Sigma rule: Service Binary in Suspicious Folder

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-ee835b21084c, updated 2025-10-07T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Service Binary in Suspicious Folder
Status
test
Level
high
Author
Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), frack113
Date
2022-05-02
Modified
2025-10-07
File
rules/windows/registry/registry_set/registry_set_creation_service_susp_folder.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detect the creation of a service with a service binary located in a suspicious directory

Log source

product
windows
category
registry_set

Detection

selection_service_start:
    TargetObject|startswith: 'HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\'
    TargetObject|endswith: '\Start'
    Image|contains:
        - '\Users\Public\'
        - '\Perflogs\'
        - '\ADMIN$\'
        - '\Temp\'
    Details:
        - 'DWORD (0x00000000)'  # boot
        - 'DWORD (0x00000001)'  # System
        - 'DWORD (0x00000002)'  # Automatic
        # 3 - Manual , 4 - Disabled
selection_service_imagepath:
    TargetObject|startswith: 'HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\'
    TargetObject|endswith: '\ImagePath'
    Details|contains:
        - '\Users\Public\'
        - '\Perflogs\'
        - '\ADMIN$\'
        - '\Temp\'
filter_optional_avast:
    Image|contains|all: # Filter FP with Avast software
        - '\Common Files\'
        - '\Temp\'
filter_optional_mbamservice:
    TargetObject|endswith: '\CurrentControlSet\Services\MBAMInstallerService\ImagePath'
    Details|endswith: '\AppData\Local\Temp\MBAMInstallerService.exe"'
    Image: 'C:\Windows\system32\services.exe'
condition: 1 of selection_* and not 1 of filter_optional_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.persistence
  • attack.defense-impairment
  • attack.t1112

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

Related rules

  • c0abc838-36b0-47c9-b3b3-a90c39455382 (obsolete)

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/registry/registry_set/registry_set_creation_service_susp_folder.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Service Binary in Suspicious Folder" by Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), frack113 (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/registry/registry_set/registry_set_creation_service_susp_folder.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: Service Binary in Suspicious Folder",
entity page, dataset version ref-ee835b21084c, updated 2025-10-07T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/a07f0359-4c90-4dc4-a681-8ffea40b4f47 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule a07f0359-4c90-4dc4-a681-8ffea40b4f47, 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.