Nssm-2.24 Privilege Escalation

The Silent Threat: Exploiting NSSM 2.24 for Privilege Escalation

  1. : Because NSSM is a legitimate tool for managing services, threat actors often use it to establish persistence

    Automated Permission Audit

    : Upon service installation or startup, NSSM should scan its own binary path and the target application path. It would flag if high-risk groups (e.g., "Everyone," "Users," or "Authenticated Users") have Write or Full Control permissions. nssm-2.24 privilege escalation

    This is the most frequent exploitation path. Many installers deploy NSSM 2.24 with weak Access Control Lists (ACLs), such as granting the "Everyone" group "Full Control" or "Modify" rights to the folder where National Institute of Standards and Technology (.gov) The Attack : A low-privileged user replaces the legitimate The Silent Threat: Exploiting NSSM 2

    Or checks installed versions:

    • Audit the ACLs on service registry keys and service executable paths.
    • Monitor Windows event logs for service binary path changes and unexpected service restarts.
    • Alert on new or modified executables in service directories.

    The Hijack:

    A low-privilege user replaces the legitimate nssm.exe (or the application it points to) with a malicious payload (e.g., a reverse shell). : Because NSSM is a legitimate tool for