o1-low 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.

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?

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?

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

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?

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.

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.

An analyst suspects that a restricted shell escape was executed using a common Perl package manager on Linux. Review the process execution records to determine which tool was invoked to spawn the shell.

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

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.

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?

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

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.

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.

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.

On a Linux device, a file was silently removed from the /tmp/victim-files directory. Search through file event or syslog records to identify the exact file name that was deleted.

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.

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?

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?

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?

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 registry event logs on the Windows host for PowerShell-driven writes to system policy and file system keys. Which registry value names were created during this BlackByte preparation simulation?