// question

In Windows process event logs, you notice both the net time and w32tm commands being executed to display the system time and timezone. Which executor name from the test configuration was responsible for launching these utilities?

Reference KQL answer and model-by-model comparison.

20aba24b-e61f-4b26-b4ce-4784f763ca20
question id
5/23
models correct
1
valid answer
22%
success rate
// reference answer

Human-validated correct answer for this question.

cmd.exe
// model comparison
ModelAnswerKQL queryStatusTriesTimeCost
gemini-2.5-flash-preview-04-17
cmd.exe
DeviceProcessEvents
| where ProcessCommandLine has_any ('net time', 'w32tm')
| distinct InitiatingProcessFileName
pass115.33s0.0087
gpt-35-turbo
cmd.exe
DeviceProcessEvents | where FileName in~ ('net.exe', 'w32tm.exe') | summarize count() by InitiatingProcessFileName
pass13.98s0.0024
gpt-4-turbo-2024-04-09
no answer
no query generatedfail50.00s0.2285
gpt-4.1
cmd.exe
DeviceProcessEvents
| where FileName in~ ('net.exe', 'w32tm.exe')
| extend ExecutorName = InitiatingProcessFileName
| summarize Count = count() by ExecutorName
| sort by Count desc
pass13.82s0.0108
gpt-4.1-finetuned
powershell.exe, cmd.exe
DeviceProcessEvents
  | where ProcessCommandLine has_any ("net time", "w32tm")
  | project TimeGenerated, Executor=InitiatingProcessFileName, AccountName, DeviceName, Command=ProcessCommandLine
  | order by TimeGenerated asc
  | extend test_config_executor_name = Executor // Renaming a column for the answer format
pass217.83s0.0151
gpt-4.1-mini
wipro
DeviceProcessEvents
| where FileName in ("net.exe", "w32tm.exe")
| summarize by InitiatingProcessAccountName
| project ExecutorName=InitiatingProcessAccountName
fail117.03s0.0021
gpt-4.1-nano
wipro
DeviceProcessEvents
| where ProcessCommandLine contains "net time" or ProcessCommandLine contains "w32tm"
| summarize count() by InitiatingProcessAccountName
| order by count_ desc
fail11.87s0.0005
gpt-4o
wipro
DeviceProcessEvents
| where FileName in ('net.exe', 'w32tm.exe')
| project InitiatingProcessAccountName
fail13.84s0.0143
gpt-5-high
no answer
no query generatedfail50.00s0.2736
gpt-5-mini-high
wipro
let suspiciousNames = dynamic(["net.exe","net","w32tm.exe","w32tm"]);
// Search primary process events
DeviceProcessEvents
| where FileName in ("net.exe","w32tm.exe","net","w32tm")
// Also consider cases where cmd.exe or powershell executes these tools via command line
or ProcessCommandLine has_any (" net time","\nw32tm "," w32tm ","/c net time","/c w32tm","powershell -command w32tm","pwsh -c w32tm")
| extend targetTool = case(tolower(FileName) contains "w32tm","w32tm", tolower(FileName) contains "net","net", "other")
| project TimeGenerated, DeviceName, FileName, ProcessCommandLine, InitiatingProcessFileName, InitiatingProcessCommandLine, InitiatingProcessAccountName, InitiatingProcessAccountDomain, InitiatingProcessId, InitiatingProcessParentId, targetTool
| summarize Count = count(), Examples = take_any(pack_all()) by InitiatingProcessAccountName, InitiatingProcessAccountDomain, targetTool
| order by Count desc

