Detection rules › Splunk
WMIC Explicit Credentials (Windows Event Log)
Prior to the first lateral movement, threat actors may test credentials and gather information from their targeted remote server using WMI
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Initial Access | T1078 Valid Accounts |
| Execution | T1047 Windows Management Instrumentation |
| Persistence | T1078 Valid Accounts |
| Privilege Escalation | T1078 Valid Accounts |
| Stealth | T1078 Valid Accounts |
References
Event coverage
| Provider | Event | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Security-Auditing | Event ID 4648 | A logon was attempted using explicit credentials. |
| Security-Auditing | Event ID 4688 | A new process has been created. |
Rule body yaml
id: '12916.18553'
title: WMIC Explicit Credentials
description: 'Prior to the first lateral movement, threat actors may test credentials
and gather information from their targeted remote server using WMI.Living Off the
Land Binary and Scripts (LOLBAS) (LOLBIN) -- Threat Actor Association: Flax Typhoon,
Volt Typhoon (Bronze Silhouette, Vanguard Panda) - Software Association: Clop, Quantum'
logic_format: Splunk
logic: '`get_endpoint_data` `get_endpoint_data_winevent` ((TERM(EventCode=4688) OR
"<EventID>4688<" OR Type=Process) (("wmic" OR "wmic.exe") "/password")) OR ((TERM(EventCode=4648)
OR "<EventID>4648<") "wmic") | table _time, host, user process, process_*, signature_id,
parent_* | bin span=1s | stats values(*) as * by _time, host '
techniques:
- persistence:valid accounts
- privilege-escalation:valid accounts
- execution:windows management instrumentation
- discovery:remote system discovery
technique_id:
- T1078
- T1047
data_category:
- Windows event logs
references:
- https://thedfirreport.com/2022/04/25/quantum-ransomware/
Stages and Predicates
Stage 1: search
`get_endpoint_data` `get_endpoint_data_winevent` ((TERM(EventCode=4688) OR "<EventID>4688<" OR Type=Process) (("wmic" OR "wmic.exe") "/password")) OR ((TERM(EventCode=4648) OR "<EventID>4648<") "wmic")
Stage 2: table
| table _time, host, user process, process_*, signature_id, parent_*
Stage 3: bucket
| bin span=1s
Stage 4: stats
| stats values(*) as * by _time, host
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 |
|---|---|---|
EventCode | eq |
|
Search terms
Bare-string tokens in the SPL search body. Splunk matches each token against _raw (the untyped raw event text) anywhere it appears, not against a specific field. These don't surface in the Indicators table because they aren't predicates on a known field.
| Stage | Term |
|---|---|
| 1 | TERM |
| 1 | "<EventID>4688<" |
| 1 | "wmic" |
| 1 | "wmic.exe" |
| 1 | "/password" |
| 1 | TERM |
| 1 | "<EventID>4648<" |
| 1 | "wmic" |