Suspicious Disabling of WinRM Service via sc config

ATT&CK techniques

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

What it detects

This rule detects the sc command setting the WinRM service start type to disabled, an impair-defenses step observed in the Prometei intrusion. Disabling WinRM reduces remote management and logging capabilities that defenders rely on during response. While admins occasionally disable WinRM, doing so alongside other malware activity is a meaningful defense-evasion signal.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1685 — drag to rearrange

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Malicious ETW Disabling via COMPlus_ETWEnabled Environment Variable

Suspicious CrazyHunter BYOVD Driver Drop in Public Directory

Suspicious Execution of cfmon.exe Masquerading as ctfmon via CharmingCypress

Suspicious SELinux Enforcement Disabled via Setenforce Command Line (via process_creation)

Suspicious Disabling of WinRM Service via sc config

Pivot detection · T1685 · 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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