Windows WmicExec

👉 Overview

👀 What ?

Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (WMIC) is a command-line and scripting interface that simplifies the use of Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) and systems managed via WMI. WMIC provides a command-line interface to WMI. With WMIC, you can perform actions such as querying data, executing method calls, defining data, and changing system settings.

🧐 Why ?

WMIC is important because it allows administrators to interact with local and remote systems and obtain management data from these systems. It is a powerful tool that can help in solving many administrative tasks, such as system monitoring, troubleshooting, and automation. Its ability to gather information from remote systems makes it particularly valuable for managing larger networks, where manual data collection would be impractical or impossible.

⛏️ How ?

To use WMIC, open a command prompt and type 'wmic'. This will start the WMIC shell where you can enter commands directly. For example, to get a list of all running processes, you could type 'process list brief'. To exit the WMIC shell, simply type 'exit'. You can also use WMIC commands directly from the command prompt by prefixing the command with 'wmic'. For example, 'wmic process list brief'.

⏳ When ?

WMIC has been a part of Windows since Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. It has been included in all subsequent versions of Windows, although Microsoft has stated that WMIC is deprecated in Windows 10 and will be removed in a future version.

⚙️ Technical Explanations

Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (WMIC) is a command-line tool and scripting interface that simplifies the use of Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). WMI is a set of extensions to the Windows Driver Model that provides an operating system interface through which instrumented components provide information and notification. Essentially, it allows for the management and manipulation of data on both local and remote computers in a network.

WMIC works within the WMI infrastructure to interact with these systems. This infrastructure is Microsoft's implementation of the Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) and Common Information Model (CIM) standards from the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF). These standards are common interfaces for accessing management information in an enterprise environment.

With WMIC, you can execute various system management tasks. For example, by typing 'wmic' in a command prompt, you can access the WMIC shell where you can enter commands directly, such as 'process list brief' to get a list of all running processes. WMIC commands can also be used directly from the command prompt by prefixing the command with 'wmic'.

WMIC has been a part of Windows since Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, and has been included in all subsequent versions of Windows. However, Microsoft has announced that WMIC is deprecated in Windows 10 and will be removed in a future version, indicating a shift towards PowerShell for future scripting and command-line tasks.

Here is a detailed example of how to use WMIC for system management tasks:

1. Open a command prompt: Click the Start button, type 'cmd' into the search box, and press Enter. This will open a command prompt window.
2. Access the WMIC shell: In the command prompt, type 'wmic' and press Enter. You will now be in the WMIC shell, where you can directly enter commands.
3. List all running processes: To get a list of all running processes on your system, type 'process list brief' and press Enter. This command will display a brief list of all the processes currently running on your system.

wmic:root\\cli>process list brief

You will see output similar to this:

ProcessId  Name                    HandleCount  ThreadCount  VirtualSize  WorkingSetSize
0          System Idle Process     0            4            0            8192
4          System                  1238         139          143360       3151872
408        smss.exe                19           3            143360       3151872
524        csrss.exe               13           11           143360       3151872

Each column in the output provides different information about each process. For example, the 'Name' column shows the name of the process, 'HandleCount' shows the number of handles the process is using, 'ThreadCount' shows the number of threads the process is using, and so on.

1. Exit the WMIC shell: To exit the WMIC shell and return to the regular command prompt, simply type 'exit' and press Enter.

wmic:root\\cli>exit

Remember, WMIC commands can also be used directly from the regular command prompt by prefixing the command with 'wmic'. For example:

C:\\Users\\YourName>wmic process list brief

This will provide the same output as the 'process list brief' command used within the WMIC shell.