Malicious Command Execution Spawned by SharePoint w3wp Worker Process

ATT&CK techniques

Execution → Persistence

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
- T1059.003Windows Command Shell
Persistence
- T1505.003Web Shell
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects the IIS worker process w3wp.exe spawning cmd.exe or a scripting host, behavior seen when ToolShell webshells such as spinstall0.aspx execute operating system commands on compromised SharePoint servers. A web server worker launching a command interpreter is a hallmark of webshell-driven remote command execution following exploitation.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1059.003 — drag to rearrange

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Malicious Command Execution Spawned by SharePoint w3wp Worker Process

Pivot detection · T1059.003 · 9 related

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

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