Sigma rule: Abuse of Service Permissions to Hide Services Via Set-Service - PS

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-049d2cb2d66a, updated 2022-10-17T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Abuse of Service Permissions to Hide Services Via Set-Service - PS
Status
test
Level
high
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Date
2022-10-17
File
rules/windows/powershell/powershell_script/posh_ps_using_set_service_to_hide_services.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:
    ScriptBlockText|contains|all:
        - 'Set-Service '
        - 'DCLCWPDTSD'
    ScriptBlockText|contains:
        - '-SecurityDescriptorSddl '
        - '-sd '
condition: 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

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/powershell/powershell_script/posh_ps_using_set_service_to_hide_services.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Abuse of Service Permissions to Hide Services Via Set-Service - PS" by Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/powershell/powershell_script/posh_ps_using_set_service_to_hide_services.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: Abuse of Service Permissions to Hide Services Via Set-Service - PS",
entity page, dataset version ref-049d2cb2d66a, updated 2022-10-17T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/953945c5-22fe-4a92-9f8a-a9edc1e522da (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 953945c5-22fe-4a92-9f8a-a9edc1e522da, 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.