Deleting Backup Catalogs with Wbadmin

Elastic Stack Serverless Security

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: 5m

Searches indices from: now-9m (https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/common-options.html#date-math[Date Math format], see also Additional look-back time)

Maximum alerts per execution: 100

References: None

Tags:

• Elastic
• Host
• Windows
• Threat Detection
• Impact

Version: 10

Rule authors:

• Elastic

Rule license: Elastic License v2

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"

Framework: MITRE ATT&CKTM

• 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/