IMPORTANT: This documentation is no longer updated. Refer to Elastic's version policy and the latest documentation.

Update v8.19.16

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This section lists all updates associated with version 8.19.16 of the Fleet integration Prebuilt Security Detection Rules.

Rule Description Status Version

Elastic Defend Alert Followed by Telemetry Loss

Detects when an Elastic Defend endpoint alert is generated on a host and is not followed by any subsequent endpoint telemetry (process, network, registry, library, or DNS events) within a short time window. This behavior may indicate endpoint security evasion, agent tampering, sensor disablement, service termination, system crash, or malicious interference with telemetry collection following detection.

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1

FortiGate SSL VPN Login Followed by SIEM Alert by User

Detects when a FortiGate SSL VPN login event is followed by any SIEM detection alert for the same user name within a short time window. This correlation can indicate abuse of VPN access for malicious activity, credential compromise used from a VPN session, or initial access via VPN followed by post-compromise behavior.

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1

Correlated Alerts on Similar User Identities

This rule correlates alerts from multiple integrations and event categories that involve different user.name values which may represent the same real-world identity. It uses an LLM-based similarity analysis to evaluate whether multiple user identifiers (e.g. naming variations, formats, aliases, or domain differences) likely belong to the same person.

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2

AWS GuardDuty Member Account Manipulation

Detects attempts to disassociate or manipulate Amazon GuardDuty member accounts within an AWS organization. In multi-account GuardDuty deployments, a delegated administrator account aggregates findings from member accounts. Adversaries may attempt to disassociate member accounts, delete member relationships, stop monitoring members, or delete pending invitations to break this centralized visibility. These actions can be precursors to or alternatives for deleting GuardDuty detectors entirely, allowing attackers to operate undetected in member accounts while the administrator account loses visibility. This rule identifies successful API calls that manipulate GuardDuty member relationships, which are rare in normal operations and warrant immediate investigation.

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1

AWS SSM Inventory Reconnaissance by Rare User

Detects the rare occurrence of a user or role accessing AWS Systems Manager (SSM) inventory APIs or running the AWS-GatherSoftwareInventory job. These APIs reveal detailed information about managed EC2 instances including installed software, patch compliance status, and command execution history. Adversaries may use these calls to collect software inventory while blending in with legitimate AWS operations. This is a New Terms rule that detects when a user accesses these reconnaissance APIs for the first time.

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1

AWS IAM OIDC Provider Created by Rare User

Detects when an uncommon user or role creates an OpenID Connect (OIDC) Identity Provider in AWS IAM. OIDC providers enable web identity federation, allowing users authenticated by external identity providers (such as Google, GitHub, or custom OIDC-compliant providers) to assume IAM roles and access AWS resources. Adversaries who have gained administrative access may create rogue OIDC providers to establish persistent, federated access that survives credential rotation. This technique allows attackers to assume roles using tokens from an IdP they control. While OIDC provider creation is benign in some environments, it should still be validated against authorized infrastructure changes.

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1

AWS IAM SAML Provider Created

Detects the creation of a new SAML Identity Provider (IdP) in AWS IAM. SAML providers enable federated authentication between AWS and external identity providers, allowing users to access AWS resources using credentials from the external IdP. Adversaries who have gained administrative access may create rogue SAML providers to establish persistent, federated access to AWS accounts that survives credential rotation. This technique allows attackers to assume roles and access resources by forging SAML assertions from an IdP they control. Creating a SAML provider is a rare administrative action that should be closely monitored and validated against authorized infrastructure changes.

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1

AWS Sensitive IAM Operations Performed via CloudShell

Identifies sensitive AWS IAM operations performed via AWS CloudShell based on the user agent string. CloudShell is a browser-based shell that provides command-line access to AWS resources directly from the AWS Management Console. While convenient for administrators, CloudShell access from compromised console sessions can enable attackers to perform privileged operations without installing tools or using programmatic credentials. This rule detects high-risk actions such as creating IAM users, access keys, roles, or attaching policies when initiated from CloudShell, which may indicate post-compromise credential harvesting or privilege escalation activity.

