBlockText|contains:
        - '-SecurityDescriptorSddl '
        - '-sd '
selection_set_service:
    ScriptBlockText|contains|all:
        - 'Set-Service '
        - 'D;;'
    ScriptBlockText|contains:
        - ';;;IU'
        - ';;;SU'
        - ';;;BA'
        - ';;;SY'
        - ';;;WD'
condition: all of selection_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Rare intended use of hidden services
• Rare FP could occur due to the non linearity of the ScriptBlockText log

Tags

• attack.persistence
• attack.privilege-escalation
• attack.execution
• attack.stealth
• attack.t1574.011

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1574.011

Related rules

• a95b9b42-1308-4735-a1af-abb1c5e6f5ac (similar)

References

• https://twitter.com/Alh4zr3d/status/1580925761996828672
• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.management/set-service?view=powershell-7.2

Read on 2026-11-03T00:58:21.399Z under licence sigma-drl-1.1@d5f4c36a from https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/powershell/powershell_script/posh_ps_susp_service_dacl_modification_set_service.yml