Windows Remote PowerShell via PS Classic (wsmprovhost.exe, HostName=ServerRemoteHost)

Flags Windows telemetry indicating a remote PowerShell session startup using wsmprovhost.exe with a specified host parameter.

FreeReviewedSigma · Low · v2

Product: windows
Category: ps_classic_start
Author: Roberto Rodriguez @Cyb3rWard0g (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2026-07-31

Analysis Detection

ATT&CK techniques

Execution → Lateral Movement

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
- T1059.001PowerShell
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
- T1021.006Windows Remote Management
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule identifies start events for a remote PowerShell session in PS Classic by matching process activity where the command data contains HostName=ServerRemoteHost and the executable wsmprovhost.exe. Attackers may use PowerShell remoting to execute commands on remote hosts while blending with legitimate administrative tooling. The detection relies on Windows PS Classic start telemetry that includes the referenced HostName field and the wsmprovhost.exe process indicator.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1059.001 — drag to rearrange

Windows remote PowerShell session activity via wsmprovhost.exe process relationships

Windows Remote PowerShell Session via PS Module ContextInfo and wsmprovhost.exe

WinRM Remote Access to LSASS via wsmprovhost.exe (Windows Process Access)

Suspicious Script Interpreter Spawned by Explorer via ClickFix Run Dialog (via process_creation)

Suspicious PowerShell Download Cradle via ClickFix Fake CAPTCHA (via process_creation)

Suspicious PowerShell EncodedCommand Spawned From Command Shell via Process Creation

Suspicious Script Download via Curl and PowerShell by Dohdoor

Malicious Mass Hyper-V Virtual Machine Shutdown via PowerShell by Kraken Ransomware

Suspicious PowerShell WebClient DownloadFile of Archive Payload (UAT-7237)

Windows Remote PowerShell via PS Classic (wsmprovhost.exe, HostName=ServerRemoteHost)

Pivot detection · T1059.001 · 9 related

Changelog

v2
Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
v1
No changelog recorded for this version.2026-07-30

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

windows-remote-powershell-session-start-via-wsmprovhost-exe-ps-classic-60167e5c

title: Windows Remote PowerShell via PS Classic (wsmprovhost.exe, HostName=ServerRemoteHost)
id: 91513bdd-e3e7-485a-b1b3-e2ee9379ccd4
related:
  - id: 96b9f619-aa91-478f-bacb-c3e50f8df575
    type: derived
  - id: 60167e5c-84b2-4c95-a7ac-86281f27c445
    type: derived
status: test
description: This rule identifies start events for a remote PowerShell session in PS Classic by matching process activity where the command data contains HostName=ServerRemoteHost and the executable wsmprovhost.exe. Attackers may use PowerShell remoting to execute commands on remote hosts while blending with legitimate administrative tooling. The detection relies on Windows PS Classic start telemetry that includes the referenced HostName field and the wsmprovhost.exe process indicator.
references:
  - https://threathunterplaybook.com/hunts/windows/190511-RemotePwshExecution/notebook.html
  - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/windows/powershell/powershell_classic/posh_pc_remote_powershell_session.yml
author: Roberto Rodriguez @Cyb3rWard0g, Huntrule Team
date: 2019-08-10
modified: 2024-01-03
tags:
  - attack.execution
  - attack.t1059.001
  - attack.lateral-movement
  - attack.t1021.006
logsource:
  product: windows
  category: ps_classic_start
detection:
  selection:
    Data|contains|all:
      - HostName=ServerRemoteHost
      - wsmprovhost.exe
  condition: selection
falsepositives:
  - Legitimate use remote PowerShell sessions
level: low
license: DRL-1.1

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