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1

Entra ID Service Principal Federated Credential Authentication by Unusual Client

Identifies when a service principal authenticates using a federated identity credential for the first time in the historical window. This indicates that Entra ID validated a JWT token potentially against an external OIDC identity provider and issued an access token. While legitimate for CI/CD workflows (GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps), adversaries may abuse this by configuring rogue identity providers (BYOIDP) to authenticate as compromised applications. First-time federated credential usage for a service principal warrants investigation to determine if the external identity provider is legitimate.

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1

Potential Okta Brute Force (Multi-Source)

Detects potential brute force attacks against a single Okta user account from multiple source IPs, indicating attackers rotating through proxy infrastructure to evade IP-based detection.

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2

Potential Okta Password Spray (Multi-Source)

Detects potential password spray attacks where multiple source IPs target multiple Okta user accounts within a time window, indicating coordinated attacks using IP rotation to evade single-source detection.

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2

Okta Successful Login After Credential Attack

Correlates Okta credential attack alerts with subsequent successful authentication for the same user account, identifying potential compromise following brute force, password spray, or credential stuffing attempts.

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2

BPF Program Tampering via bpftool

Detects execution of bpftool commands used to detach eBPF programs or links, or to delete or modify eBPF maps. These actions can disable, alter, or interfere with kernel-level instrumentation and enforcement mechanisms implemented through eBPF. In environments relying on eBPF-based networking, observability, or security controls, unexpected use of these operations may indicate defense evasion or runtime tampering.

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1

Kernel Instrumentation Discovery via kprobes and tracefs

Detects common utilities accessing kprobes and tracing-related paths in debugfs/tracefs, which may indicate discovery of kernel instrumentation hooks. Adversaries can enumerate these locations to understand or prepare for eBPF, kprobe, or tracepoint-based activity. This behavior can also be benign during troubleshooting, performance analysis, or observability tooling validation.

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1

BPF Program or Map Load via bpftool

Detects execution of bpftool commands used to load, attach, run, or pin eBPF programs, as well as create or update eBPF maps and links. These operations interact directly with the Linux eBPF subsystem and can modify kernel-level behavior. While commonly used by legitimate networking or observability tooling, unexpected or interactive usage may indicate eBPF-based rootkit activity, policy tampering, or unauthorized kernel instrumentation.

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1

Kernel Module Load from Unusual Location

This rule detects the loading of a kernel module from an unusual location. Threat actors may use this technique to maintain persistence on a system by loading a kernel module into the kernel namespace. This behavior is strongly related to the presence of a rootkit on the system.

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1

Potential PowerShell Obfuscated Script via High Entropy

Identifies PowerShell script blocks with high entropy and non-uniform character distributions. Attackers may obfuscate PowerShell scripts using encoding, encryption, or compression techniques to evade signature-based detections and hinder manual analysis by security analysts.

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1

Potential Notepad Markdown RCE Exploitation

Identifies a process started by Notepad after opening a Markdown file. This may indicate successful exploitation of a Notepad markdown parsing vulnerability (CVE-2026-20841) that can lead to arbitrary code execution.

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1

Connection to Common Large Language Model Endpoints

Identifies DNS queries to known Large Language Model domains by unsigned binaries or common Windows scripting utilities. Malwares may leverage the capabilities of LLM to perform actions in the affected system in a dynamic way.

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3

FortiGate SOCKS Traffic from an Unusual Process

This detection correlates FortiGate’s application control SOCKS events with Elastic Defend network event to identify the source process performing SOCKS traffic. Adversaries may use a connection proxy to direct network traffic between systems or act as an intermediary for network communications to a command and control server to avoid direct connections to their infrastructure.

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2

Elastic Agent Service Terminated

Identifies the Elastic endpoint agent has stopped and is no longer running on the host. Adversaries may attempt to disable security monitoring tools in an attempt to evade detection or prevention capabilities during an intrusion. This may also indicate an issue with the agent itself and should be addressed to ensure defensive measures are back in a stable state.

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112

Detection Alert on a Process Exhibiting CPU Spike

This rule correlates security alerts with processes exhibiting unusually high CPU utilization on the same host and process ID within a short time window. This behavior may indicate malicious activity such as malware execution, cryptomining, exploit payload execution, or abuse of system resources following initial compromise.

