Sigma rule: Application Termination Attempt via Wmic.EXE

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-cdf20cb50eaf, updated 2023-09-11T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Application Termination Attempt via Wmic.EXE
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Date
2023-09-11
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_wmic_terminate_application.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects an attempt to terminate a process via "wmic" with the "call terminate" flag. Adversaries may
use wmic to terminate security products or other applications on the compromised host. This event is
triggered on on attempt and process creation can be either successful or unsuccessful.

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection_img:
    - Image|endswith: '\WMIC.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: 'wmic.exe'
selection_cli:
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - 'call'
        - 'terminate'
condition: all of selection_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.execution
  • attack.t1047

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

Related rules

References

Read on 2026-11-03T00:58:21.399Z under licence sigma-drl-1.1@d5f4c36a from https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_wmic_terminate_application.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Application Termination Attempt via Wmic.EXE" by Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_wmic_terminate_application.yml.
    Licensed under the Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/Detection-Rule-License

    Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1

Cite this page

Dragons Eye Ransomware Tracker, "Sigma rule: Application Termination Attempt via Wmic.EXE",
entity page, dataset version ref-cdf20cb50eaf, updated 2023-09-11T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/49d9671b-0a0a-4c09-8280-d215bfd30662 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 49d9671b-0a0a-4c09-8280-d215bfd30662, commit ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84.

Pages change. The dataset version identifies the data, but no archive of old versions is kept, so this citation cannot be replayed later.