Sigma rule: Service Startup Type Change Via Wmic.EXE

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-03f5c07f008b, updated 2026-04-27T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Service Startup Type Change Via Wmic.EXE
Status
experimental
Level
medium
Author
Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems)
Date
2026-04-27
File
rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_wmic_service_startup_change.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects changes to service startup type to 'disabled' or 'manual' using the WMIC command-line utility.

Log source

product
windows
category
process_creation

Detection

selection_img:
    - Image|endswith: '\WMIC.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: 'wmic.exe'
selection_cli:
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - ' service '
        - 'ChangeStartMode'
    CommandLine|contains:
        - 'Manual'
        - 'Disabled'
condition: all of selection_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Legitimate administrative changes to service startup types using WMIC, investigate accordingly.

Tags

  • attack.execution
  • attack.defense-impairment
  • attack.t1047
  • attack.t1685

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_wmic_service_startup_change.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Service Startup Type Change Via Wmic.EXE" by Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_wmic_service_startup_change.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: Service Startup Type Change Via Wmic.EXE",
entity page, dataset version ref-03f5c07f008b, updated 2026-04-27T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/c0514f28-fdae-42df-b886-06e2b2bc5b37 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule c0514f28-fdae-42df-b886-06e2b2bc5b37, 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.