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3

Multiple Alerts on a Host Exhibiting CPU Spike

This rule correlates multiple security alerts from a host exhibiting unusually high CPU utilization within a short time window. This behavior may indicate malicious activity such as malware execution, cryptomining, exploit payload execution, or abuse of system resources following initial compromise.

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3

Lateral Movement Alerts from a Newly Observed Source Address

This rule detects source IPs that triggered their first lateral movement alert within the last 10 minutes (i.e., newly observed), while also triggering at least 2 distinct lateral movement detection rules. This surfaces new potentially malicious IPs exhibiting immediate lateral movement behavior.

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3

Lateral Movement Alerts from a Newly Observed User

This rule detects multiple lateral movement alerts from a user that was observed for the first time in the previous 5 days of alerts history. Analysts can use this high-order detection to prioritize triage and response.

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3

Suspected Lateral Movement from Compromised Host

Detects potential lateral movement or post-compromise activity by correlating alerts where the host.ip of one alert matches the source.ip of a subsequent alert. This behavior may indicate a compromised host being used to authenticate to another system or resource, including cloud services.

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4

Elastic Defend and Network Security Alerts Correlation

This rule correlate any Elastic Defend alert with a set of suspicious events from Network security devices like Palo Alto Networks (PANW) and Fortinet Fortigate by host.ip and source.ip. This may indicate that this host is compromised and triggering multi-datasource alerts.

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6

Alerts From Multiple Integrations by Destination Address

This rule uses alert data to determine when multiple alerts from different integrations with unique event categories and involving the same destination.ip are triggered. Analysts can use this to prioritize triage and response, as these IP address is more likely to be related to a compromise.

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3

Alerts From Multiple Integrations by Source Address

This rule uses alert data to determine when multiple alerts from different integrations with unique event categories and involving the same source.ip are triggered. Analysts can use this to prioritize triage and response, as these IP addresses are more likely to be related to a compromise.

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3

Alerts From Multiple Integrations by User Name

This rule uses alert data to determine when multiple alerts from different integrations with unique event categories and involving the same user.name are triggered. Analysts can use this to prioritize triage and response, as these users are more likely to be compromised.

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3

Multiple Alerts Involving a User

This rule uses alert data to determine when multiple different alerts involving the same user are triggered. Analysts can use this to prioritize triage and response, as these users are more likely to be compromised.

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7

Alerts in Different ATT&CK Tactics by Host

This rule uses alert data to determine when multiple alerts in different phases of an attack involving the same host are triggered and where the accumulated risk score is higher than a defined threshold. Analysts can use this to prioritize triage and response, as these hosts are more likely to be compromised.

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3

Multiple Alerts in Same ATT&CK Tactic by Host

This rule correlates multiple security alerts associated with the same ATT&CK tactic on a single host within a defined time window. By requiring alerts from multiple distinct detection rules, this detection helps identify hosts exhibiting concentrated malicious behavior, which may indicate an active intrusion or post-compromise activity. The rule is intended to assist analysts in prioritizing triage toward hosts with higher likelihood of compromise rather than signaling a single discrete event.

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3

Multiple External EDR Alerts by Host

This rule uses alert data to determine when multiple external EDR alerts involving the same host are triggered. Analysts can use this to prioritize triage and response, as these hosts are more likely to be compromised.

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3

Multiple Machine Learning Alerts by Influencer Field

This rule uses alerts data to determine when multiple unique machine learning jobs involving the same influencer field are triggered. Analysts can use this to prioritize triage and response machine learning alerts.

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3

Newly Observed High Severity Detection Alert

This rule detects Elastic SIEM high severity detection alerts that are observed for the first time in the previous 5 days of alert history. It highlights low-volume, newly observed alerts tied to a specific detection rule, analysts can use this to prioritize triage and response.

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4

Newly Observed FortiGate Alert

This rule detects FortiGate alerts that are observed for the first time in the previous 5 days of alert history. Analysts can use this to prioritize triage and response.

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3

Newly Observed High Severity Suricata Alert

This rule detects Suricata high severity alerts that are observed for the first time in the previous 5 days of alert history. Analysts can use this to prioritize triage and response.

