vssadmin.exe and wmic.exe are standard applications shipped with modern versions of windows. they may be used by administrators to legitimately delete old backup copies, although this is typically rare.

Techniques

T1490

Sample rules

Deleting Shadow Copies

source: splunk
technicques:
- T1490

Description

The following analytic detects the deletion of shadow copies using the vssadmin.exe or wmic.exe utilities. It leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on process names and command-line arguments. This activity is significant because deleting shadow copies is a common tactic used by attackers to prevent recovery and hide their tracks. If confirmed malicious, this action could hinder incident response efforts and allow attackers to maintain persistence and cover their activities, making it crucial for security teams to investigate promptly.

Detection logic


| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count values(Processes.process) as process values(Processes.parent_process) as parent_process min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime FROM datamodel=Endpoint.Processes
  WHERE (
        Processes.process_name=vssadmin.exe
        OR
        Processes.process_name=wmic.exe
    )
    Processes.process=*delete* Processes.process=*shadow*
  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)`

| `deleting_shadow_copies_filter`