Detection rules › Splunk
Windows Remote Host Computer Management Access
The following analytic detects the use of mmc.exe to launch Computer Management (compmgmt.msc) and connect to a remote machine. This technique allows administrators to access system management tools, including Event Viewer, Services, Shared Folders, and Local Users & Groups, without initiating a full remote desktop session. While commonly used for legitimate administrative purposes, adversaries may leverage this method for remote reconnaissance, privilege escalation, or persistence. Monitoring the execution of mmc.exe with the /computer:{hostname/ip} argument can help detect unauthorized system administration attempts or lateral movement within a network.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Lateral Movement | T1021.006 Remote Services: Windows Remote Management |
Event coverage
| Provider | Event ID | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Sysmon | 1 | Process creation |
| Security-Auditing | 4688 | A new process has been created. |
Stages and Predicates
Stage 1: tstats
tstats WHERE Processes.process="*/computer:*" Processes.process="*compmgmt.msc *" Processes.process_name="mmc.exe" BY Processes.action, Processes.dest, Processes.original_file_name, Processes.parent_process, Processes.parent_process_exec, Processes.parent_process_guid, Processes.parent_process_id, Processes.parent_process_name, Processes.parent_process_path, Processes.process, Processes.process_exec, Processes.process_guid, Processes.process_hash, Processes.process_id, Processes.process_integrity_level, Processes.process_name, Processes.process_path, Processes.user, Processes.user_id, Processes.vendor_product
Stage 2: search
search
Stage 3: search
search
Stage 4: search
search
Stage 5: 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.
| Field | Kind | Values |
|---|---|---|
Processes.process | eq |
|
Processes.process_name | eq |
|