o4-mini-high 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.

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.

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?

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 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?

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.

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 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.

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?

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?

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 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.

Analyze the system logs for changes that indicate the addition of a port proxy configuration via registry key alteration. Identify which port number was set to listen.

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 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 user’s registry was altered via a command-line tool to disable the lock workstation feature by adding a DWORD entry under the current user Policies\System key. Which registry value name was modified in this operation?

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.

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.

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?