sigmahighHunting

Suspicious Windows Update Agent Empty Cmdline

Detects suspicious Windows Update Agent activity in which a wuauclt.exe process command line doesn't contain any command line flags

MITRE ATT&CK

T1036

defense-evasion

Detection Query

selection_img:
  - Image|endswith: \Wuauclt.exe
  - OriginalFileName: Wuauclt.exe
selection_cli:
  CommandLine|endswith:
    - Wuauclt
    - Wuauclt.exe
condition: all of selection*

Author

Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)

Created

2022-02-26

Data Sources

windowsProcess Creation Events

Platforms

windows

References

https://redcanary.com/blog/blackbyte-ransomware/

Tags

attack.defense-evasionattack.t1036

Raw Content

title: Suspicious Windows Update Agent Empty Cmdline
id: 52d097e2-063e-4c9c-8fbb-855c8948d135
status: test
description: |
    Detects suspicious Windows Update Agent activity in which a wuauclt.exe process command line doesn't contain any command line flags
references:
    - https://redcanary.com/blog/blackbyte-ransomware/
author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
date: 2022-02-26
modified: 2023-11-11
tags:
    - attack.defense-evasion
    - attack.t1036
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_img:
        - Image|endswith: '\Wuauclt.exe'
        - OriginalFileName: 'Wuauclt.exe'
    selection_cli:
        CommandLine|endswith:
            - 'Wuauclt'
            - 'Wuauclt.exe'
    condition: all of selection*
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: high