huntrule

Windows: WmiPrvSE.exe Spawning a Child Process

Identifies child processes created by WmiPrvSE.exe on Windows, highlighting potential WMI-based execution attempts.

FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v1
Product
windows
Category
process_creation
Author
Roberto Rodriguez @Cyb3rWard0g (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2019-08-15
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 WmiPrvSE.exe is the parent process and a child process is spawned. Attackers often use Windows Management Instrumentation to run code indirectly under the WMI service context, so parent-child process relationships are a useful indicator. The detection relies on Windows process creation telemetry, matching the parent executable path/name and applying exclusions for specific logon IDs and common benign error handling (e.g., WerFault).

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1047 — drag to rearrange
Malicious Impacket wmiexec Command Execution via WmiPrvSE Spawning cmd with Admin-Share Output Redirect (via process_creation)
Malicious QDoor Remote Proxy Execution via WMIC Node Process Call Create of svhost from Temp (via process_creation)
Malicious Remote Payload Deployment via WMIC Node Process Call Create with bitsadmin Transfer (via process_creation)
Malicious WMIexec Style Command Output Redirection to Local Admin Share
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
Windows: WmiPrvSE.exe Spawning a Child Process
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.