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

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.

An analyst suspects a user or script ran a service enumeration command on a Linux system. Review process events to find the service-listing invocation and specify the full command that was executed.

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

Windows process creation logs show a PowerShell-driven file transfer to an FTP service. Which executable was leveraged to perform this exfiltration?

Examine the logs from the Linux system for events related to the systemd timer activation. Identify any records indicating that a new timer unit was started and enabled, and determine which timer name was used.

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 Windows host, investigate process events to find when Task Manager was launched via cmd with an unusual flag. What was the full command executed?

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

On a Linux system, analyze the process logs for suspicious command line activity that includes a sequence of commands indicating a pipe-to-shell operation. Identify the tool that was used to execute this piped command, paying special attention to its use in downloading and running script content.

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

On a Linux endpoint, process events reveal a chain of group‐enumeration utilities executed by a single session. Which utility was used to query the system’s group database?

On a Windows device, there’s evidence that PowerShell history was wiped by deleting the history file. What was the exact command used to perform this action?

Suspiciously, the recycle bin appears empty system-wide. Determine which command was executed on Windows to clear the system's recycle bin directory, including any switches and environment variables.

An attacker on Linux used bash to copy all files from /var/spool/mail into a newly created subdirectory before modifying them. What is the name of that subdirectory?

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 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.

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?

Evidence shows that the Windows Defender startup entry was tampered with via an elevated command prompt. Investigate registry events related to the Run key to discover which executable replaced the default SecurityHealth value. What is the name of the new program?

A Windows host logs a change to the Terminal Server registry key disabling single-session per user. Which command-line utility executed this registry modification?

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.

A suspicious BITS transfer was orchestrated via bitsadmin.exe on Windows, creating a job to download and then execute a payload. Investigate the process event logs to determine what custom job name was specified when the BITS job was created.

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.

An attacker leveraged a PowerShell command on a Windows host to enumerate browser bookmark files across all user profiles. Examine the process execution logs to determine the exact filename that was being searched for.

On a Linux system, logs show that the password expiration settings file was accessed. Identify which command was executed to list its contents.