WinRM Spawning a Process
The following analytic detects suspicious processes spawned by WinRM (wsmprovhost.exe). It leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on specific child processes like cmd.exe,…
Description
The following analytic detects suspicious processes spawned by WinRM (wsmprovhost.exe). It leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on specific child processes like cmd.exe, powershell.exe, and others. This activity is significant as it may indicate exploitation attempts of vulnerabilities like CVE-2021-31166, which could lead to system instability or compromise. If confirmed malicious, attackers could execute arbitrary commands, escalate privileges, or maintain persistence, posing a severe threat to the environment.
Detection logic
Detection requirements
- Platform
- ContainersESXiIaaSLinuxmacOSNetwork DevicesWindows
The rule states no platform. This is derived from the ATT&CK technique it maps to.
- Log source category
- crowdstrike_processrollup2sysmon_eventid_1windows_event_log_security_4688
Known benign triggers
- No false positives have been identified at this time. system management software may spawn processes from `wsmprovhost.exe`.
MITRE ATT&CK mappings
0 exclusive techniques.This is coverage no other published rule has; it is not this rule's total technique count.
References
| Reference | Cited by |
|---|---|
| github.com/0vercl0k/CVE-2021-31166/blob/main/cve-2021-31166.py | Only this detection cites it |
| github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/9b7fb0c0f3af2e53ed483e29e0d0f88ccf1c08ca/rules/windows/process_access/win_susp_shell_spawn_from_winrm.yml | Only this detection cites it |
| www.zerodayinitiative.com/blog/2021/5/17/cve-2021-31166-a-wormable-code-execution-bug-in-httpsys | Only this detection cites it |
From the source
- At source
- Open at source
- Upstream identifier
- a081836a-ba4d-11eb-8593-acde48001122
- Tagged by the source as
- CISA AA23-347AMicrosoft WSUS CVE-2025-59287Rhysida RansomwareUnusual ProcessesEndpointendpointSplunk CloudSplunk EnterpriseSplunk Enterprise Securityendpoint
Licence
- Published under
- Apache License 2.0Read the licence
- Attribution
- Required
- Obtained under
- Apache-2.0Read the origin licence
Authorship
- Written by
- Published
- Aug 26, 2026
- Version
- 1