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3

Potential AWS S3 Bucket Ransomware Note Uploaded

Identifies potential ransomware note being uploaded to an AWS S3 bucket. This rule detects the PutObject S3 API call with an object name commonly associated with ransomware notes. The keywords detected here rarely overlap with common file names and have been attributed to ransomware notes with high-confidence. Adversaries with access to a misconfigured S3 bucket may retrieve, delete, and replace objects with ransom notes to extort victims.

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10

Entra ID Sharepoint or OneDrive Accessed by Unusual Client

Identifies when an application accesses SharePoint Online or OneDrive for Business for the first time in the tenant within a specified timeframe. This detects successful OAuth phishing campaigns, illicit consent grants, or compromised third-party applications gaining initial access to file storage. Adversaries often use malicious OAuth applications or phishing techniques to gain consent from users, allowing persistent access to organizational data repositories without traditional credential theft.

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4

Entra ID Federated Identity Credential Issuer Modified

Detects when the issuer URL of a federated identity credential is changed on an Entra ID application. Adversaries may modify the issuer to point to an attacker-controlled identity provider, enabling them to authenticate as the application’s service principal and gain persistent access to Azure resources. This technique allows bypassing traditional authentication controls by federating trust with a malicious external identity provider.

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8

Entra ID Unusual Cloud Device Registration

Detects a sequence of events in Microsoft Entra ID indicative of suspicious cloud-based device registration via automated tooling like ROADtools or similar frameworks. This behavior involves adding a device via the Device Registration Service, followed by the assignment of registered users and owners — a pattern consistent with techniques used to establish persistence or acquire a Primary Refresh Token (PRT). ROADtools and similar tooling leave distinct telemetry signatures such as the Microsoft.OData.Client user agent. These sequences are uncommon in typical user behavior and may reflect abuse of device trust for session hijacking or silent token replay.

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3

High Mean of Process Arguments in an RDP Session

A machine learning job has detected unusually high number of process arguments in an RDP session. Executing sophisticated attacks such as lateral movement can involve the use of complex commands, obfuscation mechanisms, redirection and piping, which in turn increases the number of arguments in a command.

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8

High Mean of RDP Session Duration

A machine learning job has detected unusually high mean of RDP session duration. Long RDP sessions can be used to evade detection mechanisms via session persistence, and might be used to perform tasks such as lateral movement, that might require uninterrupted access to a compromised machine.

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8

Unusual Remote File Size

A machine learning job has detected an unusually high file size shared by a remote host indicating potential lateral movement activity. One of the primary goals of attackers after gaining access to a network is to locate and exfiltrate valuable information. Instead of multiple small transfers that can raise alarms, attackers might choose to bundle data into a single large file transfer.

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8

High Variance in RDP Session Duration

A machine learning job has detected unusually high variance of RDP session duration. Long RDP sessions can be used to evade detection mechanisms via session persistence, and might be used to perform tasks such as lateral movement, that might require uninterrupted access to a compromised machine.

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8

Unusual Remote File Directory

An anomaly detection job has detected a remote file transfer on an unusual directory indicating a potential lateral movement activity on the host. Many Security solutions monitor well-known directories for suspicious activities, so attackers might use less common directories to bypass monitoring.

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8

Unusual Remote File Extension

An anomaly detection job has detected a remote file transfer with a rare extension, which could indicate potential lateral movement activity on the host.

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8

Spike in Number of Connections Made from a Source IP

A machine learning job has detected a high count of destination IPs establishing an RDP connection with a single source IP. Once an attacker has gained access to one system, they might attempt to access more in the network in search of valuable assets, data, or further access points.

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8

Spike in Number of Connections Made to a Destination IP

A machine learning job has detected a high count of source IPs establishing an RDP connection with a single destination IP. Attackers might use multiple compromised systems to attack a target to ensure redundancy in case a source IP gets detected and blocked.

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8

Spike in Number of Processes in an RDP Session

A machine learning job has detected unusually high number of processes started in a single RDP session. Executing a large number of processes remotely on other machines can be an indicator of lateral movement activity.

