However, its convenience creates a powerful attack primitive: if an attacker can write nssm.exe to disk (or use an existing installation) and has the ability to modify service configurations, they can escalate privileges.
This article explores the updated mechanics of how attackers abuse NSSM 2.24 to escalate from a low-privileged user to . nssm224 privilege escalation updated
Real-world breach reports (e.g., from Red Canary & Mandiant 2024) show that attackers still use NSSM-based persistence to elevate from IIS APPPOOL or LOCAL SERVICE to SYSTEM . nssm224 remains viable because:
Despite being over a decade old, nssm224 remains viable because: nssm224 privilege escalation updated