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Detection rules › Splunk

Recon Using WMI Class

Author
Teoderick Contreras, Splunk
Source
upstream

The following analytic detects suspicious PowerShell activity via EventCode 4104, where WMI performs event queries to gather information on running processes or services. This detection leverages PowerShell Script Block Logging to identify specific WMI queries targeting system information classes like Win32_Bios and Win32_OperatingSystem. This activity is significant as it often indicates reconnaissance efforts by an adversary to profile the compromised machine. If confirmed malicious, the attacker could gain detailed system information, aiding in further exploitation or lateral movement within the network.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

TacticTechniques
ReconnaissanceT1592 Gather Victim Host Information
ExecutionT1059.001 Command and Scripting Interpreter: PowerShell

Event coverage

ProviderEvent IDTitle
PowerShell4104Creating Scriptblock text (MessageNumber of MessageTotal).

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: search

search EventCode=4104 ScriptBlockText IN ("*Get-WmiObject*", "*SELECT*") ScriptBlockText IN ("*Win32_BaseBoard*", "*Win32_Bios*", "*Win32_ComputerSystem*", "*Win32_DiskDrive*", "*Win32_DisplayConfiguration*", "*Win32_OperatingSystem*", "*Win32_PhysicalMemory*", "*Win32_PnPEntity*", "*Win32_Processor*", "*Win32_ShadowCopy*")

Stage 2: fillnull

fillnull

Stage 3: stats

stats BY dest, signature, signature_id, user_id, vendor_product, EventID, Guid, Opcode, Name, Path, ProcessID, ScriptBlockId, ScriptBlockText

Stage 4: search

search

Stage 5: search

search

Stage 6: search

search `macro`

Indicators

Each row is a field, operator, and value that the rule matches. The corpus column counts how many other rules in the catalog look for the same combination: high numbers point to widely-used, community-vetted indicators. Blank or 1 shows that the indicator is specific to this rule.

FieldKindValues
EventCodeeq
  • 4104 corpus 108 (splunk 108)
ScriptBlockTextin
  • "*Get-WmiObject*"
  • "*SELECT*"
  • "*Win32_BaseBoard*"
  • "*Win32_Bios*"
  • "*Win32_ComputerSystem*"
  • "*Win32_DiskDrive*"
  • "*Win32_DisplayConfiguration*"
  • "*Win32_OperatingSystem*"
  • "*Win32_PhysicalMemory*"
  • "*Win32_PnPEntity*"
  • "*Win32_Processor*"
  • "*Win32_ShadowCopy*"

Neighbors

Broader alternatives (more inclusive than this rule)

These rules match a superset of what this rule catches. They cover the same events plus more. Use them if you want wider coverage and can absorb more false positives.