Sigma rule: Stop Windows Service Via Sc.EXE

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-9a1e4fcfc133, updated 2024-01-18T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Stop Windows Service Via Sc.EXE
Status
test
Level
low
Author
Jakob Weinzettl, oscd.community, Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Date
2023-03-05
Modified
2024-01-18
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_sc_stop_service.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects the stopping of a Windows service via the "sc.exe" utility

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection_img:
    - OriginalFileName: 'sc.exe'
    - Image|endswith: '\sc.exe'
selection_cli:
    CommandLine|contains: ' stop '
condition: all of selection_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • There are many legitimate reasons to stop a service. This rule isn't looking for any suspicious behavior in particular. Filter legitimate activity accordingly

Tags

  • attack.impact
  • attack.t1489

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

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_sc_stop_service.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Stop Windows Service Via Sc.EXE" by Jakob Weinzettl, oscd.community, Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_sc_stop_service.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: Stop Windows Service Via Sc.EXE",
entity page, dataset version ref-9a1e4fcfc133, updated 2024-01-18T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/81bcb81b-5b1f-474b-b373-52c871aaa7b1 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 81bcb81b-5b1f-474b-b373-52c871aaa7b1, 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.