AWL Bypass with Winrm.vbs and Malicious WsmPty.xsl/WsmTxt.xsl (via process_creation)

title: AWL Bypass with Winrm.vbs and Malicious WsmPty.xsl/WsmTxt.xsl (via process_creation)
id: 60bff1f4-e87c-5cf3-a0d7-e53b1d6ea316
status: stable
description: This rule detects execution of attacker-controlled WsmPty.xsl or WsmTxt.xsl via winrm.vbs and copied cscript.exe (can be renamed)
references:
    - https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1216/
    - https://posts.specterops.io/application-whitelisting-bypass-and-arbitrary-unsigned-code-execution-technique-in-winrm-vbs-c8c24fb40404
author: Huntrule Team
date: 2026-05-12
tags:
    - attack.stealth
    - attack.t1216
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    contains_format_pretty_arg:
        CommandLine|contains:
            - 'format:pretty'
            - 'format:"pretty"'
            - 'format:"text"'
            - 'format:text'
    image_from_system_folder:
        Image|startswith:
            - 'C:\Windows\System32\'
            - 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\'
    contains_winrm:
        CommandLine|contains: 'winrm'
    condition: contains_winrm and (contains_format_pretty_arg and not image_from_system_folder)
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: medium