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8

Spike in Remote File Transfers

A machine learning job has detected an abnormal volume of remote files shared on the host indicating potential lateral movement activity. One of the primary goals of attackers after gaining access to a network is to locate and exfiltrate valuable information. Attackers might perform multiple small transfers to match normal egress activity in the network, to evade detection.

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8

Unusual Time or Day for an RDP Session

A machine learning job has detected an RDP session started at an usual time or weekday. An RDP session at an unusual time could be followed by other suspicious activities, so catching this is a good first step in detecting a larger attack.

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8

Deprecated - M365 Exchange DLP Policy Deleted

Identifies when a Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policy is removed in Microsoft 365. An adversary may remove a DLP policy to evade existing DLP monitoring.

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212

Deprecated - M365 Teams External Access Enabled

Identifies when external access is enabled in Microsoft Teams. External access lets Teams and Skype for Business users communicate with other users that are outside their organization. An adversary may enable external access or add an allowed domain to exfiltrate data or maintain persistence in an environment.

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212

Deprecated - M365 Security Compliance Potential Ransomware Activity

Identifies when Microsoft Cloud App Security flags potential ransomware activity in Microsoft 365. This rule detects events where the Security Compliance Center reports a "Ransomware activity" or "Potential ransomware activity" alert, which may indicate file encryption, mass file modifications, or uploads of ransomware-infected files to cloud services such as SharePoint or OneDrive.

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213

Deprecated - M365 Security Compliance Unusual Volume of File Deletion

Identifies that a user has deleted an unusually large volume of files as reported by Microsoft Cloud App Security.

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212

M365 Identity Unusual SSO Authentication Errors for User

Identifies the first occurrence of SSO, SAML, or federated authentication errors for a user. These errors may indicate token manipulation, SAML assertion tampering, or OAuth phishing attempts. Modern adversaries often target SSO mechanisms through token theft, SAML response manipulation, or exploiting federated authentication weaknesses rather than traditional brute force attacks.

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213

Deprecated - M365 Security Compliance Email Reported by User as Malware or Phish

Detects the occurrence of emails reported as Phishing or Malware by Users. Security Awareness training is essential to stay ahead of scammers and threat actors, as security products can be bypassed, and the user can still receive a malicious message. Educating users to report suspicious messages can help identify gaps in security controls and prevent malware infections and Business Email Compromise attacks.

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212

Deprecated - M365 Security Compliance User Restricted from Sending Email

Identifies when a user has been restricted from sending email due to exceeding sending limits of the service policies per the Security Compliance Center.

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212

Deprecated - M365 Teams Guest Access Enabled

Identifies when guest access is enabled in Microsoft Teams. Guest access in Teams allows people outside the organization to access teams and channels. An adversary may enable guest access to maintain persistence in an environment.

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212

Potential Okta Brute Force (Device Token Rotation)

Detects potential brute force attacks against a single Okta user account where excessive unique device token hashes are generated, indicating automated tooling that fails to persist browser cookies between attempts.

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210

Potential Okta Credential Stuffing (Single Source)

Detects potential credential stuffing attacks where a single source IP attempts authentication against many Okta user accounts with minimal attempts per user, indicating the use of breached credential lists.

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210

Potential Okta Password Spray (Single Source)

Detects potential password spray attacks where a single source IP attempts authentication against multiple Okta user accounts with repeated attempts per user, indicating common password guessing paced to avoid lockouts.

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417

Okta User Assigned Administrator Role

Identifies when an administrator role is assigned to an Okta user or group. Adversaries may assign administrator privileges to compromised accounts to establish persistence, escalate privileges, and maintain long-term access to the environment. This detection monitors for both user-level and group-level administrator privilege grants, which can be used to bypass security controls and perform unauthorized administrative actions.

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413

Potential Linux Tunneling and/or Port Forwarding

This rule monitors for a set of Linux utilities that can be used for tunneling and port forwarding. Attackers can leverage tunneling and port forwarding techniques to bypass network defenses, establish hidden communication channels, and gain unauthorized access to internal resources, facilitating data exfiltration, lateral movement, and remote control.

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114

Potential Linux Tunneling and/or Port Forwarding via SSH Option

This rule detects the use of SSH options that may indicate tunneling or port forwarding on Linux systems. This behavior is commonly associated with malicious activity, such as establishing a port forward, proxy or an encrypted tunnel to exfiltrate data.

