IMPORTANT: No additional bug fixes or documentation updates
will be released for this version. For the latest information, see the
current release documentation.
Windows Script Interpreter Executing Process via WMI
editWindows Script Interpreter Executing Process via WMI
editIdentifies use of the built-in Windows script interpreters (cscript.exe or wscript.exe) being used to execute a process via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). This may be indicative of malicious activity.
Rule type: eql
Rule indices:
- winlogbeat-*
- logs-endpoint.events.*
- logs-windows.*
Severity: medium
Risk score: 47
Runs every: 5 minutes
Searches indices from: now-9m (Date Math format, see also Additional look-back time
)
Maximum alerts per execution: 100
Tags:
- Elastic
- Host
- Windows
- Threat Detection
- Initial Access
Version: 2 (version history)
Added (Elastic Stack release): 7.11.0
Last modified (Elastic Stack release): 7.12.0
Rule authors: Elastic
Rule license: Elastic License v2
Rule query
editsequence by host.id with maxspan = 5s [library where dll.name : "wmiutils.dll" and process.name : ("wscript.exe", "cscript.exe")] [process where event.type in ("start", "process_started") and process.parent.name : "wmiprvse.exe" and user.domain != "NT AUTHORITY" and (process.pe.original_file_name : ( "cscript.exe", "wscript.exe", "PowerShell.EXE", "Cmd.Exe", "MSHTA.EXE", "RUNDLL32.EXE", "REGSVR32.EXE", "MSBuild.exe", "InstallUtil.exe", "RegAsm.exe", "RegSvcs.exe", "msxsl.exe", "CONTROL.EXE", "EXPLORER.EXE", "Microsoft.Workflow.Compiler.exe", "msiexec.exe" ) or process.executable : ("C:\\Users\\*.exe", "C:\\ProgramData\\*.exe") ) ]
Threat mapping
editFramework: MITRE ATT&CKTM
-
Tactic:
- Name: Initial Access
- ID: TA0001
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0001/
-
Technique:
- Name: Phishing
- ID: T1566
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1566/
Rule version history
edit- Version 2 (7.12.0 release)
-
-
Updated query, changed from:
sequence by host.id with maxspan=5s [library where file.name : "wmiutils.dll" and process.name : ("wscript.exe", "cscript.exe")] [process where event.type in ("start", "process_started") and process.parent.name : "wmiprvse.exe" and user.domain != "NT AUTHORITY" and (process.pe.original_file_name in ( "cscript.exe", "wscript.exe", "PowerShell.EXE", "Cmd.Exe", "MSHTA.EXE", "RUNDLL32.EXE", "REGSVR32.EXE", "MSBuild.exe", "InstallUtil.exe", "RegAsm.exe", "RegSvcs.exe", "msxsl.exe", "CONTROL.EXE", "EXPLORER.EXE", "Microsoft.Workflow.Compiler.exe", "msiexec.exe" ) or process.executable : ("C:\\Users\\*.exe", "C:\\ProgramData\\*.exe") ) ]
-