Sigma rule: WMI Backdoor Exchange Transport Agent

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-fe03ccc34b6e, updated 2023-02-08T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
WMI Backdoor Exchange Transport Agent
Status
test
Level
critical
Author
Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
Date
2019-10-11
Modified
2023-02-08
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_wmi_backdoor_exchange_transport_agent.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects a WMI backdoor in Exchange Transport Agents via WMI event filters

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection:
    ParentImage|endswith: '\EdgeTransport.exe'
filter_conhost:
    Image: 'C:\Windows\System32\conhost.exe'
filter_oleconverter:  # FP also documented in https://speakerdeck.com/heirhabarov/hunting-for-persistence-via-microsoft-exchange-server-or-outlook?slide=18
    Image|startswith: 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\'
    Image|endswith: '\Bin\OleConverter.exe'
condition: selection and not 1 of filter_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.privilege-escalation
  • attack.persistence
  • attack.t1546.003

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

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_wmi_backdoor_exchange_transport_agent.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "WMI Backdoor Exchange Transport Agent" by Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_wmi_backdoor_exchange_transport_agent.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: WMI Backdoor Exchange Transport Agent",
entity page, dataset version ref-fe03ccc34b6e, updated 2023-02-08T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/797011dc-44f4-4e6f-9f10-a8ceefbe566b (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 797011dc-44f4-4e6f-9f10-a8ceefbe566b, 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.