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4

System Information Discovery via dmidecode from Parent Shell

This rule detects the use of dmidecode to gather system information from a Linux host when executed from a parent shell process. Adversaries may use dmidecode to collect detailed hardware and system information, which can aid in further exploitation or lateral movement within a network, or be used as a fingerprint for a compromised system.

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2

Kernel Module Load via Built-in Utility

Detects the use of the insmod binary to load a Linux kernel object file. Threat actors can use this binary, given they have root privileges, to load a rootkit on a system providing them with complete control and the ability to hide from security products. Manually loading a kernel module in this manner should not be at all common and can indicate suspicious or malicious behavior.

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216

Accepted Default Telnet Port Connection

This rule detects network events that may indicate the use of Telnet traffic. Telnet is commonly used by system administrators to remotely control older or embedded systems using the command line shell. It should almost never be directly exposed to the Internet, as it is frequently targeted and exploited by threat actors as an initial access or backdoor vector. As a plain-text protocol, it may also expose usernames and passwords to anyone capable of observing the traffic.

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111

Clearing Windows Console History

Identifies when a user attempts to clear console history. An adversary may clear the command history of a compromised account to conceal the actions undertaken during an intrusion.

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318

PowerShell Script Block Logging Disabled

Detects registry changes that disable PowerShell Script Block Logging. Attackers may disable this logging to conceal their activities in the host and evade detection.

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315

Deprecated - Encoded Executable Stored in the Registry

Identifies registry write modifications to hide an encoded portable executable. This could be indicative of adversary defense evasion by avoiding the storing of malicious content directly on disk.

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416

Disabling Lsa Protection via Registry Modification

LSA protecton is provided to prevent nonprotected processes from reading memory and injecting code. This feature provides added security for the credentials that LSA stores and manages. Adversaries may modify the RunAsPPL registry and wait or initiate a system restart to enable Lsass credentials access.

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4

Program Files Directory Masquerading

Identifies execution from a directory masquerading as the Windows Program Files directories. These paths are trusted and usually host trusted third party programs. An adversary may leverage masquerading, along with low privileges to bypass detections allowlisting those folders.

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319

Suspicious .NET Reflection via PowerShell

Detects PowerShell scripts that invoke Reflection.Assembly or Assembly.Load to load .NET assemblies. Attackers use this method to load executables and DLLs without writing to the disk, bypassing security solutions.

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321

PowerShell Suspicious Payload Encoded and Compressed

Identifies PowerShell script block content that combines Base64 decoding with .NET decompression (Deflate/GZip). Attackers use this pattern to deobfuscate and reconstruct payloads in memory to evade defenses.

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318

PowerShell Script with Windows Defender Tampering Capabilities

Detects PowerShell scripts that uses Set-MpPreference with parameters that disable or weaken Defender. Attackers tamper with antivirus settings to reduce detection and enable follow-on payload execution.

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108

PowerShell Script with Encryption/Decryption Capabilities

Identifies PowerShell script block content that uses .NET cryptography APIs for file encryption or decryption. Attackers abuse these routines to encrypt data for impact or decrypt staged payloads to evade defenses.

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112

Deprecated - Potential PowerShell Obfuscated Script

Identifies scripts that contain patterns and known methods that obfuscate PowerShell code. Attackers can use obfuscation techniques to bypass PowerShell security protections such as Antimalware Scan Interface (AMSI).

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109

Potential PowerShell Obfuscation via Invalid Escape Sequences

Detects PowerShell scripts with repeated invalid backtick escapes between word characters (letters, digits, underscore, or dash), splitting tokens while preserving execution. Attackers use this obfuscation to fragment keywords and evade pattern-based detection and AMSI.

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11

Potential PowerShell Obfuscation via Backtick-Escaped Variable Expansion

Detects PowerShell scripts that uses backtick-escaped characters inside ${} variable expansion (multiple backticks between word characters) to reconstruct strings at runtime. Attackers use variable-expansion obfuscation to split keywords, hide commands, and evade static analysis and AMSI.

