Suspicious Remote Execution via WMIC Node Process Call Create

PremiumReviewedSigma · Medium · v1
Product
windows
Category
process_creation
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-06-25
Updated
2026-08-28

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 with the node parameter invoking process call create which the ColunmTK APT41 cluster uses to run install.bat on remote hosts for lateral movement. The technique executes commands against a specified target without dropping a service binary. It is important because remote WMIC execution is a stealthy hands-on-keyboard propagation method.

Related detections9 linkedT1047 — drag to rearrange
Suspicious Remote Process Creation via WMIC Process Call Create (via process_creation)
Suspicious System Reconnaissance via WMI Command-Line Queries (via process_creation)
Malicious Impacket WMIexec Process Execution (via process_creation)
Suspicious Child Process Spawned by WMI Provider Host (via process_creation)
Malicious WMI Spwaning PowerShell Process - WMImplant (via process_creation)
In-Memory Ramnit Process Injection Target Spawned by WmiPrvSE in drIBAN Fraud Operation (via process_creation)
Suspicious WMIC Execution from Anomalous Parent Process (via process_creation)
Suspicious WMIC Remote Process Creation Installing MSI via Command Line
Malicious MSI Installation from Remote WebDAV Share via process_creation
Suspicious Remote Execution via WMIC Node Process Call Create
Pivot detection · T1047 · 9 related

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