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Detections · Rule
← IBM QRadar detectionsIBM QRadar · Behaviour (ATT&CK technique)

Windows event log cleared with wevtutil (T1685.005)

AQLhighconfidence 80/100generated 2026-10-18

wevtutil.exe clearing an event log (cl / clear-log) — removing the evidence trail after intrusion activity. Observed for: APT28, APT32, Chimera, ENERGETIC BEAR, FIN5, FIN8 and 5 more.

ATT&CK
T1685.005 mitre ↗
Linked actors
APT28 · APT32 · Chimera · ENERGETIC BEAR · FIN5 · FIN8 · HAFNIUM · INDRIK SPIDER · MirrorFace · play · Volt Typhoon
False positives
Only the clear verbs match; wevtutil queries, exports and log configuration do not.

AQL search

skopnix-qradar-ttp-t1685-005-f39a1a79.aqldownload .aql ↓
SELECT DATEFORMAT(starttime, 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss') AS event_time, LOGSOURCENAME(logsourceid) AS log_source, sourceip, username, "Process Name", "Process CommandLine"
FROM events
WHERE "Process Name" ILIKE 'wevtutil.exe' AND ("Process CommandLine" ILIKE '% cl %' OR "Process CommandLine" ILIKE '% clear-log %')
LAST 7 DAYS

CRE rule (build in Offenses > Rules)

download .txt ↓
Rule name: "Skopnix: Windows event log cleared with wevtutil (T1685.005)"
Rule type: Event
Test stack:
  - and when the event(s) were detected by one or more of [Microsoft Windows Security Event Log, Microsoft Windows Sysmon]
  - and when the event matches this AQL filter query: "Process Name" ILIKE 'wevtutil.exe' AND ("Process CommandLine" ILIKE '% cl %' OR "Process CommandLine" ILIKE '% clear-log %')
Response: dispatch new event / create offense indexed by Source IP; annotate "Skopnix T1685.005".
FP-safety: Only the clear verbs match; wevtutil queries, exports and log configuration do not.

How to deploy on IBM QRadar

  1. 1.Create the reference set from its spec (Reference Data API, or Admin > Reference Set Management) and schedule the skopnix feed load.
  2. 2.Paste the AQL into Log Activity > Advanced Search to hunt the last seven days.
  3. 3.For alerting, build the CRE rule from the test stack shown and exclude your known-good building block.

Check · Custom properties ("URL Host", "URL", "File Hash", "Process CommandLine") come from your DSMs and content extensions; rename them if yours differ.

References