Suspicious WMIC XSL Script Execution

Identifies WMIC allowlist bypass techniques by alerting on suspicious execution of scripts. When WMIC loads scripting libraries it may be indicative of an allowlist bypass.

Rule type: eql

Rule indices:

winlogbeat-*
logs-endpoint.events.*
logs-windows.*

Severity: medium

Risk score: 21

Runs every: 5m

Searches indices from: now-9m (Date Math format, see also Additional look-back time)

Maximum alerts per execution: 100

References: None

Tags:

Elastic
Host
Windows
Threat Detection
Defense Evasion

Version: 3

Rule authors:

Elastic

Rule license: Elastic License v2

Rule query

edit

sequence by process.entity_id with maxspan = 2m
[process where event.type in ("start", "process_started") and
   (process.name : "WMIC.exe" or process.pe.original_file_name : "wmic.exe") and
   process.args : ("format*:*", "/format*:*", "*-format*:*") and
   not process.command_line : "* /format:table *"]
[library where event.type == "start" and dll.name : ("jscript.dll", "vbscript.dll")]

Framework: MITRE ATT&CK^TM

Tactic:
- Name: Defense Evasion
- ID: TA0005
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0005/
Technique:
- Name: XSL Script Processing
- ID: T1220
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1220/

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