huntrule

Windows wmic.exe Used to Start or Stop Services

Alerts on wmic.exe command lines invoking startservice or stopservice via service calls.

FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v1
Product
windows
Category
process_creation
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2022-06-20
Updated
2026-07-30
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

Execution

  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Persistence

  6. Priv Esc

  7. Defense Evasion

  8. Cred Access

  9. Discovery

  10. Lateral Movement

  11. Collection

  12. C2

  13. Exfiltration

  14. Impact

What it detects

This rule flags process creation events where wmic.exe is used with command-line arguments that include the service call workflow and either stopservice or startservice. Attackers may use wmic to manipulate service state as part of execution, persistence, or administrative abuse. The detection relies on Windows process creation telemetry, matching the image name/path and specific command-line substrings.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1047 — drag to rearrange
Suspicious Impacket Style Command Execution with ADMIN Share Output Redirect
Malicious Shadow Copy Deletion via WMIC via Process Creation (via process_creation)
Suspicious System Reconnaissance Output Redirected to PDF File (via process_creation)
Suspicious Phantom Taurus mssq.bat SQL Execution via WMI (via process_creation)
Malicious Antivirus Removal via WMIC Product Uninstall
Suspicious Remote Process Creation via WMIC by Mallox
Malicious Akira Shadow Copy Deletion via PowerShell WMI (via process_creation)
Suspicious Sysinternals EULA Acceptance Registry Write Linked to INC Ransomware
Malicious Shadow Copy Deletion via WMI PowerShell
Windows wmic.exe Used to Start or Stop Services
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.