Detect Security Software Discovery in Elastic Security
Adversaries enumerate installed security software, defensive tools, and monitoring agents prior to executing payloads or deploying evasion techniques. By identifying what endpoint protection, EDR, firewalls, and cloud monitoring agents are present, adversaries can determine whether to proceed with infection, disable specific defenses, or select evasion techniques tailored to the detected product. Common methods include WMI queries to the SecurityCenter2 namespace (enumerating AntiVirusProduct, FirewallProduct, AntiSpywareProduct classes), PowerShell Get-WmiObject/Get-CimInstance targeting security product WMI classes, tasklist and WMIC process enumeration filtered to known AV/EDR binary names, and registry inspection of installed software keys for security vendor paths. Threat actors including Darkhotel, Clop, QakBot, Raspberry Robin, TONESHELL (Mustang Panda), and Sidewinder are documented performing this technique in the wild.
MITRE ATT&CK
- Tactic
- Discovery
- Technique
- T1518 Software Discovery
- Sub-technique
- T1518.001 Security Software Discovery
- Canonical reference
- https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1518/001/
Elastic Detection Query
any where event.category == "process" and event.type == "start" and (
(
process.name : "wmic.exe" and (
process.command_line : "*SecurityCenter*" or
(process.command_line : "*AntiVirusProduct*" and process.command_line : ("*displayName*", "*Get*", "*path*")) or
process.command_line : "*AntiSpywareProduct*" or
process.command_line : "*FirewallProduct*"
)
) or
(
process.name : ("powershell.exe", "pwsh.exe") and (
process.command_line : "*SecurityCenter*" or
process.command_line : ("*AntiVirusProduct*", "*AntiSpywareProduct*", "*FirewallProduct*") or
(process.command_line : ("*Get-WmiObject*", "*Get-CimInstance*", "*gwmi*", "*gcim*", "*Invoke-WmiMethod*") and
process.command_line : ("*AntiVirusProduct*", "*AntiSpywareProduct*", "*FirewallProduct*", "*SecurityCenter*"))
)
) or
(
process.name : ("tasklist.exe", "wmic.exe") and
process.command_line : ("*ekrn*", "*egui*", "*mssense*", "*msmpeng*", "*mbam*", "*mbamservice*", "*avp.exe*", "*avguard*", "*avgnt*", "*avscan*", "*avastui*", "*avastsvc*", "*bdservicehost*", "*bdredline*", "*bdagent*", "*sophosav*", "*sophossps*", "*savservice*", "*hmpalert*", "*csfalconservice*", "*csagent*", "*falconhost*", "*cbdaemon*", "*carbonblackk*", "*sentinelagent*", "*sentinelservicehost*", "*cylancesvc*", "*taniumclient*", "*xagt*", "*hxtsr*")
) or
(
process.name : "reg.exe" and
process.command_line : "*query*" and
process.command_line : ("*WinDefend*", "*Windows Defender*", "*\\ESET*", "*Kaspersky Lab*", "*McAfee*", "*Sophos*", "*CrowdStrike*", "*Carbon Black*", "*SentinelOne*", "*Cylance*", "*Symantec*", "*Bitdefender*", "*Malwarebytes*", "*Avast*", "*AVG*")
)
)Detects security software discovery via WMI SecurityCenter2 namespace queries, PowerShell WMI/CIM enumeration of security product classes, process enumeration filtered to known AV/EDR binary names, and registry inspection of security vendor install keys — all common precursors to defense evasion or payload staging.
Data Sources
Required Tables
False Positives & Tuning
- Legitimate IT asset inventory or patch management tools (e.g., Tanium, SCCM, Qualys) that enumerate installed security products as part of compliance scanning
- Security operations scripts or SIEM onboarding scripts that query WMI SecurityCenter2 to verify AV status during endpoint enrollment
- Helpdesk or SOC analysts manually running wmic/PowerShell commands to troubleshoot security product health on a specific endpoint
Other platforms for T1518.001
Testing Methodology
Validate this detection against 4 adversary techniques from Atomic Red Team. Each test below lists the behaviour to exercise and the telemetry you should expect to see. Executable commands and cleanup steps are available with Pro.
- Test 1WMI SecurityCenter2 AV Enumeration via WMIC
Expected signal: Sysmon Event ID 1: Process Create with Image=wmic.exe, CommandLine containing 'SecurityCenter2' and 'AntiVirusProduct'. Security Event ID 4688 (if command line auditing enabled). Microsoft-Windows-WMI-Activity/Operational Event ID 5857 for SecurityCenter2 provider load.
- Test 2PowerShell Get-WmiObject AntiVirusProduct Enumeration
Expected signal: Sysmon Event ID 1: Process Create with Image=powershell.exe, CommandLine containing 'SecurityCenter2' and 'AntiVirusProduct'. PowerShell ScriptBlock Log Event ID 4104 capturing the full Get-WmiObject command. No network connection expected.
- Test 3Tasklist Process Enumeration for AV Binary Names
Expected signal: Multiple Sysmon Event ID 1 entries for tasklist.exe, each with CommandLine containing the respective AV binary name filter. Security Event ID 4688 entries if command line auditing is enabled. No file or network events expected.
- Test 4Registry Query for Installed Security Software
Expected signal: Multiple Sysmon Event ID 1 entries for reg.exe with CommandLine containing 'query' and the respective vendor path. Security Event ID 4688 if command line auditing enabled. Registry queries will return data on installed products or 'ERROR: The system was unable to find the specified registry key or value' for absent products.
References (9)
- https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1518/001/
- https://securelist.com/the-darkhotel-apt/66779/
- https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/research/22/l/raspberry-robin-malware-targets-telecom-financial-industries.html
- https://www.mcafee.com/blogs/other-blogs/mcafee-labs/clop-ransomware/
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/wmisdk/wmi-namespaces
- https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/master/atomics/T1518.001/T1518.001.md
- https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_wmic_security_software_discovery.yml
- https://www.rewterz.com/rewterz-news/rewterz-threat-alert-sidewinder-apt-group-active-iocs
- https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/threat-intelligence/2021/12/sidecopy-apt-connecting-lures-to-victims-payloads-to-infrastructure
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