Elevated Group Discovery With Wmic

name: Elevated Group Discovery With Wmic
id: 3f6bbf22-093e-4cb4-9641-83f47b8444b6
version: 8
date: '2026-03-10'
author: Mauricio Velazco, Splunk
status: production
type: TTP
description: The following analytic detects the execution of `wmic.exe` with command-line arguments querying specific elevated domain groups. It leverages Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) telemetry to identify processes that access the LDAP namespace and search for groups like "Domain Admins" or "Enterprise Admins." This activity is significant as it indicates potential reconnaissance efforts by adversaries to identify high-privilege accounts within Active Directory. If confirmed malicious, this behavior could lead to privilege escalation, allowing attackers to gain elevated access and control over critical network resources.
data_source:
    - Sysmon EventID 1
    - Windows Event Log Security 4688
    - CrowdStrike ProcessRollup2
search: '| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime from datamodel=Endpoint.Processes where (Processes.process_name="wmic.exe") (Processes.process=*/NAMESPACE:\\\\root\\directory\\ldap*) (Processes.process="*Domain Admins*" OR Processes.process="*Enterprise Admins*" OR Processes.process="*Schema Admins*" OR Processes.process="*Account Operators*" OR Processes.process="*Server Operators*" OR Processes.process="*Protected Users*" OR Processes.process="*Dns Admins*") 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)` | `elevated_group_discovery_with_wmic_filter`'
how_to_implement: 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: Administrators or power users may use this command for troubleshooting.
references:
    - https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1069/002/
    - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/identity/ad-ds/plan/security-best-practices/appendix-b--privileged-accounts-and-groups-in-active-directory
    - https://adsecurity.org/?p=3658
drilldown_searches:
    - name: View the detection results for - "$dest$"
      search: '%original_detection_search% | search  dest = "$dest$"'
      earliest_offset: $info_min_time$
      latest_offset: $info_max_time$
    - name: View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$dest$"
      search: '| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$dest$") starthoursago=168  | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(search_name) as "Search Name" values(risk_message) as "Risk Message" values(analyticstories) as "Analytic Stories" values(annotations._all) as "Annotations" values(annotations.mitre_attack.mitre_tactic) as "ATT&CK Tactics" by normalized_risk_object | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`'
      earliest_offset: $info_min_time$
      latest_offset: $info_max_time$
rba:
    message: Elevated domain group discovery enumeration on $dest$ by $user$
    risk_objects:
        - field: dest
          type: system
          score: 50
    threat_objects: []
tags:
    analytic_story:
        - Active Directory Discovery
    asset_type: Endpoint
    mitre_attack_id:
        - T1069.002
    product:
        - Splunk Enterprise
        - Splunk Enterprise Security
        - Splunk Cloud
    security_domain: endpoint
tests:
    - name: True Positive Test
      attack_data:
        - data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1069.002/AD_discovery/windows-sysmon.log
          source: XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational
          sourcetype: XmlWinEventLog