Sigma rule: PsExec Service Child Process Execution as LOCAL SYSTEM

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-5768e49e3911, updated 2023-02-28T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
PsExec Service Child Process Execution as LOCAL SYSTEM
Status
test
Level
high
Author
Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
Date
2022-07-21
Modified
2023-02-28
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_sysinternals_psexesvc_as_system.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects suspicious launch of the PSEXESVC service on this system and a sub process run as LOCAL_SYSTEM (-s), which means that someone remotely started a command on this system running it with highest privileges and not only the privileges of the login user account (e.g. the administrator account)

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection:
    ParentImage: 'C:\Windows\PSEXESVC.exe'
    User|contains: # covers many language settings
        - 'AUTHORI'
        - 'AUTORI'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Users that debug Microsoft Intune issues using the commands mentioned in the official documentation; see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/mem/intune/apps/intune-management-extension

Tags

  • attack.execution

Related rules

References

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/process_creation/proc_creation_win_sysinternals_psexesvc_as_system.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "PsExec Service Child Process Execution as LOCAL SYSTEM" by Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_sysinternals_psexesvc_as_system.yml.
    Licensed under the Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/Detection-Rule-License

    Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1

Cite this page

Dragons Eye Ransomware Tracker, "Sigma rule: PsExec Service Child Process Execution as LOCAL SYSTEM",
entity page, dataset version ref-5768e49e3911, updated 2023-02-28T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/7c0dcd3d-acf8-4f71-9570-f448b0034f94 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 7c0dcd3d-acf8-4f71-9570-f448b0034f94, commit ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84.

Pages change. The dataset version identifies the data, but no archive of old versions is kept, so this citation cannot be replayed later.