Suspicious WMIC XSL Script Execution

Last updated 5 months ago on 2025-03-20
Created 5 years ago on 2020-09-02

About

Identifies WMIC allowlist bypass techniques by alerting on suspicious execution of scripts. When WMIC loads scripting libraries it may be indicative of an allowlist bypass.
Tags
Domain: EndpointOS: WindowsUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: Defense EvasionTactic: ExecutionData Source: Elastic DefendData Source: SysmonLanguage: eql
Severity
medium
Risk Score
47
MITRE ATT&CK™

Defense Evasion (TA0005)(opens in a new tab or window)

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

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.library-*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 process.entity_id with maxspan = 2m
[process where host.os.type == "windows" and event.type == "start" and
   (process.name : "WMIC.exe" or process.pe.original_file_name : "wmic.exe") and
   process.args : ("format*:*", "/format*:*", "*-format*:*") and
   not process.command_line : ("* /format:table *", "* /format:table")]
[any where host.os.type == "windows" and (event.category == "library" or (event.category == "process" and event.action : "Image loaded*")) and
 (?dll.name : ("jscript.dll", "vbscript.dll") or file.name : ("jscript.dll", "vbscript.dll"))]

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Suspicious WMIC XSL Script Execution 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).