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

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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)
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.