Sigma rule: Security Privileges Enumeration Via Whoami.EXE

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-335602876c0a, updated 2023-02-28T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Security Privileges Enumeration Via Whoami.EXE
Status
test
Level
high
Author
Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
Date
2021-05-05
Modified
2023-02-28
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_whoami_priv_discovery.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects a whoami.exe executed with the /priv command line flag instructing the tool to show all current user privileges. This is often used after a privilege escalation attempt.

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection_img:
    - Image|endswith: '\whoami.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: 'whoami.exe'
selection_cli:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - ' /priv'
        - ' -priv'
condition: all of selection_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.privilege-escalation
  • attack.discovery
  • attack.t1033

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_whoami_priv_discovery.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Security Privileges Enumeration Via Whoami.EXE" by Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_whoami_priv_discovery.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: Security Privileges Enumeration Via Whoami.EXE",
entity page, dataset version ref-335602876c0a, updated 2023-02-28T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/97a80ec7-0e2f-4d05-9ef4-65760e634f6b (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 97a80ec7-0e2f-4d05-9ef4-65760e634f6b, 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.