Registry Enumeration via WMI Stdregprov

Status: experimental
Severity: medium
Log source: category process_creation, product windows
Author: Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems)
Source: github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma

Detects the usage of wmic.exe to enumerate or read Windows registry via the WMI StdRegProv class read methods (EnumKey, EnumValues, GetStringValue, etc.). While registry reads are common, attackers may use this technique to perform reconnaissance and discover sensitive configuration values, credentials, or installed software. The use of WMI as an alternative to standard tools like reg.exe can indicate an attempt to evade detection focused on traditional registry query commands.

Known false positives

Legitimate administrative activity

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Execution	`T1047` Windows Management Instrumentation
Discovery	`T1012` Query Registry

Telemetry coverage

Provider	Record / event type
Sysmon	Event ID 1: Process creation

Rule body

title: Registry Enumeration via WMI Stdregprov
id: a0e417e2-2fa1-40da-b6d2-e094cd5e1191
related:
    - id: c453ab7a-1f5c-4716-a3b4-dea8135fb43a # Registry Manipulation via WMI Stdregprov
      type: similar
status: experimental
description: |
    Detects the usage of wmic.exe to enumerate or read Windows registry via the WMI StdRegProv class read methods (EnumKey, EnumValues, GetStringValue, etc.).
    While registry reads are common, attackers may use this technique to perform reconnaissance and discover sensitive configuration values, credentials, or installed software.
    The use of WMI as an alternative to standard tools like reg.exe can indicate an attempt to evade detection focused on traditional registry query commands.
references:
    - https://trustedsec.com/blog/command-line-underdog-wmic-in-action
    - https://trustedsec.com/blog/wmi-for-script-kiddies
    - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/desktop/regprov/stdregprov
author: Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems)
date: 2025-07-30
modified: 2026-06-19
tags:
    - attack.execution
    - attack.t1047
    - attack.discovery
    - attack.t1012
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_img:   # Example command simulated:  WMIC  /NameSpace:\\root\default Class StdRegProv Call EnumKey hDefKey=&H80000002 sSubKeyName="Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall"
        - Image|endswith: '\wmic.exe'
        - OriginalFileName: 'wmic.exe'
    selection_cli:
        CommandLine|contains|all:
            - 'stdregprov'
            - 'call'
        CommandLine|contains:
            - 'CheckAccess'
            - 'EnumKey'
            - 'EnumValues'
            - 'GetBinaryValue'
            - 'GetDWORDValue'
            - 'GetExpandedStringValue'
            - 'GetMultiStringValue'
            - 'GetQWORDValue'
            - 'GetSecurityDescriptor'
            - 'GetStringValue'
    condition: all of selection_*
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate administrative activity
level: medium

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

all of selection_*

Stage 1: `selection_img`

selection_img:
    - Image|endswith: '\wmic.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: 'wmic.exe'

Stage 2: `selection_cli`

selection_cli:
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - 'stdregprov'
        - 'call'
    CommandLine|contains:
        - 'CheckAccess'
        - 'EnumKey'
        - 'EnumValues'
        - 'GetBinaryValue'
        - 'GetDWORDValue'
        - 'GetExpandedStringValue'
        - 'GetMultiStringValue'
        - 'GetQWORDValue'
        - 'GetSecurityDescriptor'
        - 'GetStringValue'

Indicators

These rows show field, operator, and value matches.

Field	Kind	Values	Search
`CommandLine`	match	`CheckAccess` `EnumKey` `EnumValues` `GetBinaryValue` `GetDWORDValue` `GetExpandedStringValue` `GetMultiStringValue` `GetQWORDValue` `GetSecurityDescriptor` `GetStringValue` `call` corpus 8 (sigma 6, splunk 2) `stdregprov` corpus 2 (sigma 2)	`field:"CommandLine" kind:match`
`Image`	ends_with	`\wmic.exe` corpus 62 (sigma 62)	`field:"Image" kind:ends_with value:"\wmic.exe"`
`OriginalFileName`	eq	`wmic.exe` corpus 80 (sigma 38, elastic 24, splunk 18)	`field:"OriginalFileName" kind:eq value:"wmic.exe"`