Lateral Movement via WMIC Remote Process Creation

PremiumReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
windows
Category
process_creation
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-09-13
Updated
2026-09-13

ATT&CK techniques

Execution
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Persistence

  5. Priv Esc

  6. Defense Evasion

  7. Cred Access

  8. Discovery

  9. Lateral Movement

  10. Collection

  11. C2

  12. Exfiltration

  13. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects wmic.exe invoking process call create against a remote node, the technique used in Operation Soft Cell to execute batch payloads across telecom networks. Remote WMI process creation is a common lateral movement and execution vector for hands-on-keyboard operators.

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Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.