How do I install the Hunting For Unusual Service Installations skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add gabrielmoreira/hunting-for-unusual-service-installations in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Hunting For Unusual Service Installations safe to use?

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Which AI agents work with Hunting For Unusual Service Installations?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Hunting For Unusual Service Installations free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free. This skill is licensed under Apache-2.

Who published Hunting For Unusual Service Installations?

gabrielmoreira (@gabrielmoreira) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Hunting For Unusual Service Installations by gabrielmoreira

Name: Hunting For Unusual Service Installations
Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Author: gabrielmoreira

Hunting For Unusual Service Installations

Detects suspicious Windows service installations (MITRE ATT&CK T1543.003) by parsing System event log Event ID 7045, analyzing service binary paths, and flagging indicators of persistence mechanisms via Sysmon/EDR telemetry. Use when hunting for new-service persistence after a suspected compromise, when Event ID 7045 fires for an unfamiliar service, or during incident response to enumerate service-based persistence on Windows hosts.

gabrielmoreira Updated Sep 9, 2026 17 repo stars

File contents

Hunting for Unusual Service Installations

Overview

Attackers frequently install malicious Windows services for persistence and privilege escalation (MITRE ATT&CK T1543.003 — Create or Modify System Process: Windows Service). Event ID 7045 in the System event log records every new service installation. This skill parses .evtx log files to extract service installation events, flags suspicious binary paths (temp directories, PowerShell, cmd.exe, encoded commands), and correlates with known attack patterns.

When to Use

When investigating security incidents that require hunting for unusual service installations
When building detection rules or threat hunting queries for this domain
When SOC analysts need structured procedures for this analysis type
When validating security monitoring coverage for related attack techniques

Prerequisites

Python 3.9+ with python-evtx, lxml
Windows System event log (.evtx) files
Access to live System event log (optional, for real-time monitoring)
Sysmon logs for enhanced process tracking (optional)

Steps

Parse System.evtx for Event ID 7045 (new service installed)
Extract service name, binary path, service type, and account
Flag services with suspicious binary paths (temp dirs, encoded commands)
Detect PowerShell-based service creation patterns
Identify services running as LocalSystem with unusual paths
Cross-reference with known legitimate service baselines
Generate threat hunting report with MITRE ATT&CK T1543.003 mapping

Expected Output

JSON report listing all new service installations with risk scores, suspicious indicators, and remediation recommendations
Timeline of service installation events with binary path analysis

---name: hunting-for-unusual-service-installationsdescription: Detects suspicious Windows service installations (MITRE ATT&CK T1543.003) by parsing System event log Event ID 7045, analyzing service binary paths, and flagging indicators of persistence mechanisms via Sysmon/EDR telemetry. Use when hunting for new-service persistence after a suspected compromise, when Event ID 7045 fires for an unfamiliar service, or during incident response to enumerate service-based persistence on Windows hosts.license: Apache-2.0--- # Hunting for Unusual Service Installations ## Overview Attackers frequently install malicious Windows services for persistence and privilege escalation (MITRE ATT&CK T1543.003 — Create or Modify System Process: Windows Service). Event ID 7045 in the System event log records every new service installation. This skill parses .evtx log files to extract service installation events, flags suspicious binary paths (temp directories, PowerShell, cmd.exe, encoded commands), and correlates with known attack patterns. ## When to Use - When investigating security incidents that require hunting for unusual service installations - When building detection rules or threat hunting queries for this domain - When SOC analysts need structured procedures for this analysis type - When validating security monitoring coverage for related attack techniques ## Prerequisites - Python 3.9+ with `python-evtx`, `lxml` - Windows System event log (.evtx) files - Access to live System event log (optional, for real-time monitoring) - Sysmon logs for enhanced process tracking (optional) ## Steps 1. Parse System.evtx for Event ID 7045 (new service installed) 2. Extract service name, binary path, service type, and account 3. Flag services with suspicious binary paths (temp dirs, encoded commands) 4. Detect PowerShell-based service creation patterns 5. Identify services running as LocalSystem with unusual paths 6. Cross-reference with known legitimate service baselines 7. Generate threat hunting report with MITRE ATT&CK T1543.003 mapping ## Expected Output - JSON report listing all new service installations with risk scores, suspicious indicators, and remediation recommendations - Timeline of service installation events with binary path analysis

Frequently asked questions