ReddRadar
Agent skill
detecting-wmi-persistence
Detect WMI event subscription persistence by analyzing Sysmon Event IDs 19, 20, and 21 for malicious EventFilter, EventConsumer, and FilterToConsumerBinding creation.
Install this agent skill to your Project
npx add-skill https://github.com/autohandai/community-skills/tree/main/detecting-wmi-persistence
SKILL.md
Detecting WMI Persistence
When to Use
- When hunting for WMI event subscription persistence (MITRE ATT&CK T1546.003)
- After detecting suspicious WMI activity in endpoint telemetry
- During incident response to identify attacker persistence mechanisms
- When Sysmon alerts trigger on Event IDs 19, 20, or 21
- During purple team exercises testing WMI-based persistence
Prerequisites
- Sysmon v6.1+ deployed with WMI event logging enabled (Event IDs 19, 20, 21)
- Windows Security Event Log forwarding configured
- SIEM with Sysmon data ingested (Splunk, Elastic, Sentinel)
- PowerShell access for WMI enumeration on endpoints
- Sysinternals Autoruns for manual WMI subscription review
Workflow
- Collect Telemetry: Parse Sysmon Event IDs 19 (WmiEventFilter), 20 (WmiEventConsumer), 21 (WmiEventConsumerToFilter).
- Identify Suspicious Consumers: Flag CommandLineEventConsumer and ActiveScriptEventConsumer types executing code.
- Analyze Event Filters: Examine WQL queries in EventFilters for process start triggers or timer-based execution.
- Correlate Bindings: Match FilterToConsumerBindings linking suspicious filters to consumers.
- Check Persistence Locations: Query WMI namespaces root\subscription and root\default for active subscriptions.
- Validate Findings: Cross-reference with known-good WMI subscriptions (SCCM, AV products).
- Document and Remediate: Remove malicious subscriptions and update detection rules.
Key Concepts
| Concept | Description |
|---|---|
| Sysmon Event 19 | WmiEventFilter creation detected |
| Sysmon Event 20 | WmiEventConsumer creation detected |
| Sysmon Event 21 | WmiEventConsumerToFilter binding detected |
| T1546.003 | Event Triggered Execution: WMI Event Subscription |
| CommandLineEventConsumer | Executes system commands when filter triggers |
| ActiveScriptEventConsumer | Runs VBScript/JScript when filter triggers |
Tools & Systems
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Sysmon | Windows event monitoring for WMI activity |
| WMI Explorer | GUI tool for browsing WMI namespaces |
| Autoruns | Sysinternals tool listing persistence mechanisms |
| PowerShell Get-WMIObject | Enumerate WMI event subscriptions |
| Splunk | SIEM analysis of Sysmon WMI events |
| Velociraptor | Endpoint WMI artifact collection |
Output Format
Hunt ID: TH-WMI-[DATE]-[SEQ]
Technique: T1546.003
Host: [Hostname]
Event Type: [EventFilter|EventConsumer|Binding]
Consumer Type: [CommandLine|ActiveScript]
WQL Query: [Filter query text]
Command: [Executed command or script]
Risk Level: [Critical/High/Medium/Low]
Recommended Action: [Remove subscription, investigate lateral movement]
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