File Recovery From Backup Via Wbadmin.EXE

Status: test
Severity: medium
Log source: product windows, category process_creation
Author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems), frack113
Source: github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma

Detects the recovery of files from backups via "wbadmin.exe". Attackers can restore sensitive files such as NTDS.DIT or Registry Hives from backups in order to potentially extract credentials.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Impact	`T1490` Inhibit System Recovery

Event coverage

Provider	Event	Title
Sysmon	Event ID 1	Process creation

Rule body yaml

title: File Recovery From Backup Via Wbadmin.EXE
id: 6fe4aa1e-0531-4510-8be2-782154b73b48
related:
    - id: 84972c80-251c-4c3a-9079-4f00aad93938
      type: derived
status: test
description: |
    Detects the recovery of files from backups via "wbadmin.exe".
    Attackers can restore sensitive files such as NTDS.DIT or Registry Hives from backups in order to potentially extract credentials.
references:
    - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/wbadmin-start-recovery
    - https://lolbas-project.github.io/lolbas/Binaries/Wbadmin/
author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems), frack113
date: 2024-05-10
tags:
    - attack.impact
    - attack.t1490
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_img:
        - Image|endswith: '\wbadmin.exe'
        - OriginalFileName: 'WBADMIN.EXE'
    selection_cli:
        CommandLine|contains|all:
            - ' recovery'
            - 'recoveryTarget'
            - 'itemtype:File'
    condition: all of selection_*
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: medium

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

all of selection_*

Stage 1: `selection_img`

selection_img:
    - Image|endswith: '\wbadmin.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: 'WBADMIN.EXE'

Stage 2: `selection_cli`

selection_cli:
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - ' recovery'
        - 'recoveryTarget'
        - 'itemtype:File'

Indicators

Each row is a field, operator, and value that the rule matches. The corpus column counts how many other rules in the catalog look for the same combination: high numbers point to widely-used, community-vetted indicators. Blank or 1 shows that the indicator is specific to this rule.

Field	Kind	Values
`CommandLine`	match	`recovery` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `itemtype:File` corpus 3 (sigma 2, splunk 1) `recoveryTarget` corpus 2 (sigma 2)
`Image`	ends_with	`\wbadmin.exe` corpus 7 (sigma 7)
`OriginalFileName`	eq	`WBADMIN.EXE` corpus 10 (sigma 6, elastic 2, splunk 2)

`j` / `k`	Scroll down / up
`d` / `u`	Half-page down / up
`gg` / `G`	Top / bottom
`h` / `l`	History back / forward
`f`	Follow link (`Shift` = new tab)
`/`	Focus search
`?`	Toggle this help
`↑` / `↓`	Navigate search results
`Enter`	Open highlighted result
`Esc`	Close results / dialog

`type:`	`events` / `rules` / `providers`
`vendor:`	`sigma` / `elastic` / `splunk` / `kusto` / `chronicle` (vendor name alone also works: `sigma:`, `kql:`, `secops:`…)
`tactic:`	TA-id, slug, or name: `credential_access`, `TA0006`
`technique:`	technique or sub-technique ID: `T1003`, `T1003.001` (alias `tech:`)
`severity:`	`critical` / `high` / `medium` / `low` / `informational` (alias `sev:`)
`risk_score`	Numeric comparison on the Elastic risk score (0 to 100): `risk_score>50`, `risk_score<=20`, `risk_score=99` (alias `risk`; Elastic rules only)
`stages:`	Rules with exactly N pipeline stages
`correlation:`	`single_event` / `sequence` / `alternatives` / `alternatives_cross_log` / `all_required` / `correlated`
`with:`	Co-occurrence event-id; stacks (`with:4624 with:4769`) to require all, while a comma list in one occurrence (`with:4624,4769`) is an either-or group. Implies multi-event
`like:`	Structural neighbors of a rule slug (equivalents + subsumption stricter / broader): `like:comsvcs_lsass_memory_dump-splunk-sysmon`
`groupby:`	Entity-grouping substring match against `group_by_keys`: `groupby:user`, `groupby:host`
`uses:`	Rules whose predicate tree touches the field (any kind, any value): `uses:CommandLine`
`excludes:`	Rules with top-level `not()` clauses on the field (FP whitelists): `excludes:ParentImage`
`field:` / `value:`	Predicate search; narrows rule cards to those with a matching leaf and drives the indicator tier. Unquoted = substring, wildcards allowed (`value:mimikatz`)
`indicator:`	Shorthand for `field:F value:V`: `indicator:Image=*\powershell.exe`
`kind:`	Filter by predicate kind. Narrows rule cards to those carrying a matching predicate leaf (`vendor:elastic kind:cidr_match`) and drives the indicator tier: `contains` / `starts_with` / `ends_with` / `regex` / `cidr` / `eq` / `in` … (operator aliases `op:`/`match:`)
`has:` / `no:`	`sample`, `field`, `notes`, `refs`, `trace`, `thirdparty`, `rule`, `pattern`, `timewindow`, `threshold`, `newterms`, `sigma`/`elastic`/`splunk`/`kusto`/`chronicle`
`-op:val`	Exclude matches; works on most operators but not `type:`/`like:`/`has:`/`no:` (use `no:<flag>` to exclude a rule flag): `tactic:execution -vendor:splunk`. Standalone `-kind:`/`-field:`/`-value:` drop every rule carrying a matching predicate leaf (`type:rules -kind:is_null`)
`field:"…"` / `value:"…"`	Quoted value = anchored exact match (also allows spaces): `value:"net user"`
`a,b`	Comma = OR inside one operator (`vendor:sigma,elastic`, `severity:high,critical`); repeating a facet merges the same way. `field:`/`value:` never split (literal commas)
`vendors:` / `stage:`	Singular and plural spellings fold to the canonical operator and value: `tactics:` = `tactic:`, `type:event` = `type:events`, `correlation:sequences` = `correlation:sequence`, `has:thresholds` = `has:threshold`
`"quoted phrase"`	Exact-match a multi-word phrase (free text)

File Recovery From Backup Via Wbadmin.EXE

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection_img`

Stage 2: `selection_cli`

Indicators

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

File Recovery From Backup Via Wbadmin.EXE

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

Stage 1: selection_img

Stage 2: selection_cli

Indicators

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection_img`

Stage 2: `selection_cli`