Windows whoami.exe Privilege Enumeration Using /priv Flag

ATT&CK techniques

Discovery

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
- T1033System Owner/User Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule flags execution of whoami.exe where the command line includes the /priv or -priv flag to display all current user privileges. Attackers commonly run this after privilege escalation attempts to confirm the effective privilege set available to the current context. It relies on Windows process creation telemetry capturing the executable identity (whoami.exe) and the full command line arguments.

Reporting behind it

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Windows whoami.exe Privilege Enumeration Using /priv Flag

Pivot detection · T1033 · 9 related

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

windows-whoami-exe-privilege-enumeration-using-priv-flag-97a80ec7

title: Windows whoami.exe Privilege Enumeration Using /priv Flag
id: 453d9de2-55fc-4c20-928c-6623999278ef
status: test
description: This rule flags execution of whoami.exe where the command line includes the /priv or -priv flag to display all current user privileges. Attackers commonly run this after privilege escalation attempts to confirm the effective privilege set available to the current context. It relies on Windows process creation telemetry capturing the executable identity (whoami.exe) and the full command line arguments.
references:
  - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/whoami
  - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_whoami_priv_discovery.yml
author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Huntrule Team
date: 2021-05-05
modified: 2023-02-28
tags:
  - attack.privilege-escalation
  - attack.discovery
  - attack.t1033
logsource:
  category: process_creation
  product: windows
detection:
  selection_img:
    - Image|endswith: \whoami.exe
    - OriginalFileName: whoami.exe
  selection_cli:
    CommandLine|contains:
      - " /priv"
      - " -priv"
  condition: all of selection_*
falsepositives:
  - Unknown
level: high
license: DRL-1.1
related:
  - id: 97a80ec7-0e2f-4d05-9ef4-65760e634f6b
    type: derived

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