Elastic Security Detection Rules

Incoming Execution via WinRM Remote Shell

Last updated 16 days ago on 2025-05-20
Created 5 years ago on 2020-11-24

About

Identifies remote execution via Windows Remote Management (WinRM) remote shell on a target host. This could be an indication of lateral movement.
Tags
Domain: EndpointOS: WindowsUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: Lateral MovementData Source: Elastic DefendData Source: SysmonLanguage: eql
Severity
medium
Risk Score
47
MITRE ATT&CK™

Lateral Movement (TA0008)(opens in a new tab or window)

↳ Remote Services (T1021)(opens in a new tab or window)

False Positive Examples
WinRM is a dual-use protocol that can be used for benign or malicious activity. It's important to baseline your environment to determine the amount of noise to expect from this tool.
License
Elastic License v2(opens in a new tab or window)

Definition

Rule Type
Event Correlation Rule
Integration Pack
Prebuilt Security Detection Rules
Index Patterns
winlogbeat-*logs-endpoint.events.process-*logs-endpoint.events.network-*logs-windows.sysmon_operational-*
Related Integrations

endpoint(opens in a new tab or window)

windows(opens in a new tab or window)

Query
sequence by host.id with maxspan=30s
   [network where host.os.type == "windows" and process.pid == 4 and network.direction : ("incoming", "ingress") and
    destination.port in (5985, 5986) and source.ip != "127.0.0.1" and source.ip != "::1"]
   [process where host.os.type == "windows" and
    event.type == "start" and process.parent.name : "winrshost.exe" and not process.executable : "?:\\Windows\\System32\\conhost.exe"]

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Incoming Execution via WinRM Remote Shell in the Elastic Security detection engine by installing this rule into your Elastic Stack.

To setup this rule, check out the installation guide for Prebuilt Security Detection Rules(opens in a new tab or window).