Excessive Attempt To Disable Services

SPLUNK detection rule by Teoderick Contreras, Splunk · Apache-2.0

The following analytic identifies a suspicious series of command-line executions attempting to disable multiple services. It leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on processes where "sc.exe" is used with parameters like "config" or "Disabled" within a short time frame. This activity is significant as it may indicate an adversary's attempt to disable security or other critical services to further compromise the system. If confirmed malicious, this could lead to the attacker achieving persistence, evading detection, or disabling security mechanisms, thereby increasing the risk of further exploitation.

name: Excessive Attempt To Disable Services
id: 8fa2a0f0-acd9-11eb-8994-acde48001122
version: 12
creation_date: '2021-05-07'
modification_date: '2026-05-13'
author: Teoderick Contreras, Splunk
status: production
type: Anomaly
description: The following analytic identifies a suspicious series of command-line executions attempting to disable multiple services. It leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on processes where "sc.exe" is used with parameters like "config" or "Disabled" within a short time frame. This activity is significant as it may indicate an adversary's attempt to disable security or other critical services to further compromise the system. If confirmed malicious, this could lead to the attacker achieving persistence, evading detection, or disabling security mechanisms, thereby increasing the risk of further exploitation.
data_source:
    - Sysmon EventID 1
    - Windows Event Log Security 4688
    - CrowdStrike ProcessRollup2
search: |-
    | tstats `security_content_summariesonly` values(Processes.action) as action values(Processes.original_file_name) as original_file_name values(Processes.parent_process) as parent_process values(Processes.parent_process_exec) as parent_process_exec values(Processes.parent_process_guid) as parent_process_guid values(Processes.parent_process_id) as parent_process_id values(Processes.parent_process_path) as parent_process_path values(Processes.process) as process values(Processes.process_exec) as process_exec values(Processes.process_guid) as process_guid values(Processes.process_hash) as process_hash values(Processes.process_id) as process_id values(Processes.process_integrity_level) as process_integrity_level values(Processes.process_path) as process_path values(Processes.user_id) as user_id values(Processes.vendor_product) as vendor_product  count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime FROM datamodel=Endpoint.Processes
      WHERE Processes.process_name = "sc.exe"
        AND
        Processes.process="*config*"
        OR
        Processes.process="*Disabled*"
      BY Processes.process_name Processes.parent_process_name Processes.dest
         Processes.user _time span=1m
    | where count >=4
    | `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)`
    | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
    | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
    | `excessive_attempt_to_disable_services_filter`
how_to_implement: The detection is based on data that originates from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents. These agents are designed to provide security-related telemetry from the endpoints where the agent is installed. To implement this search, you must ingest logs that contain the process GUID, process name, and parent process. Additionally, you must ingest complete command-line executions. These logs must be processed using the appropriate Splunk Technology Add-ons that are specific to the EDR product. The logs must also be mapped to the `Processes` node of the `Endpoint` data model. Use the Splunk Common Information Model (CIM) to normalize the field names and speed up the data modeling process.
known_false_positives: No false positives have been identified at this time.
references:
    - https://thedfirreport.com/2020/04/20/sqlserver-or-the-miner-in-the-basement/
drilldown_searches:
    - name: View the detection results for - "$dest$"
      search: '%original_detection_search% | search  dest = "$dest$"'
      earliest_offset: $info_min_time$
      latest_offset: $info_max_time$
    - name: View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$dest$"
      search: '| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$dest$") | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(search_name) as "Search Name" values(risk_message) as "Risk Message" values(analyticstories) as "Analytic Stories" values(annotations._all) as "Annotations" values(annotations.mitre_attack.mitre_tactic) as "ATT&CK Tactics" by normalized_risk_object | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`'
      earliest_offset: 7d
      latest_offset: "0"
intermediate_findings:
    entities:
        - field: dest
          type: system
          score: 20
          message: An excessive amount of $process_name$ was executed on $dest$ attempting to disable services.
threat_objects:
    - field: process_name
      type: process_name
analytic_story:
    - XMRig
    - Azorult
asset_type: Endpoint
mitre_attack_id:
    - T1489
product:
    - Splunk Enterprise
    - Splunk Enterprise Security
    - Splunk Cloud
category: endpoint
security_domain: endpoint
tests:
    - name: True Positive Test
      attack_data:
        - data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/malware/xmrig_miner/windows-sysmon.log
          source: XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational
          sourcetype: XmlWinEventLog
      test_type: unit

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