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Application Termination Attempt via Wmic.EXE

Detects an attempt to terminate a process via "wmic" with the "call terminate" flag. Adversaries may use wmic to terminate security products or other applications on the compromised host. This event is triggered on on attempt and process creation can be either successful or unsuccessful.

MITRE ATT&CK

T1047

execution

Detection Query

selection_img:
  - Image|endswith: \WMIC.exe
  - OriginalFileName: wmic.exe
selection_cli:
  CommandLine|contains|all:
    - call
    - terminate
condition: all of selection_*

Author

Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)

Created

2023-09-11

Data Sources

windowsProcess Creation Events

Platforms

windows

References

Tags

attack.executionattack.t1047

Raw Content

title: Application Termination Attempt via Wmic.EXE
id: 49d9671b-0a0a-4c09-8280-d215bfd30662
related:
    - id: 847d5ff3-8a31-4737-a970-aeae8fe21765 # Uninstall Security Products
      type: derived
status: test
description: |
    Detects an attempt to terminate a process via "wmic" with the "call terminate" flag. Adversaries may
    use wmic to terminate security products or other applications on the compromised host. This event is
    triggered on on attempt and process creation can be either successful or unsuccessful.
references:
    - https://cyble.com/blog/lockfile-ransomware-using-proxyshell-attack-to-deploy-ransomware/
    - https://www.bitdefender.com/files/News/CaseStudies/study/377/Bitdefender-Whitepaper-WMI-creat4871-en-EN-GenericUse.pdf
author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
date: 2023-09-11
tags:
    - attack.execution
    - attack.t1047
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_img:
        - Image|endswith: '\WMIC.exe'
        - OriginalFileName: 'wmic.exe'
    selection_cli:
        CommandLine|contains|all:
            - 'call'
            - 'terminate'
    condition: all of selection_*
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: medium
regression_tests_path: regression_data/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_wmic_terminate_application/info.yml