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9

Potential PowerShell Obfuscation via Character Array Reconstruction

Detects PowerShell scripts that reconstructs strings from char[] arrays, index lookups, or repeated ([char]NN)+ concatenation/join logic. Attackers use character-array reconstruction to hide commands, URLs, or payloads and evade static analysis and AMSI.

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9

Potential PowerShell Obfuscation via Concatenated Dynamic Command Invocation

Detects PowerShell scripts that builds commands from concatenated string literals inside dynamic invocation constructs like &() or .(). Attackers use concatenated dynamic invocation to obscure execution intent, bypass keyword-based detections, and evade AMSI.

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9

Potential PowerShell Obfuscation via High Numeric Character Proportion

Detects long PowerShell script block content with unusually high numeric character density (high digit-to-length ratio), often produced by byte arrays, character-code reconstruction, or embedded encoded blobs. Attackers use numeric-heavy obfuscation to conceal payloads and rebuild them at runtime to avoid static inspection.

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11

Potential Dynamic IEX Reconstruction via Environment Variables

Detects PowerShell scripts that reconstructs IEX (Invoke-Expression) by indexing environment variable strings (for example, $env:VAR[1,2,3]) or related .name[...] slices and joining characters at runtime. Attackers use environment-variable slicing to hide dynamic execution and evade keyword-based detections and AMSI.

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10

Dynamic IEX Reconstruction via Method String Access

Detects PowerShell scripts that rebuilds IEX by converting method references to strings (for example, ''.IndexOf.ToString()) and extracting multiple indexed characters (for example, [n,n,n]). Attackers use method-string reconstruction to conceal dynamic execution and bypass static detections and AMSI.

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11

PowerShell Obfuscation via Negative Index String Reversal

Detects PowerShell scripts that uses negative index ranges (for example, $var[-1..0]) to reverse strings or arrays and rebuild content at runtime. Attackers use index reversal to reconstruct hidden commands or payloads and evade static analysis and AMSI.

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9

Potential PowerShell Obfuscation via Reverse Keywords

Detects PowerShell scripts containing reversed keyword strings associated with execution or network activity (for example, ekovni, noisserpxe, daolnwod, tcejbo-wen, tcejboimw, etc.). Attackers reverse keywords and reconstruct them at runtime to hide intent and evade static detection and AMSI.

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10

Potential PowerShell Obfuscation via String Concatenation

Detects PowerShell scripts that repeatedly concatenates multiple quoted string literals with + to assemble commands or tokens at runtime. Attackers use string concatenation to fragment keywords or URLs and evade static analysis and AMSI.

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10

Potential PowerShell Obfuscation via String Reordering

Detects PowerShell scripts that uses format placeholders like "{0}{1}" with the -f operator or ::Format to reorder strings at runtime. Attackers use format-based reconstruction to hide commands or payload strings and evade static analysis and AMSI.

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12

Potential PowerShell Obfuscation via Special Character Overuse

Detects PowerShell scripts dominated by whitespace and special characters with low symbol diversity, a profile often produced by formatting or encoding obfuscation. Attackers use symbol-heavy encoding or formatting (for example, SecureString-style blobs or character-level transforms) to hide payloads and evade static analysis and AMSI.

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10

Potential Process Injection via PowerShell

Detects PowerShell scripts that combines Win32 APIs for allocation/protection or process access (for example, VirtualAlloc/VirtualProtect/OpenProcess/AdjustTokenPrivileges/LoadLibrary/GetProcAddress) with injection or execution APIs (WriteProcessMemory/CreateRemoteThread/NtCreateThreadEx/QueueUserAPC/ResumeThread). Attackers use these API chains to inject code into remote processes and execute payloads in memory for defense evasion.

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217

Suspicious Execution from a Mounted Device

Identifies when a script interpreter or signed binary is launched via a non-standard working directory. An attacker may use this technique to evade defenses.

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212

Potential Timestomp in Executable Files

Identifies the modification of a file creation time for executable files in sensitive system directories. Adversaries may modify file time attributes to blend malicious executables with legitimate system files. Timestomping is a technique that modifies the timestamps of a file often to mimic files that are in trusted directories.

