TA0003 · PERSISTENCE
Services File Permissions Weakness
Adversaries may execute their own malicious payloads by hijacking the binaries used by services. Adversaries may use flaws in the permissions of Windows services to replace the binary that is executed upon service start.
Detect it with
Look for changes to binaries and service executables that may normally occur during software updates. If an executable is written, renamed, and/or moved to match an existing service executable, it could be detected and correlated with other suspicious behavior.
Why it matters on shift
Services File Permissions Weakness is one of the concrete ways adversaries achieve persistence. Recognising it in telemetry lets you name the technique in your ticket and pivot to what came before and after.
What to look for next
After persistence, the next tactic is usually Privilege Escalation. Search your telemetry for the transition before closing the ticket.
Kill-chain context