sigmamediumHunting

Password Set to Never Expire via WMI

Detects the use of wmic.exe to modify user account settings and explicitly disable password expiration.

MITRE ATT&CK

privilege-escalationexecutionpersistence

Detection Query

selection_img:
  - Image|endswith: \wmic.exe
  - OriginalFileName: wmic.exe
selection_cli:
  CommandLine|contains|all:
    - useraccount
    - " set "
    - passwordexpires
    - "false"
condition: all of selection_*

Author

Daniel Koifman (KoifSec)

Created

2025-07-30

Data Sources

windowsProcess Creation Events

Platforms

windows

References

https://www.huntress.com/blog/the-unwanted-guest

Tags

attack.privilege-escalationattack.executionattack.persistenceattack.t1047attack.t1098

Raw Content

title: Password Set to Never Expire via WMI
id: 7864a175-3654-4824-9f0d-f0da18ab27c0
status: experimental
description: |
    Detects the use of wmic.exe to modify user account settings and explicitly disable password expiration.
references:
    - https://www.huntress.com/blog/the-unwanted-guest
author: "Daniel Koifman (KoifSec)"
date: 2025-07-30
tags:
    - attack.privilege-escalation
    - attack.execution
    - attack.persistence
    - attack.t1047
    - attack.t1098
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_img:   # Example command simulated:  wmic  useraccount where name='guest' set passwordexpires=false
        - Image|endswith: '\wmic.exe'
        - OriginalFileName: 'wmic.exe'
    selection_cli:
        CommandLine|contains|all:
            - 'useraccount'
            - ' set '
            - 'passwordexpires'
            - 'false'
    condition: all of selection_*
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate administrative activity
level: medium