// Fallback to DeviceEvents for cases where DeviceProcessEvents may not capture

| union (
    DeviceEvents
    | where FileName in ("net.exe","w32tm.exe","net","w32tm")
    or ProcessCommandLine has_any (" net time"," w32tm ","/c net time","/c w32tm","powershell -command w32tm","pwsh -c w32tm")
    | project TimeGenerated, DeviceName, FileName, ProcessCommandLine, InitiatingProcessFileName, InitiatingProcessCommandLine, InitiatingProcessAccountName, InitiatingProcessAccountDomain, InitiatingProcessId, InitiatingProcessParentId
    | extend targetTool = iff(tolower(FileName) contains "w32tm","w32tm", iff(tolower(FileName) contains "net","net","other"))
    | summarize Count = count(), Examples = take_any(pack_all()) by InitiatingProcessAccountName, InitiatingProcessAccountDomain, targetTool
)
| summarize Count = sum(Count), Examples = make_list(Examples, 5) by InitiatingProcessAccountName, InitiatingProcessAccountDomain, targetTool
| order by Count desc
| project InitiatingProcessAccountName, InitiatingProcessAccountDomain, targetTool, Count, Examples
fail115.19s0.0036
gpt-5-mini-low
cmd.exe
// Find executions of 'net time' and 'w32tm' that show system time/timezone
let cmds = dynamic(["net time","w32tm","w32tm /query","w32tm /tz","net time /domain"]);
DeviceProcessEvents
| where Timestamp between (startofday(datetime(1900-01-01)) .. now())
// The time range will be set by the function caller; keep broad filter for command patterns
| where tolower(ProcessCommandLine) has_any ("net time","w32tm") or tolower(InitiatingProcessCommandLine) has_any ("net time","w32tm") or tolower(FileName) has_any ("net.exe","w32tm.exe","w32tm")
| extend matchedCommand = case(
    tolower(ProcessCommandLine) has "w32tm", "w32tm",
    tolower(ProcessCommandLine) has "net time", "net time",
    tolower(InitiatingProcessCommandLine) has "w32tm", "w32tm",
    tolower(InitiatingProcessCommandLine) has "net time", "net time",
    tolower(FileName) has "w32tm", "w32tm",
    tolower(FileName) has "net", "net",
    "other")
| project Timestamp, DeviceName, FileName, ProcessId, ProcessCommandLine, InitiatingProcessFileName, InitiatingProcessCommandLine, InitiatingProcessAccountName, InitiatingProcessAccountDomain, InitiatingProcessId, matchedCommand
| where matchedCommand in ("w32tm","net time","net")
| summarize FirstSeen=min(Timestamp), LastSeen=max(Timestamp), Count=count(), any_InitiatingProcessAccountName=any(InitiatingProcessAccountName), any_InitiatingProcessAccountDomain=any(InitiatingProcessAccountDomain) by InitiatingProcessId, InitiatingProcessFileName, InitiatingProcessCommandLine, matchedCommand, DeviceName
| order by FirstSeen asc

