administrators may leverage wwmi and powershell.exe to start a process on remote systems, but this activity is usually limited to a small set of hosts or users.

Techniques

T1047

Sample rules

Remote Process Instantiation via WMI and PowerShell

source: splunk
technicques:
- T1047

Description

The following analytic detects the execution of powershell.exe using the Invoke-WmiMethod cmdlet to start a process on a remote endpoint via WMI. It leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on command-line executions and process telemetry. This activity is significant as it indicates potential lateral movement or remote code execution attempts by adversaries. If confirmed malicious, this could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code on remote systems, leading to further compromise and persistence within the network.

Detection logic


| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime FROM datamodel=Endpoint.Processes
  WHERE `process_powershell` (Processes.process="*Invoke-WmiMethod*"
    AND
    Processes.process="*-CN*"
    AND
    Processes.process="*-Class Win32_Process*"
    AND
    Processes.process="*-Name 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

| `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)`

| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`

| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`

| `remote_process_instantiation_via_wmi_and_powershell_filter`

Remote Process Instantiation via WMI and PowerShell Script Block

source: splunk
technicques:
- T1047

Description

The following analytic detects the execution of the Invoke-WmiMethod commandlet with parameters used to start a process on a remote endpoint via WMI, leveraging PowerShell Script Block Logging (EventCode=4104). This method identifies specific script block text patterns associated with remote process instantiation. This activity is significant as it may indicate lateral movement or remote code execution attempts by adversaries. If confirmed malicious, this could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code on remote systems, potentially leading to further compromise and persistence within the network.

Detection logic

`powershell` EventCode=4104 ScriptBlockText="*Invoke-WmiMethod*" AND (ScriptBlockText="*-CN*" OR ScriptBlockText="*-ComputerName*") AND ScriptBlockText="*-Class Win32_Process*" AND ScriptBlockText="*-Name create*"
  
| fillnull
  
| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime
    BY dest signature signature_id
       user_id vendor_product EventID
       Guid Opcode Name
       Path ProcessID ScriptBlockId
       ScriptBlockText
  
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
  
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
  
| `remote_process_instantiation_via_wmi_and_powershell_script_block_filter`