sigmahighHunting

Security Privileges Enumeration Via Whoami.EXE

Detects a whoami.exe executed with the /priv command line flag instructing the tool to show all current user privileges. This is often used after a privilege escalation attempt.

MITRE ATT&CK

T1033

privilege-escalationdiscovery

Detection Query

selection_img:
  - Image|endswith: \whoami.exe
  - OriginalFileName: whoami.exe
selection_cli:
  CommandLine|contains:
    - " /priv"
    - " -priv"
condition: all of selection_*

Author

Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)

Created

2021-05-05

Data Sources

windowsProcess Creation Events

Platforms

windows

References

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/whoami

Tags

attack.privilege-escalationattack.discoveryattack.t1033

Raw Content

title: Security Privileges Enumeration Via Whoami.EXE
id: 97a80ec7-0e2f-4d05-9ef4-65760e634f6b
status: test
description: Detects a whoami.exe executed with the /priv command line flag instructing the tool to show all current user privileges. This is often used after a privilege escalation attempt.
references:
    - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/whoami
author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
date: 2021-05-05
modified: 2023-02-28
tags:
    - attack.privilege-escalation
    - attack.discovery
    - attack.t1033
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_img:
        - Image|endswith: '\whoami.exe'
        - OriginalFileName: 'whoami.exe'
    selection_cli:
        CommandLine|contains:
            - ' /priv'
            - ' -priv'
    condition: all of selection_*
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: high