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API Reference — Hunting for Scheduled Task Persistence

Libraries Used

  • subprocess: Execute schtasks /query and schtasks /query /xml for task enumeration
  • csv: Parse schtasks CSV output for structured task analysis
  • python-evtx (Evtx): Parse Security EVTX for Event ID 4698 (Task Created)

CLI Interface

python agent.py enumerate                    # List and risk-score all tasks
python agent.py events --evtx-file <path>    # Scan EVTX for task creation events
python agent.py export --task-name <name>    # Export task XML definition

Core Functions

enumerate_tasks()

Runs schtasks /query /fo CSV /v and classifies each task as high/medium/low risk.

Returns: dict with total_tasks, high_risk, medium_risk, suspicious_tasks, non_vendor_tasks.

scan_event_log_4698(evtx_file)

Parses Windows Security EVTX for Event ID 4698 (Scheduled Task Created).

Parameters:

Name Type Description
evtx_file str Path to Security .evtx log file

export_task_xml(task_name)

Exports a task's full XML definition using schtasks /query /tn <name> /xml.

Risk Classification

Risk Criteria
High Action matches suspicious patterns (powershell -enc, certutil, temp paths)
Medium Non-vendor task (not under \Microsoft\, \Google\, etc.)
Low Known vendor task prefix

Dependencies

pip install python-evtx  # Optional, for EVTX parsing