Elastic Security Detection Rules

Incoming Execution via PowerShell Remoting

Last updated 4 months ago on 2025-08-26
Created 5 years ago on 2020-11-24

About

Identifies remote execution via Windows PowerShell remoting. Windows PowerShell remoting allows a user to run any Windows PowerShell command on one or more remote computers. This could be an indication of lateral movement.
Tags
Domain: EndpointOS: WindowsUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: Lateral MovementTactic: ExecutionData Source: Elastic DefendData Source: SysmonData Source: SentinelOneLanguage: eql
Severity
medium
Risk Score
47
MITRE ATT&CK™

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

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

Execution (TA0002)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

↳ Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

False Positive Examples
PowerShell remoting 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(external, 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-*logs-sentinel_one_cloud_funnel.*
Related Integrations

endpoint(external, opens in a new tab or window)

windows(external, opens in a new tab or window)

sentinel_one_cloud_funnel(external, opens in a new tab or window)

Query
text code block:
sequence by host.id with maxspan = 30s
   [network where host.os.type == "windows" 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 : "wsmprovhost.exe" and not process.executable : "?:\\Windows\\System32\\conhost.exe"]

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Incoming Execution via PowerShell Remoting 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(external, opens in a new tab or window).