// Fallback: also search DeviceEvents and DeviceFileEvents for command line or filenames
| union (
    DeviceEvents
    | where tolower(ProcessCommandLine) has_any ("net time","w32tm") or tolower(InitiatingProcessCommandLine) has_any ("net time","w32tm") or tolower(FileName) has_any ("net.exe","w32tm.exe","w32tm")
    | extend matchedCommand = iif(tolower(ProcessCommandLine) has "w32tm" or tolower(InitiatingProcessCommandLine) has "w32tm" or tolower(FileName) has "w32tm", "w32tm", "net time")
    | project Timestamp, DeviceName, FileName, ProcessCommandLine, InitiatingProcessFileName, InitiatingProcessCommandLine, InitiatingProcessAccountName, InitiatingProcessAccountDomain, InitiatingProcessId, matchedCommand
), (
    DeviceFileEvents
    | where tolower(InitiatingProcessCommandLine) has_any ("net time","w32tm") or tolower(FileName) has_any ("net.exe","w32tm.exe","w32tm")
    | extend matchedCommand = iif(tolower(InitiatingProcessCommandLine) has "w32tm" or tolower(FileName) has "w32tm", "w32tm", "net time")
    | project Timestamp, DeviceName, FileName, ProcessCommandLine=InitiatingProcessCommandLine, InitiatingProcessFileName=InitiatingProcessFileName, InitiatingProcessCommandLine, InitiatingProcessAccountName=InitiatingProcessAccountName, InitiatingProcessAccountDomain=InitiatingProcessAccountDomain, InitiatingProcessId, matchedCommand
)
| summarize FirstSeen=min(Timestamp), LastSeen=max(Timestamp), Count=count(), any_InitiatingProcessAccountName=any(InitiatingProcessAccountName), any_InitiatingProcessAccountDomain=any(InitiatingProcessAccountDomain) by InitiatingProcessId, InitiatingProcessFileName, InitiatingProcessCommandLine, matchedCommand, DeviceName
| order by FirstSeen asc
pass120.30s0.0055
gpt-5-mini-medium
wipro
(DeviceProcessEvents
| where FileName has_any ("net.exe","w32tm.exe","cmd.exe","powershell.exe","pwsh.exe")
| where ProcessCommandLine has_any ("net time","w32tm","/c net time","/c w32tm")
| project TimeGenerated, DeviceName, FileName, ProcessId, ProcessCommandLine, InitiatingProcessFileName, InitiatingProcessCommandLine, InitiatingProcessAccountName, InitiatingProcessAccountDomain, InitiatingProcessId
)
| union (
DeviceEvents
| where FileName has_any ("net.exe","w32tm.exe","cmd.exe","powershell.exe","pwsh.exe")
| where ProcessCommandLine has_any ("net time","w32tm","/c net time","/c w32tm")
| project TimeGenerated, DeviceName, FileName, ProcessId, ProcessCommandLine, InitiatingProcessFileName, InitiatingProcessCommandLine, InitiatingProcessAccountName = InitiatingProcessAccountName, InitiatingProcessAccountDomain = InitiatingProcessAccountDomain, InitiatingProcessId = InitiatingProcessId
)
| sort by TimeGenerated desc
| summarize FirstSeen = min(TimeGenerated), LastSeen = max(TimeGenerated), Count = count() by InitiatingProcessAccountName, InitiatingProcessAccountDomain, InitiatingProcessFileName, InitiatingProcessId
| where Count > 0
| project InitiatorName = coalesce(InitiatingProcessAccountName, "<unknown>"), InitiatorDomain = InitiatingProcessAccountDomain, InitiatorProcess = InitiatingProcessFileName, InitiatorProcessId = InitiatingProcessId, FirstSeen, LastSeen, Count
| order by LastSeen desc
fail111.94s0.0031
gpt-5-nano-high
no answer
no query generatedfail50.00s0.0107
gpt-5-nano-medium
wipro
DeviceProcessEvents
| where InitiatingProcessFileName in ("net.exe","w32tm.exe") or FileName in ("net.exe","w32tm.exe") or (ProcessCommandLine contains "net time" or ProcessCommandLine contains "w32tm")
| extend ExecutorName = coalesce(tostring(AdditionalFields.ExecutorName), InitiatingProcessAccountName)
| where isnotempty(ExecutorName)
| project TimeGenerated, DeviceName, InitiatingProcessFileName, ProcessCommandLine, ExecutorName
| summarize Occurrences = count() by ExecutorName, InitiatingProcessFileName, ProcessCommandLine, DeviceName
| order by Occurrences desc
fail137.86s0.0022
grok-3-beta
wipro
DeviceProcessEvents
| where FileName in ('net.exe', 'w32tm.exe')
| project Timestamp, DeviceName, InitiatingProcessAccountName, FileName, ProcessCommandLine, ProcessCreationTime
| order by Timestamp desc
fail17.62s0.0255
grok-3-mini-beta
wipro
DeviceProcessEvents
| where ProcessCommandLine contains 'net time' or ProcessCommandLine contains 'w32tm'
| summarize Executors = make_set(InitiatingProcessAccountName) by DeviceName
| project DeviceName, Executors
fail219.18s0.0029
o1-high
no answer
no query generatedfail50.00s1.1376
o1-low
powershell
DeviceProcessEvents
| where ActionType == "ProcessCreated"
| where FileName in~ ("net.exe", "w32tm.exe") or ProcessCommandLine has_any ("net time", "w32tm")
| project TimeGenerated, DeviceName, FileName, ProcessCommandLine, InitiatingProcessFileName, InitiatingProcessCommandLine, AccountName
| order by TimeGenerated desc
fail132.09s0.2758
o3-high
no answer
no query generatedfail50.00s0.0735
o3-mini-high
wipro
DeviceProcessEvents
| where InitiatingProcessCommandLine has "net time" or InitiatingProcessCommandLine has "w32tm"
| project TimeGenerated, InitiatingProcessAccountName, InitiatingProcessCommandLine, ProcessId
| sort by TimeGenerated desc
fail114.26s0.0089
o3-mini-low
empty
DeviceProcessEvents
| where tolower(FileName) in ("net.exe", "w32tm.exe")
| extend ExecutorName = tostring(AdditionalFields.executor_name)
| summarize Count = count() by ExecutorName
| sort by Count desc
fail117.36s0.0125
o4-mini-high
wipro
DeviceProcessEvents
| where ProcessCommandLine contains "net time" or ProcessCommandLine contains "w32tm"
| summarize Executions = count() by InitiatingProcessAccountName
| order by Executions desc
fail229.38s0.0193
o4-mini-low
wipro
DeviceProcessEvents
| where ProcessCommandLine matches regex @"(?i)\b(?:net\s+time|w32tm)\b"
| distinct InitiatingProcessAccountName
fail119.29s0.0093