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110

Execution via Windows Subsystem for Linux

Detects attempts to execute a program on the host from the Windows Subsystem for Linux. Adversaries may enable and use WSL for Linux to avoid detection.

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214

PowerShell Share Enumeration Script

Detects PowerShell scripts that uses ShareFinder functions (Invoke-ShareFinder/Invoke-ShareFinderThreaded) or Windows share enumeration APIs (shi1_netname/shi1_remark with NetShareEnum/NetApiBufferFree). Attackers use share enumeration to map accessible network shares for collection, lateral movement, or ransomware targeting.

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115

PowerShell Suspicious Discovery Related Windows API Functions

Detects PowerShell scripts that references native Windows API functions commonly used for discovery of users, groups, shares, sessions, domain trusts, and service security. Attackers use these APIs for situational awareness and targeting prior to lateral movement or collection.

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319

Suspicious Command Prompt Network Connection

Identifies a network connection by the command prompt (cmd.exe) when it is executed with specific arguments, such as a script or a URL, or when it is spawned by Microsoft Office applications. Adversaries often abuse cmd.exe to download malicious payloads or establish command and control channels from a remote source.

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213

Potential PowerShell HackTool Script by Author

Identifies PowerShell script block content containing known offensive-tool author handles or attribution strings (for example, public tool author names). Attackers often run public PowerShell tooling with minimal changes, leaving author artifacts in comments or headers.

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109

Potential PowerShell HackTool Script by Function Names

Detects PowerShell scripts containing function names and helpers from common offensive frameworks and tools used for discovery, credential access, injection, persistence, and exfiltration. Attackers often reuse these public functions with minimal changes, leaving recognizable function-name artifacts.

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220

Potential Malicious PowerShell Based on Alert Correlation

Identifies PowerShell script blocks linked to multiple distinct PowerShell detections via the same ScriptBlock ID, indicating compound suspicious behavior. Attackers often chain obfuscation, decoding, and execution within a single script block.

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5

Suspicious Portable Executable Encoded in Powershell Script

Detects PowerShell scripts that includes a base64-encoded portable executable (PE) header, indicating an embedded binary payload. Attackers embed PEs in scripts to load payloads in memory and avoid writing executables to disk.

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216

PowerShell PSReflect Script

Detects PowerShell scripts that implements PSReflect-style helpers (for example, Add-Win32Type, New-InMemoryModule, or DllImport patterns) for dynamic Win32 API invocation. Attackers use PSReflect to call native APIs from PowerShell for execution, injection, or privilege manipulation.

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317

Command and Scripting Interpreter via Windows Scripts

Identifies PowerShell.exe or Cmd.exe execution spawning from Windows Script Host processes Wscript.exe.

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208

Suspicious Windows Powershell Arguments

Identifies the execution of PowerShell with suspicious argument values. This behavior is often observed during malware installation leveraging PowerShell.

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211

Deprecated - Adobe Hijack Persistence

Detects writing executable files that will be automatically launched by Adobe on launch.

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419

Delegated Managed Service Account Modification by an Unusual User

Detects modifications in the msDS-ManagedAccountPrecededByLink attribute of a delegated managed service account by an unusual subject account. Attackers can abuse this attribute to take over the permission of a target account and inherit it’s permissions allowing them to further elevate privileges.

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3

dMSA Account Creation by an Unusual User

Detects the creation of a delegated Managed Service Account by an unusual subject account. Attackers can abuse the dMSA account migration feature to elevate privileges abusing weak persmission allowing users child objects rights or msDS-DelegatedManagedServiceAccount rights.

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3

PowerShell Script with Token Impersonation Capabilities

Detects PowerShell scripts that references token manipulation and impersonation APIs such as CreateProcessWithTokenW, DuplicateToken/ImpersonateLoggedOnUser, or AdjustTokenPrivileges (SeDebugPrivilege). Attackers abuse token impersonation to elevate privileges and bypass access controls.

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118

Deprecated - Suspicious PrintSpooler Service Executable File Creation

Detects attempts to exploit privilege escalation vulnerabilities related to the Print Spooler service. For more information refer to the following CVE’s - CVE-2020-1048, CVE-2020-1337 and CVE-2020-1300 and verify that the impacted system is patched.

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320