Malicious Shadow Copy Deletion via WMI PowerShell (via ps_script)

ATT&CK techniques

Impact

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact
- T1490Inhibit System Recovery

What it detects

This rule detects PowerShell that queries the Win32_Shadowcopy WMI class and then deletes the returned instances. Ransomware uses this WMI approach to remove Volume Shadow Copies without invoking vssadmin, evading command-line detections focused on that utility. Scripted shadow copy destruction through WMI is a clear recovery-inhibition behavior.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1490 — drag to rearrange

Malicious Shadow Copy Deletion via WMI PowerShell

Malicious Volume Shadow Copy Deletion via Vssadmin

Malicious Volume Shadow Copy Deletion for Recovery Inhibition

Malicious Boot Configuration Tampering via bcdedit [Intel471] #2

Malicious Volume Shadow Copy Deletion Before Ransomware Encryption

Malicious Volume Shadow Copy Deletion via Vssadmin or WMIC (via process_creation)

Malicious Volume Shadow Copy Deletion via vssadmin

Malicious DragonForce Shadow Copy Deletion via Native Utilities (via process_creation)

Suspicious Shadow Copy Deletion via WMIC or PowerShell (via process_creation)

Malicious Shadow Copy Deletion via WMI PowerShell (via ps_script)

Pivot detection · T1490 · 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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