Sigma rule: Service DACL Abuse To Hide Services Via Sc.EXE

Rule

Title

Service DACL Abuse To Hide Services Via Sc.EXE

Status

test

Level

high

Author

Andreas Hunkeler (@Karneades)

Date

2021-12-20

Modified

2022-08-08

File

rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_sc_sdset_hide_sevices.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects usage of the "sc.exe" utility adding a new service with special permission seen used by threat actors which makes the service hidden and unremovable.

Log source

product

windows

category

process_creation

Detection

selection_img:
    - Image|endswith: '\sc.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: 'sc.exe'
selection_cli:
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - 'sdset'
        # Summary of permissions
        #   DC: Delete All Child Objects
        #   LC: List Contents
        #   WP: Write All Properties
        #   DT: Delete Subtree
        #   SD: Delete
        - 'DCLCWPDTSD'
condition: all of selection_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Unknown

Tags

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

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1574.011

Related rules

• 99cf1e02-00fb-4c0d-8375-563f978dfd37 (similar)
• 98c5aeef-32d5-492f-b174-64a691896d25 (similar)

References

• https://blog.talosintelligence.com/2021/10/threat-hunting-in-large-datasets-by.html
• https://www.sans.org/blog/red-team-tactics-hiding-windows-services/
• https://twitter.com/Alh4zr3d/status/1580925761996828672
• https://itconnect.uw.edu/tools-services-support/it-systems-infrastructure/msinf/other-help/understanding-sddl-syntax/

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_sdset_hide_sevices.yml