Deleting Backup Catalogs with Wbadmin

Identifies use of the wbadmin.exe to delete the backup catalog. Ransomware and other malware may do this to prevent system recovery.

Rule type: eql

Rule indices:

winlogbeat-*
logs-endpoint.events.*
logs-windows.*

Severity: low

Risk score: 21

Runs every: 5 minutes

Searches indices from: now-9m (Date Math format, see also Additional look-back time)

Maximum alerts per execution: 100

Tags:

Elastic
Host
Windows
Threat Detection
Impact

Version: 10 (version history)

Added (Elastic Stack release): 7.6.0

Last modified (Elastic Stack release): 7.16.0

Rule authors: Elastic

Rule license: Elastic License v2

Rule query

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process where event.type in ("start", "process_started") and
(process.name : "wbadmin.exe" or process.pe.original_file_name ==
"WBADMIN.EXE") and process.args : "catalog" and process.args :
"delete"

Threat mapping

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Framework: MITRE ATT&CK^TM

Tactic:
- Name: Impact
- ID: TA0040
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0040/
Technique:
- Name: Inhibit System Recovery
- ID: T1490
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1490/

Rule version history

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Version 10 (7.16.0 release)

Formatting only

Version 9 (7.13.0 release)

Updated query, changed from:

event.category:process and event.type:(start or process_started) and
process.name:wbadmin.exe and process.args:(catalog and delete)

Version 8 (7.12.0 release)

Formatting only

Version 7 (7.11.2 release)

Formatting only

Version 6 (7.11.0 release)

Formatting only

Version 5 (7.10.0 release)

Formatting only

Version 4 (7.9.1 release)

Formatting only

Version 3 (7.9.0 release)

Updated query, changed from:

event.action:"Process Create (rule: ProcessCreate)" and
process.name:wbadmin.exe and process.args:(catalog and delete)

Version 2 (7.7.0 release)

Updated query, changed from:

event.action:"Process Create (rule: ProcessCreate)" and
process.name:"wbadmin.exe" and process.args:("delete" and "catalog")

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