Suspicious Schtasks Schedule Type With High Privileges

calendar Oct 23, 2025 · attack.privilege-escalation attack.persistence attack.execution attack.t1053.005  ·
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Detects scheduled task creations or modification to be run with high privileges on a suspicious schedule type

Sigma rule (View on GitHub)

 1title: Suspicious Schtasks Schedule Type With High Privileges
 2id: 7a02e22e-b885-4404-b38b-1ddc7e65258a
 3related:
 4    - id: 24c8392b-aa3c-46b7-a545-43f71657fe98
 5      type: similar
 6status: test
 7description: Detects scheduled task creations or modification to be run with high privileges on a suspicious schedule type
 8references:
 9    - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/schtasks-change
10    - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/schtasks-create
11author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
12date: 2022-08-31
13tags:
14    - attack.privilege-escalation
15    - attack.persistence
16    - attack.execution
17    - attack.t1053.005
18logsource:
19    product: windows
20    category: process_creation
21detection:
22    selection_img:
23        - Image|endswith: '\schtasks.exe'
24        - OriginalFileName: 'schtasks.exe'
25    selection_time:
26        CommandLine|contains:
27            - ' ONLOGON '
28            - ' ONSTART '
29            - ' ONCE '
30            - ' ONIDLE '
31    selection_privs:
32        CommandLine|contains:
33            - 'NT AUT' # This covers the usual NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM
34            - ' SYSTEM' # SYSTEM is a valid value for schtasks hence it gets it's own value with space
35            - 'HIGHEST'
36    condition: all of selection_*
37falsepositives:
38    - Some installers were seen using this method of creation unfortunately. Filter them in your environment
39level: medium

References

  • schtasks change

    Reference article for the schtasks change command, which schedules commands and programs to run periodically or at a specific time, adds and removes tasks from the schedule, starts and stops tasks on demand, and displays and changes scheduled tasks.


    Read More

  • schtasks create

    Reference article for the schtasks create command to automate tasks.


    Read More

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