Sigma rule: Windows Hotfix Updates Reconnaissance Via Wmic.EXE
A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-a433cc569c70, updated 2023-02-14T00:00:00.000Z.
Rule
- Title
- Windows Hotfix Updates Reconnaissance Via Wmic.EXE
- Status
- test
- Level
- medium
- Author
- Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
- Date
- 2022-06-20
- Modified
- 2023-02-14
- File
- rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_wmic_recon_hotfix.yml
- Commit
- ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84
Detects the execution of wmic with the "qfe" flag in order to obtain information about installed hotfix updates on the system. This is often used by pentester and attacker enumeration scripts
Log source
- product
- windows
- category
- process_creation
Detection
selection_img:
- OriginalFileName: 'wmic.exe'
- Image|endswith: '\WMIC.exe'
selection_cli:
CommandLine|contains: ' qfe'
condition: all of selection*False positives (as the rule lists them)
- Unknown
Tags
- attack.execution
- attack.t1047
MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names
References
- https://github.com/carlospolop/PEASS-ng/blob/fa0f2e17fbc1d86f1fd66338a40e665e7182501d/winPEAS/winPEASbat/winPEAS.bat
- https://sushant747.gitbooks.io/total-oscp-guide/content/privilege_escalation_windows.html
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_recon_hotfix.yml
Sources and licences
SigmaHQ
"Windows Hotfix Updates Reconnaissance 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_recon_hotfix.yml.
Licensed under the Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/Detection-Rule-License
Cite this page
Dragons Eye Ransomware Tracker, "Sigma rule: Windows Hotfix Updates Reconnaissance Via Wmic.EXE",
entity page, dataset version ref-a433cc569c70, updated 2023-02-14T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/dfd2fcb7-8bd5-4daa-b132-5adb61d6ad45 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule dfd2fcb7-8bd5-4daa-b132-5adb61d6ad45, 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.