Windows WMI Impersonate Token

SPLUNK detection rule by Teoderick Contreras, Splunk · Apache-2.0

The following analytic detects potential WMI token impersonation activities in a process or command. It leverages Sysmon EventCode 10 to identify instances where `wmiprvse.exe` has a duplicate handle or full granted access in a target process. This behavior is significant as it is commonly used by malware like Qakbot for privilege escalation or defense evasion. If confirmed malicious, this activity could allow an attacker to gain elevated privileges, evade defenses, and maintain persistence within the environment.

name: Windows WMI Impersonate Token
id: cf192860-2d94-40db-9a51-c04a2e8a8f8b
version: 10
creation_date: '2022-10-26'
modification_date: '2026-05-13'
author: Teoderick Contreras, Splunk
status: production
type: Anomaly
description: The following analytic detects potential WMI token impersonation activities in a process or command. It leverages Sysmon EventCode 10 to identify instances where `wmiprvse.exe` has a duplicate handle or full granted access in a target process. This behavior is significant as it is commonly used by malware like Qakbot for privilege escalation or defense evasion. If confirmed malicious, this activity could allow an attacker to gain elevated privileges, evade defenses, and maintain persistence within the environment.
data_source:
    - Sysmon EventID 10
search: '`sysmon` EventCode=10 SourceImage = "*\\wmiprvse.exe"  GrantedAccess IN ("0x1478", "0x1fffff") | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime by CallTrace EventID GrantedAccess Guid Opcode ProcessID SecurityID SourceImage SourceProcessGUID SourceProcessId TargetImage TargetProcessGUID TargetProcessId UserID dest granted_access parent_process_exec parent_process_guid parent_process_id parent_process_name parent_process_path process_exec process_guid process_id process_name process_path signature signature_id user_id vendor_product | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` | `windows_wmi_impersonate_token_filter`'
how_to_implement: This search requires Sysmon Logs and a Sysmon configuration, which includes EventCode 10. This search uses an input macro named `sysmon`. We strongly recommend that you specify your environment-specific configurations (index, source, sourcetype, etc.) for Windows Sysmon logs. Replace the macro definition with configurations for your Splunk environment. The search also uses a post-filter macro designed to filter out known false positives.
known_false_positives: administrator may execute impersonate wmi object script for auditing. Filter is needed.
references:
    - https://github.com/trustedsec/SysmonCommunityGuide/blob/master/chapters/process-access.md
    - https://www.joesandbox.com/analysis/278341/0/html
drilldown_searches:
    - name: View the detection results for - "$dest$"
      search: '%original_detection_search% | search  dest = "$dest$"'
      earliest_offset: $info_min_time$
      latest_offset: $info_max_time$
    - name: View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$dest$"
      search: '| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$dest$") | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(search_name) as "Search Name" values(risk_message) as "Risk Message" values(analyticstories) as "Analytic Stories" values(annotations._all) as "Annotations" values(annotations.mitre_attack.mitre_tactic) as "ATT&CK Tactics" by normalized_risk_object | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`'
      earliest_offset: 7d
      latest_offset: "0"
intermediate_findings:
    entities:
        - field: dest
          type: system
          score: 20
          message: wmiprvse.exe process having a duplicate or full Granted Access $GrantedAccess$ to $TargetImage$ process on $dest$
analytic_story:
    - Qakbot
    - Water Gamayun
asset_type: Endpoint
mitre_attack_id:
    - T1047
product:
    - Splunk Enterprise
    - Splunk Enterprise Security
    - Splunk Cloud
category: endpoint
security_domain: endpoint
tests:
    - name: True Positive Test
      attack_data:
        - data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1047/wmi_impersonate/sysmon.log
          source: XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational
          sourcetype: XmlWinEventLog
      test_type: unit

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9176eb5f-7292-44be-af0d-3e458eb17fef

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