Suspicious Command Shell Spawned by Service or Remote Execution Parent

ATT&CK techniques

Execution

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

What it detects

This rule detects a command shell spawned by WMI provider host, PsExec, or the SQL Server engine, parent processes that indicate remote or service-based command execution rather than interactive use. These lineages were highlighted as reliable signals of living-off-the-land abuse during lateral movement and post-exploitation. Shells launched from these parents warrant review for hands-on-keyboard activity.

Reporting behind it

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Suspicious Command Shell Spawned by Service or Remote Execution Parent

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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