Service Reconnaissance Via Wmic.EXE

calendar Apr 27, 2026 · attack.execution attack.t1047  ·
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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

Sigma rule (View on GitHub)

 1title: Service Reconnaissance Via Wmic.EXE
 2id: 76f55eaa-d27f-4213-9d45-7b0e4b60bbae
 3related:
 4    - id: 68bcd73b-37ef-49cb-95fc-edc809730be6
 5      type: similar
 6status: test
 7description: |
 8    An adversary might use WMI to check if a certain remote service is running on a remote device.
 9    When the test completes, a service information will be displayed on the screen if it exists.
10    A common feedback message is that "No instance(s) Available" if the service queried is not running.
11    A common error message is "Node - (provided IP or default) ERROR Description =The RPC server is unavailable" if the provided remote host is unreachable    
12references:
13    - https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/f339e7da7d05f6057fdfcdd3742bfcf365fee2a9/atomics/T1047/T1047.md
14    - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/wmic
15    - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/cimwin32prov/win32-service
16author: frack113, Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
17date: 2023-02-14
18modified: 2026-01-07
19tags:
20    - attack.execution
21    - attack.t1047
22logsource:
23    category: process_creation
24    product: windows
25detection:
26    selection_img:
27        - Image|endswith: '\WMIC.exe'
28        - OriginalFileName: 'wmic.exe'
29    selection_cli:
30        CommandLine|contains: 'service'
31    filter_main_win32_methods:
32        CommandLine|contains:
33            - 'Change'
34            - 'Create'
35            - 'Delete'
36            - 'PauseService'
37            - 'ResumeService'
38            - 'SetSecurityDescriptor'
39            - 'StartService'
40            - 'StopService'
41            - 'UserControlService'
42    condition: all of selection_* and not 1 of filter_main_*
43falsepositives:
44    - Unknown
45level: medium

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