LoFP LoFP / false positives will be limited to legitimate applications creating a task to run as system. filter as needed based on parent process, or modify the query to have world writeable paths to restrict it.

Techniques

Sample rules

Windows Schtasks Create Run As System

Description

The following analytic identifies the creation of a new task to start and run as an elevated user - SYSTEM using Schtasks.exe. This behavior is commonly used by adversaries to spawn a process in an elevated state. If a true positive is found, it suggests an attacker is attempting to persist within the environment or potentially deliver additional malicious payloads, leading to data theft, ransomware, or other damaging outcomes. Upon triage, review the scheduled task’s source and the command to be executed. Capture and inspect any relevant on-disk artifacts, and look for concurrent processes to identify the attack source. This approach helps analysts detect potential threats earlier and mitigate the risks.

Detection logic


| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime from datamodel=Endpoint.Processes where `process_schtasks` Processes.process="*/create *" AND Processes.process="*/ru *" AND Processes.process="*system*" by Processes.dest Processes.user Processes.parent_process_name Processes.process_name Processes.original_file_name Processes.process Processes.process_id Processes.parent_process_id 
| `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)` 
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` 
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
| `windows_schtasks_create_run_as_system_filter`