Windows WMIPRVSE DLL Hijack via Network-Created wbemcomn.dll in System32\wbem

ATT&CK techniques

Execution → Lateral Movement

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
- T1047Windows Management Instrumentation
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
- T1021.002SMB/Windows Admin Shares
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

Identifies cases where wmiprvse.exe loads wbem\wbemcomn.dll from the Windows System32 WMI directory. This file placement and subsequent DLL load can indicate an attempted WMI DLL hijack used for execution or lateral movement. The rule relies on image-load telemetry showing the specific loaded DLL and process image involved in the load.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1021.002 — drag to rearrange

Malicious Impacket Wmiexec Remote Command Execution Pattern

Malicious Remote Process Creation via WMIC Node

Malicious Impacket WMIExec ADMIN Share Output Redirection

Suspicious Command Shell Spawned by WMI Provider Host Targeting ADMIN Share (via process_creation)

Malicious Remote Process Creation via wmic node call create

Malicious Impacket wmiexec Output Redirection via ADMIN Share

Windows WMI DLL Hijack via Network-placed wbemcomn.dll in System32\wbem

Windows Security Log: Network Write of wbemcomn.dll in System32\wbem for WMI DLL Hijack (T1047)

Suspicious Access to Citrix Session Evidence Registry Keys

Windows WMIPRVSE DLL Hijack via Network-Created wbemcomn.dll in System32\wbem

Pivot detection · T1021.002 · 9 related

Changelog

v2

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-wmi-dll-hijack-via-wbemcomn-dll-loaded-by-wmiprvse-exe-7707a579

title: Windows WMIPRVSE DLL Hijack via Network-Created wbemcomn.dll in System32\wbem
id: 062bd48e-0d24-4243-93c3-4ce4adcb1b59
status: test
description: Identifies cases where wmiprvse.exe loads wbem\wbemcomn.dll from the Windows System32 WMI directory. This file placement and subsequent DLL load can indicate an attempted WMI DLL hijack used for execution or lateral movement. The rule relies on image-load telemetry showing the specific loaded DLL and process image involved in the load.
references:
  - https://threathunterplaybook.com/hunts/windows/201009-RemoteWMIWbemcomnDLLHijack/notebook.html
  - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/windows/image_load/image_load_wmiprvse_wbemcomn_dll_hijack.yml
author: Roberto Rodriguez (Cyb3rWard0g), OTR (Open Threat Research), Huntrule Team
date: 2020-10-12
modified: 2022-10-09
tags:
  - attack.execution
  - attack.t1047
  - attack.lateral-movement
  - attack.t1021.002
logsource:
  product: windows
  category: image_load
detection:
  selection:
    Image|endswith: \wmiprvse.exe
    ImageLoaded|endswith: \wbem\wbemcomn.dll
  condition: selection
falsepositives:
  - Unknown
level: high
license: DRL-1.1
related:
  - id: 7707a579-e0d8-4886-a853-ce47e4575aaa
    type: derived

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