T1047 Windows Management Instrumentation — ATT&CK Technique

Adversaries may abuse Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) to execute malicious commands and payloads. WMI is designed for programmers and is the infrastructure for management data and operations on Windows systems. WMI is an administration feature that provides a uniform environment to access Windows system components. The WMI service enables both local and remote access, though the latter is facilitated by Remote Services such as Distributed Component Object Model and Windows Remote Management. Remote WMI over DCOM operates using port 135, whereas WMI over WinRM operates over port 5985 when using HTTP and 5986 for HTTPS. An adversary can use WMI to interact with local and remote systems and use it as a means to execute various behaviors, such as gathering information for Discovery as well as Execution of commands and payloads. For example, `wmic.exe` can be abused by an adversary to delete shadow copies with the command `wmic.exe Shadowcopy Delete` (i.e., Inhibit System Recovery). **Note:** `wmic.exe` is deprecated as of January of 2024, with the WMIC feature being “disabled by default” on Windows 11+. WMIC will be removed from subsequent Windows releases and replaced by PowerShell as the primary WMI interface. In addition to PowerShell and tools like `wbemtool.exe`, COM APIs can also be used to programmatically interact with WMI via C++, .NET, VBScript, etc.

Detection coverage (50)

Blue Mockingbird high
Blue Mockingbird - Registry high
Potential Maze Ransomware Activity critical
UNC2452 PowerShell Pattern critical
WMI Module Loaded By Uncommon Process low
Remote DCOM/WMI Lateral Movement high
MITRE BZAR Indicators for Execution medium
RDP Enable or Disable via Win32_TerminalServiceSetting WMI Class medium
Successful Account Login Via WMI low
T1047 Wmiprvse Wbemcomn DLL Hijack high
PSExec and WMI Process Creations Block high
Wmiexec Default Output File critical
Wmiprvse Wbemcomn DLL Hijack - File critical
Wmiprvse Wbemcomn DLL Hijack high
WMI Event Consumer Created Named Pipe medium
WMImplant Hack Tool high
WMIC Unquoted Services Path Lookup - PowerShell medium
Suspicious Autorun Registry Modified via WMI high
HTML Help HH.EXE Suspicious Child Process high
HackTool - CrackMapExec Execution Patterns high
Suspicious HH.EXE Execution high
HackTool - CrackMapExec Execution high
HackTool - Potential Impacket Lateral Movement Activity high
Suspicious Microsoft Office Child Process high
Script Event Consumer Spawning Process high
New Process Created Via Wmic.EXE medium
Password Set to Never Expire via WMI medium
Computer System Reconnaissance Via Wmic.EXE medium
Potential Windows Defender Tampering Via Wmic.EXE high
Windows Hotfix Updates Reconnaissance Via Wmic.EXE medium
Service Reconnaissance Via Wmic.EXE medium
Service Started/Stopped Via Wmic.EXE medium
Hardware Model Reconnaissance Via Wmic.EXE medium
Potential Product Class Reconnaissance Via Wmic.EXE medium
WMIC Remote Command Execution medium
Suspicious WMIC Execution Via Office Process high
XSL Script Execution Via WMIC.EXE medium
Process Reconnaissance Via Wmic.EXE medium
Potential Unquoted Service Path Reconnaissance Via Wmic.EXE medium
Potential Remote SquiblyTwo Technique Execution high
Application Removed Via Wmic.EXE medium
Suspicious WmiPrvSE Child Process high
Potential Product Reconnaissance Via Wmic.EXE medium
System Disk And Volume Reconnaissance Via Wmic.EXE medium
Registry Manipulation via WMI Stdregprov medium
Service Startup Type Change Via Wmic.EXE medium
Application Terminated Via Wmic.EXE medium
Potential WMI Lateral Movement WmiPrvSE Spawned PowerShell medium
Suspicious Process Created Via Wmic.EXE high
WmiPrvSE Spawned A Process medium

Malware using this technique

Threat actors using this technique

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