LoFP LoFP / legitimate programs and administrators will execute sc.exe with the start disabled flag. it is possible, but unlikely from the telemetry of normal windows operation we observed, that sc.exe will be called more than seven times in a short period of time.

Techniques

Sample rules

Excessive number of service control start as disabled

Description

The following analytic detects an excessive number of sc.exe processes launched with the command line argument start= disabled within a short period. It leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on process names, command-line executions, and process GUIDs. This activity is significant as it may indicate an attempt to disable critical services, potentially impairing system defenses. If confirmed malicious, this behavior could allow an attacker to disrupt security mechanisms, hinder incident response, and maintain control over the compromised system.

Detection logic


| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` distinct_count(Processes.process) as distinct_cmdlines values(Processes.action) as action values(Processes.original_file_name) as original_file_name values(Processes.parent_process_exec) as parent_process_exec values(Processes.parent_process_guid) as parent_process_guid values(Processes.parent_process_name) as parent_process_name 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 min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime FROM datamodel=Endpoint.Processes WHERE Processes.process_name = "sc.exe" AND Processes.process="*start= disabled*" by Processes.dest Processes.user Processes.parent_process Processes.process_name Processes.parent_process_id, _time span=30m 
| where distinct_cmdlines >= 8 
| `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)` 
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` 
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
| `excessive_number_of_service_control_start_as_disabled_filter`