Enable Host Network Discovery via Netsh

Last updated 10 days ago on 2025-02-21

Created 4 years ago on 2021-07-07

About

Identifies use of the netsh.exe program to enable host discovery via the network. Attackers can use this command-line tool to weaken the host firewall settings.

Tags

Domain: EndpointOS: WindowsUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: Defense EvasionData Source: Elastic EndgameData Source: Elastic DefendData Source: Windows Security Event LogsData Source: Microsoft Defender for EndpointData Source: SysmonData Source: SentinelOneData Source: CrowdstrikeLanguage: eql

Severity

medium

Risk Score

MITRE ATT&CK™

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

↳ Impair Defenses (T1562)(opens in a new tab or window)

False Positive Examples

Host Windows Firewall planned system administration changes.

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

endgame-*logs-crowdstrike.fdr*logs-endpoint.events.process-*logs-m365_defender.event-*logs-sentinel_one_cloud_funnel.*logs-system.security*logs-windows.forwarded*logs-windows.sysmon_operational-*winlogbeat-*

Related Integrations

endpoint(opens in a new tab or window)

windows(opens in a new tab or window)

system(opens in a new tab or window)

m365_defender(opens in a new tab or window)

sentinel_one_cloud_funnel(opens in a new tab or window)

crowdstrike(opens in a new tab or window)

Query

process where host.os.type == "windows" and event.type == "start" and
process.name : "netsh.exe" and
process.args : ("firewall", "advfirewall") and process.args : "group=Network Discovery" and process.args : "enable=Yes"

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Enable Host Network Discovery via Netsh 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).