Potential Tampering With Security Products Via WMIC

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

Detects uninstallation or termination of security products using the WMIC utility

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Defense Impairment	`T1685` Disable or Modify Tools

Event coverage

Provider	Event	Title
Sysmon	Event ID 1	Process creation
Security-Auditing	Event ID 4688	A new process has been created.

Rule body yaml

title: Potential Tampering With Security Products Via WMIC
id: 847d5ff3-8a31-4737-a970-aeae8fe21765
related:
    - id: b53317a0-8acf-4fd1-8de8-a5401e776b96 # Generic Uninstall
      type: derived
status: test
description: Detects uninstallation or termination of security products using the WMIC utility
references:
    - https://twitter.com/cglyer/status/1355171195654709249
    - https://thedfirreport.com/2021/10/18/icedid-to-xinglocker-ransomware-in-24-hours/
    - https://www.mandiant.com/resources/unc2165-shifts-to-evade-sanctions
    - https://research.nccgroup.com/2022/08/19/back-in-black-unlocking-a-lockbit-3-0-ransomware-attack/
    - https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/research/23/a/vice-society-ransomware-group-targets-manufacturing-companies.html
author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
date: 2021-01-30
modified: 2023-02-14
tags:
    - attack.defense-impairment
    - attack.t1685
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: windows
detection:
    selection_cli_1:
        CommandLine|contains|all:
            - 'wmic'
            - 'product where '
            - 'call'
            - 'uninstall'
            - '/nointeractive'
    selection_cli_2:
        CommandLine|contains|all:
            - 'wmic'
            - 'caption like '
        CommandLine|contains:
            - 'call delete'
            - 'call terminate'
    selection_cli_3:
        CommandLine|contains|all:
            - 'process '
            - 'where '
            - 'delete'
    selection_product:
        CommandLine|contains:
            - '%carbon%'
            - '%cylance%'
            - '%endpoint%'
            - '%eset%'
            - '%malware%'
            - '%Sophos%'
            - '%symantec%'
            - 'Antivirus'
            - 'AVG '
            - 'Carbon Black'
            - 'CarbonBlack'
            - 'Cb Defense Sensor 64-bit'
            - 'Crowdstrike Sensor'
            - 'Cylance '
            - 'Dell Threat Defense'
            - 'DLP Endpoint'
            - 'Endpoint Detection'
            - 'Endpoint Protection'
            - 'Endpoint Security'
            - 'Endpoint Sensor'
            - 'ESET File Security'
            - 'LogRhythm System Monitor Service'
            - 'Malwarebytes'
            - 'McAfee Agent'
            - 'Microsoft Security Client'
            - 'Sophos Anti-Virus'
            - 'Sophos AutoUpdate'
            - 'Sophos Credential Store'
            - 'Sophos Management Console'
            - 'Sophos Management Database'
            - 'Sophos Management Server'
            - 'Sophos Remote Management System'
            - 'Sophos Update Manager'
            - 'Threat Protection'
            - 'VirusScan'
            - 'Webroot SecureAnywhere'
            - 'Windows Defender'
    condition: 1 of selection_cli_* and selection_product
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate administration
level: high

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

1 of selection_cli_* and selection_product

Stage 1: `selection_cli_1`

selection_cli_1:
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - 'wmic'
        - 'product where '
        - 'call'
        - 'uninstall'
        - '/nointeractive'

Stage 2: `selection_cli_2`

selection_cli_2:
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - 'wmic'
        - 'caption like '
    CommandLine|contains:
        - 'call delete'
        - 'call terminate'

Stage 3: `selection_cli_3`

selection_cli_3:
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - 'process '
        - 'where '
        - 'delete'

Stage 4: `selection_product`

selection_product:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - '%carbon%'
        - '%cylance%'
        - '%endpoint%'
        - '%eset%'
        - '%malware%'
        - '%Sophos%'
        - '%symantec%'
        - 'Antivirus'
        - 'AVG '
        - 'Carbon Black'
        - 'CarbonBlack'
        - 'Cb Defense Sensor 64-bit'
        - 'Crowdstrike Sensor'
        - 'Cylance '
        - 'Dell Threat Defense'
        - 'DLP Endpoint'
        - 'Endpoint Detection'
        - 'Endpoint Protection'
        - 'Endpoint Security'
        - 'Endpoint Sensor'
        - 'ESET File Security'
        - 'LogRhythm System Monitor Service'
        - 'Malwarebytes'
        - 'McAfee Agent'
        - 'Microsoft Security Client'
        - 'Sophos Anti-Virus'
        - 'Sophos AutoUpdate'
        - 'Sophos Credential Store'
        - 'Sophos Management Console'
        - 'Sophos Management Database'
        - 'Sophos Management Server'
        - 'Sophos Remote Management System'
        - 'Sophos Update Manager'
        - 'Threat Protection'
        - 'VirusScan'
        - 'Webroot SecureAnywhere'
        - 'Windows Defender'

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	`%Sophos%` `%carbon%` `%cylance%` `%endpoint%` `%eset%` `%malware%` `%symantec%` `/nointeractive` corpus 2 (sigma 1, splunk 1) `AVG` `Antivirus` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `Carbon Black` `CarbonBlack` `Cb Defense Sensor 64-bit` `Crowdstrike Sensor` `Cylance` `DLP Endpoint` `Dell Threat Defense` `ESET File Security` `Endpoint Detection` `Endpoint Protection` `Endpoint Security` `Endpoint Sensor` `LogRhythm System Monitor Service` `Malwarebytes` `McAfee Agent` `Microsoft Security Client` `Sophos Anti-Virus` `Sophos AutoUpdate` `Sophos Credential Store` `Sophos Management Console` `Sophos Management Database` `Sophos Management Server` `Sophos Remote Management System` `Sophos Update Manager` `Threat Protection` `VirusScan` `Webroot SecureAnywhere` `Windows Defender` `call` corpus 8 (sigma 6, splunk 2) `call delete` `call terminate` `caption like` `delete` corpus 23 (sigma 16, splunk 6, kusto 1) `process` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `product where` `uninstall` corpus 2 (sigma 2) `where` `wmic` corpus 6 (sigma 6)

`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)

Potential Tampering With Security Products Via WMIC

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection_cli_1`

Stage 2: `selection_cli_2`

Stage 3: `selection_cli_3`

Stage 4: `selection_product`

Indicators

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Potential Tampering With Security Products Via WMIC

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

Stage 1: selection_cli_1

Stage 2: selection_cli_2

Stage 3: selection_cli_3

Stage 4: selection_product

Indicators

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection_cli_1`

Stage 2: `selection_cli_2`

Stage 3: `selection_cli_3`

Stage 4: `selection_product`