Detection: Remote Process Instantiation via WMI

Description

The following analytic detects the execution of wmic.exe with parameters to spawn a process on a remote system. It leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on command-line executions and process telemetry mapped to the Processes node of the Endpoint data model. This activity is significant as WMI can be abused for lateral movement and remote code execution, often used by adversaries and Red Teams. If confirmed malicious, this could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code on remote systems, facilitating further compromise and lateral spread within the network.

Search

1
2| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime from datamodel=Endpoint.Processes where `process_wmic` (Processes.process="*/node:*" AND Processes.process="*process*" AND Processes.process="*call*" AND  Processes.process="*create*") by Processes.action Processes.dest Processes.original_file_name Processes.parent_process Processes.parent_process_exec Processes.parent_process_guid Processes.parent_process_id Processes.parent_process_name Processes.parent_process_path Processes.process Processes.process_exec Processes.process_guid Processes.process_hash Processes.process_id Processes.process_integrity_level Processes.process_name Processes.process_path Processes.user Processes.user_id Processes.vendor_product 
3| `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)` 
4| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
5| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
6| `remote_process_instantiation_via_wmi_filter`

Data Source

Name	Platform	Sourcetype	Source
CrowdStrike ProcessRollup2	N/A	'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

Annotations

Default Configuration

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

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 wmic.exe utility is a benign Windows application. It may be used legitimately by Administrators with these parameters for remote system administration, but it's relatively uncommon.

Associated Analytic Story

• Active Directory Lateral Movement

• CISA AA23-347A

• China-Nexus Threat Activity

• Ransomware

• Salt Typhoon

• Suspicious WMI Use

Risk Based Analytics (RBA)

Risk Message:

A wmic.exe process $process$ contain process spawn commandline $process$ in host $dest$

References

• https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1047/

• https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/cimwin32prov/create-method-in-class-win32-process

Detection Testing

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: 14