Detection rules › Elastic
At.exe Command Lateral Movement
Identifies use of at.exe to interact with the task scheduler on remote hosts. Remote task creations, modifications or execution could be indicative of adversary lateral movement.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Execution | |
| Lateral Movement |
Telemetry coverage
| Provider | Record / event type |
|---|---|
| Sysmon | Event ID 1: Process creation |
| Security-Auditing | Event ID 4688: A new process has been created. |
Rule body
[metadata]
creation_date = "2023/08/21"
integration = ["endpoint", "windows", "system"]
maturity = "production"
updated_date = "2025/03/20"
[rule]
author = ["Elastic"]
building_block_type = "default"
description = """
Identifies use of at.exe to interact with the task scheduler on remote hosts. Remote task creations, modifications or
execution could be indicative of adversary lateral movement.
"""
from = "now-119m"
index = [
"endgame-*",
"logs-endpoint.events.process-*",
"logs-system.security*",
"logs-windows.*",
"winlogbeat-*",
]
interval = "60m"
language = "eql"
license = "Elastic License v2"
name = "At.exe Command Lateral Movement"
risk_score = 21
rule_id = "b483365c-98a8-40c0-92d8-0458ca25058a"
severity = "low"
tags = [
"Domain: Endpoint",
"OS: Windows",
"Use Case: Threat Detection",
"Tactic: Lateral Movement",
"Data Source: Elastic Defend",
"Rule Type: BBR",
"Data Source: Elastic Endgame",
"Data Source: Windows Security Event Logs",
]
timestamp_override = "event.ingested"
type = "eql"
query = '''
process where host.os.type == "windows" and event.type == "start" and process.name : "at.exe" and process.args : "\\\\*"
'''
[[rule.threat]]
framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"
[[rule.threat.technique]]
id = "T1021"
name = "Remote Services"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1021/"
[rule.threat.tactic]
id = "TA0008"
name = "Lateral Movement"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0008/"
[[rule.threat]]
framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"
[[rule.threat.technique]]
id = "T1053"
name = "Scheduled Task/Job"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1053/"
[[rule.threat.technique.subtechnique]]
id = "T1053.002"
name = "At"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1053/002/"
[[rule.threat.technique.subtechnique]]
id = "T1053.005"
name = "Scheduled Task"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1053/005/"
[rule.threat.tactic]
id = "TA0002"
name = "Execution"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0002/"
Stages and Predicates
Stage 1: process
process where host.os.type == "windows" and event.type == "start" and process.name : "at.exe" and process.args : "\\\\*"
Indicators
These rows show field, operator, and value matches.
| Field | Kind | Values | Search |
|---|---|---|---|
event.type | eq |
| field:"event.type" kind:eq value:"start" |
process.args | wildcard |
| field:"process.args" kind:wildcard value:"\\*" |
process.name | wildcard |
| field:"process_name" kind:wildcard value:"at.exe" |