grok-3-beta vs o4-mini-low KQL Benchmark

Using Windows process event logs, investigate PowerShell activity around lsass.exe memory capture. What was the name of the script file invoked to perform the dump?

On a Windows host, an attacker leveraged COMSVCS.DLL via rundll32.exe to dump the memory of svchost.exe into a file under the Temp directory. Review the file creation logs to determine the exact name of the dump file that was generated.

On a Linux host, a ping command was executed to test internet connectivity. Determine which IP address was used as the ping target.

A Linux host’s Syslog shows a shell-based network discovery script ran multiple commands. One of them listed current TCP connections. Which utility was invoked?

On a Windows endpoint, look for evidence of a base64-encoded PowerShell payload execution. Which executable launched the encoded command?

In a Linux environment, you observe a process labeled like the cron daemon but running from an unexpected path. Investigate creation events to uncover the actual filename used by this fake cron process.

A reconnaissance tool was executed on a Windows system. Identify the specific function of the tool that was executed. The function has a name from something you can eat

On a Windows host, find any scheduled task that was registered using PowerShell native cmdlets instead of schtasks.exe. What was the name given to the new task?

A malicious actor may attempt to list running processes on a Windows machine using a WMI-based command. Review the process creation events to find out which utility was invoked to perform this enumeration.

On a Linux host, identify the process invocation that altered a user’s login shell. What was the full command used?

Review recent Windows process event logs for PowerShell activity that suggests local group enumeration through WMI. What exact command was executed?

During a Linux investigation, you notice processes spawning curl and wget commands that pull a script from a remote GitHub raw URL and pipe it into bash. Identify the name of the script that was retrieved and executed.

A Linux host executed a native utility to overwrite and then remove a temporary file in one step. Identify the name of the file that was securely deleted by this action.

While reviewing Windows process events, you observe a command that recursively deleted a folder under the temporary directory. Use the process event data to identify which process or tool executed this recursive delete.

On a Linux system, attackers may use timestamp manipulation to hide malicious changes. Investigate relevant logs to identify which file’s modification timestamp was altered by such a command.

A suspicious actor appears to have removed the USN change journal on a Windows workstation. Investigate process start records to find out exactly which command was used to delete the journal. What was the full command line invoked?

A user‐space process on a Linux device invoked a shell to capture and display the system’s environment variables and path. Which exact command was used to perform this discovery?

A Windows system shows a cmd.exe process spawn that appears to have been used for environment discovery. Review the process creation records to identify the exact command the adversary ran to enumerate environment variables.

On a Linux endpoint, a command was executed to start a proxy service commonly used for onion routing. Identify the name of the service that was launched to enable this proxy functionality.

On Windows systems, disabling RDP via the registry generates registry write events. Investigate registry event logs for modifications under the Terminal Server configuration path. What is the name of the registry value that was changed to disable Remote Desktop Protocol?

Review Windows process execution logs to find any native utility that was used to enumerate connected drives. Which utility was invoked?

A Windows host recorded a process that simply executes the system’s native time utility. Without spelling out the query, determine which command was run based on process creation events.

Windows systems may be probed for their password policy settings using a native command-line tool. Determine which command was executed to list the local password policy on the target hosts.

On a Linux host, an activity was recorded where the local clock and timezone were queried. Review the available process execution logs to uncover what full command was run to fetch the system time and timezone.

A suspicious registry change was made on a Windows system modifying the Terminal Services DLL path. Investigate registry events to find out which DLL file name was set as the ServiceDll value under TermService. What was the file name?