Sigma rule: Whoami.EXE Execution Anomaly

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-a384b1ecebf3, updated 2025-03-06T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title: Whoami.EXE Execution Anomaly
Status: test
Level: medium
Author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
Date: 2021-08-12
Modified: 2025-03-06
File: rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_whoami_parent_anomaly.yml
Commit: ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects the execution of whoami.exe with suspicious parent processes.

Log source

product: windows
category: process_creation

Detection

selection:
    - Image|endswith: '\whoami.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: 'whoami.exe'
filter_main_known_parents:
    # This list can be any legitimate shell or application that you expect whoami to run from
    ParentImage|endswith:
        - '\cmd.exe'
        - '\powershell_ise.exe'
        - '\powershell.exe'
        - '\pwsh.exe'
filter_optional_ms_monitoring_agent:
    ParentImage|endswith: ':\Program Files\Microsoft Monitoring Agent\Agent\MonitoringHost.exe'
filter_main_parent_null:
    ParentImage: null
filter_main_parent_empty:
    ParentImage:
        - ''
        - '-'
condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_* and not 1 of filter_optional_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

Admin activity
Scripts and administrative tools used in the monitored environment
Monitoring activity

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

T1033

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_whoami_parent_anomaly.yml

Sources and licences

SigmaHQ
"Whoami.EXE Execution Anomaly" by Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_whoami_parent_anomaly.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: Whoami.EXE Execution Anomaly",
entity page, dataset version ref-a384b1ecebf3, updated 2025-03-06T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/8de1cbe8-d6f5-496d-8237-5f44a721c7a0 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 8de1cbe8-d6f5-496d-8237-5f44a721c7a0, 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.