Windows Service Installed via an Unusual Client

Last updated 5 days ago on 2025-06-19
Created 3 years ago on 2022-02-07

About

Identifies the creation of a Windows service by an unusual client process. Services may be created with administrator privileges but are executed under SYSTEM privileges, so an adversary may also use a service to escalate privileges from administrator to SYSTEM.
Tags
Domain: EndpointOS: WindowsUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: Privilege EscalationData Source: Windows Security Event LogsLanguage: eql
Severity
high
Risk Score
73
MITRE ATT&CK™

Privilege Escalation (TA0004)(opens in a new tab or window)

License
Elastic License v2(opens in a new tab or window)

Definition

Rule Type
Event Correlation Rule
Integration Pack
Prebuilt Security Detection Rules
Index Patterns
logs-system.security*logs-windows.forwarded*winlogbeat-*
Related Integrations

system(opens in a new tab or window)

windows(opens in a new tab or window)

Query
configuration where host.os.type == "windows" and
  event.action == "service-installed" and
  (winlog.event_data.ClientProcessId == "0" or winlog.event_data.ParentProcessId == "0") and
  startswith~(user.domain, winlog.computer_name) and winlog.event_data.ServiceAccount == "LocalSystem" and 
  not winlog.event_data.ServiceFileName : (
    "?:\\Windows\\VeeamVssSupport\\VeeamGuestHelper.exe",
    "?:\\Windows\\VeeamLogShipper\\VeeamLogShipper.exe",
    "%SystemRoot%\\system32\\Drivers\\Crowdstrike\\*-CsInstallerService.exe",
    "\"%windir%\\AdminArsenal\\PDQInventory-Scanner\\service-1\\PDQInventory-Scanner-1.exe\" "
  )

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Windows Service Installed via an Unusual Client in the Elastic Security detection engine by installing this rule into your Elastic Stack.

To setup this rule, check out the installation guide for Prebuilt Security Detection Rules(opens in a new tab or window).