Remote PowerShell Session (PS Module)

Status: test
Severity: high
Log source: category ps_module, product windows
Author: Roberto Rodriguez @Cyb3rWard0g, Tim Shelton
Source: github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma

Detects remote PowerShell sessions

Known false positives

Legitimate use remote PowerShell sessions

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Execution	`T1059.001` Command and Scripting Interpreter: PowerShell
Lateral Movement	`T1021.006` Remote Services: Windows Remote Management

Telemetry coverage

Provider	Record / event type
PowerShell	Event ID 4103: Payload Context: ContextInfo User Data: UserData.

Rule body

title: Remote PowerShell Session (PS Module)
id: 96b9f619-aa91-478f-bacb-c3e50f8df575
status: test
description: Detects remote PowerShell sessions
references:
    - https://threathunterplaybook.com/hunts/windows/190511-RemotePwshExecution/notebook.html
author: Roberto Rodriguez @Cyb3rWard0g, Tim Shelton
date: 2019-08-10
modified: 2023-01-20
tags:
    - attack.execution
    - attack.t1059.001
    - attack.lateral-movement
    - attack.t1021.006
logsource:
    product: windows
    category: ps_module
    definition: 0ad03ef1-f21b-4a79-8ce8-e6900c54b65b
detection:
    selection:
        ContextInfo|contains|all:
            - ' = ServerRemoteHost ' #  HostName: 'ServerRemoteHost'  french : Nom d’hôte =
            - 'wsmprovhost.exe'      #  HostApplication|contains: 'wsmprovhost.exe' french  Application hôte =
    filter_pwsh_archive:
        ContextInfo|contains: '\Windows\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\Modules\Microsoft.PowerShell.Archive\Microsoft.PowerShell.Archive.psm1'
    condition: selection and not 1 of filter_*
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use remote PowerShell sessions
level: high

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

selection and not 1 of filter_*

Stage 1: `selection`

selection:
    ContextInfo|contains|all:
        - ' = ServerRemoteHost '
        - 'wsmprovhost.exe'

Stage 2: `not filter_pwsh_archive`

filter_pwsh_archive:
    ContextInfo|contains: '\Windows\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\Modules\Microsoft.PowerShell.Archive\Microsoft.PowerShell.Archive.psm1'

Exclusions

The rule actively suppresses these predicates.

Field	Kind	Excluded values	Search
`ContextInfo`	match	`\Windows\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\Modules\Microsoft.PowerShell.Archive\Microsoft.PowerShell.Archive.psm1`	`excludes:ContextInfo` `field:"ContextInfo" value:"\Windows\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\Modules\Microsoft.PowerShell.Archive\Microsoft.PowerShell.Archive.psm1"`

Indicators

These rows show field, operator, and value matches.

Field	Kind	Values	Search
`ContextInfo`	match	`= ServerRemoteHost` `wsmprovhost.exe`	`field:"ContextInfo" kind:match`

Remote PowerShell Session (PS Module)

Known false positives

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Telemetry coverage

Rule body

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

Stage 1: selection

Stage 2: not filter_pwsh_archive

Exclusions

Indicators

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection`

Stage 2: `not filter_pwsh_archive`