Netcat Network Activityedit
A netcat
process is engaging in network activity on a Linux host. Netcat is
often used as a persistence mechanism by exporting a reverse shell or by serving
a shell on a listening port. Netcat is also sometimes used for data
exfiltration.
Rule indices:
- auditbeat-*
Severity: medium
Risk score: 47
Runs every: 5 minutes
Searches indices from: now-6m (Date Math format, see also Additional look-back time
)
Maximum signals per execution: 100
References:
Tags:
- Elastic
- Linux
Rule version: 1
Added (Elastic Stack release): 7.6.0
Potential false positivesedit
Netcat is a dual-use tool that can be used for benign or malicious activity. Netcat is included in some Linux distributions so its presence is not necessarily suspicious. Some normal use of this program, while uncommon, may originate from scripts, automation tools, and frameworks.
Rule queryedit
process.name: (nc or ncat or netcat or netcat.openbsd or netcat.traditional) and event.action: (connected-to or bound-socket or socket_opened)