Nssm224 Privilege Escalation Updated [new] Link

Article last updated: May 2026 – reflects threat intelligence up to Q1 2026.

The official description states:

If the command returns any IdentityReference entries besides SYSTEM or Administrators with write permissions, the binary is vulnerable. nssm224 privilege escalation updated

The classic attack vector for NSSM is a combination of two weaknesses:

NSSM 2.24 Privilege Escalation Updated: Securing Your Windows Services in 2026 Article last updated: May 2026 – reflects threat

Get-ChildItem -Path C:\ -Filter nssm.exe -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | ForEach-Object $acl = Get-Acl $_.FullName $acl.Access

Enable auditing for HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ and alert on modifications to the Parameters subkey made by non-administrative users. If an attacker can modify the ImagePath or

If an attacker can modify the ImagePath or Application parameter of an existing NSSM-managed service (or create a new one), they can execute arbitrary commands as SYSTEM or LOCAL SERVICE (depending on the service’s configured account).

: The attacker enumerates running services to identify processes executing under administrative contexts.

The service loads dependency files (DLLs) from directories accessible by normal users. By placing a malicious DLL named identically to a required system file into the application directory, the application loads the malicious file first. This bypasses typical binary verification systems. Exploitation Workflow