Detection: Suspicious wevtutil Usage

Updated Date: 2026-08-23 ID: 2827c0fd-e1be-4868-ae25-59d28e0f9d4f Author: David Dorsey, Michael Haag, Teoderick Contreras, Nasreddine Bencherchali, Splunk Type: TTP Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

The following analytic detects the usage of wevtutil.exe with parameters for clearing event logs such as Application, Security, Setup, Trace, or System. It leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on process names and command-line arguments. This activity is significant because clearing event logs can be an attempt to cover tracks after malicious actions, hindering forensic investigations. If confirmed malicious, this behavior could allow an attacker to erase evidence of their activities, making it difficult to trace their actions and understand the full scope of the compromise.

Search

 1
 2| tstats `security_content_summariesonly`
 3  count min(_time) as firstTime
 4        max(_time) as lastTime
 5
 6FROM datamodel=Endpoint.Processes WHERE
 7
 8(
 9    Processes.process_name="wevtutil.exe"
10    OR
11    Processes.original_file_name="wevtutil.exe"
12)
13
14Processes.process IN ("* cl *", "*clear-log*")
15Processes.process IN (
16    "*/Trace*",
17    "*AMSI/Debug*",
18    "*Application*",
19    "*CiscoSecureEndpoint*",
20    "*Microsoft-Windows-BitLocker*",
21    "*Microsoft-Windows-Bits*",
22    "*Microsoft-Windows-CAPI2*",
23    "*Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-File*",
24    "*Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Process*",
25    "*Microsoft-Windows-LDAP*",
26    "*Microsoft-Windows-PowerShell*",
27    "*Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon*",
28    "*Microsoft-Windows-TerminalServices-LocalSessionManager*",
29    "*Microsoft-Windows-TerminalServices-RemoteConnectionManager*",
30    "*Microsoft-Windows-WMI-Activity*",
31    "*OpenSSH/*",
32    "*PowerShellCore/*",
33    "*Security*",
34    "*Setup*",
35    "*System*",
36    "*Windows Firewall With Advanced Security*",
37    "*Windows PowerShell*"
38)
39
40BY Processes.action Processes.dest Processes.original_file_name
41   Processes.parent_process Processes.parent_process_exec Processes.parent_process_guid
42   Processes.parent_process_id Processes.parent_process_name Processes.parent_process_path
43   Processes.process Processes.process_exec Processes.process_guid
44   Processes.process_hash Processes.process_id Processes.process_integrity_level
45   Processes.process_name Processes.process_path Processes.user
46   Processes.user_id Processes.vendor_product
47
48
49| `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)`
50
51| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
52
53| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
54
55| `suspicious_wevtutil_usage_filter`

Data Source

Name	Platform	Sourcetype	Source
CrowdStrike ProcessRollup2	Other	`'crowdstrike:events:sensor'`	`'crowdstrike'`
Sysmon EventID 1	Windows	`'XmlWinEventLog'`	`'XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational'`
Windows Event Log Security 4688	Windows	`'XmlWinEventLog'`	`'XmlWinEventLog:Security'`

Macros Used

Name	Value
security_content_ctime	`convert timeformat="%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S" ctime($field$)`
suspicious_wevtutil_usage_filter	`search *`

suspicious_wevtutil_usage_filter is an empty macro by default. It allows the user to filter out any results (false positives) without editing the SPL.

Annotations

- MITRE ATT&CK

+ Kill Chain Phases

+ NIST

+ CIS

- Threat Actors

ID	Technique	Tactic
T1685.005	Clear Windows Event Logs	Defense Impairment

Exploitation

DE.CM

CIS 10

Default Configuration

This detection is configured by default in Splunk Enterprise Security to run with the following settings:

Setting	Value
Disabled	true
Cron Schedule	`0 * * * *`
Earliest Time	`-70m@m`
Latest Time	`-10m@m`
Schedule Window	`auto`
Creates Finding (Notable)	Yes
Rule Title	`%name%`
Rule Description	`%description%`
Notable Event Fields	user, dest
Creates Intermediate Finding (Risk Event)	Yes

TTP detections generate a Finding (Notable) and may generate Intermediate Findings (Risk Events) for associated entities.

Implementation

The detection is based on data that originates from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents. These agents are designed to provide security-related telemetry from the endpoints where the agent is installed. To implement this search, you must ingest logs that contain the process GUID, process name, and parent process. Additionally, you must ingest complete command-line executions. These logs must be processed using the appropriate Splunk Technology Add-ons that are specific to the EDR product. The logs must also be mapped to the Processes node of the Endpoint data model. Use the Splunk Common Information Model (CIM) to normalize the field names and speed up the data modeling process.

Known False Positives

The wevtutil.exe application is a legitimate Windows event log utility. Administrators may use it to manage Windows event logs.

Associated Analytic Story

Finding

Title	Entity Field	Entity Type	Risk Score
Wevtutil.exe being used to clear Event Logs on $dest$ by $user$	user	user	50

Intermediate Findings

Message	Entity Field	Entity Type	Risk Score
Wevtutil.exe being used to clear Event Logs on $dest$ by $user$	dest	system	50

References

https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/master/atomics/T1070.001/T1070.001.md

Detection Testing

Test Type	Status	Dataset	Source	Sourcetype
Validation	✅ Passing	N/A	N/A	N/A
Unit	✅ Passing	Dataset	`XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational`	`XmlWinEventLog`
Integration	✅ Passing	Dataset	`XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational`	`XmlWinEventLog`

Replay any dataset to Splunk Enterprise by using our replay.py tool or the UI. Alternatively you can replay a dataset into a Splunk Attack Range

Source: GitHub |

Version: 21