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Update v8.19.17

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This section lists all updates associated with version 8.19.17 of the Fleet integration Prebuilt Security Detection Rules.

Rule Description Status Version

Unusual Kubernetes Sensitive Workload Modification

Detects the creation or modification of several sensitive workloads, such as DaemonSets, Deployments, or CronJobs, by an unusual user agent, source IP and username, which may indicate privilege escalation or unauthorized access within the cluster.

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M365 SharePoint/OneDrive File Access via PowerShell

Identifies file downloads or access from OneDrive or SharePoint using PowerShell-based user agents. Adversaries may use native PowerShell cmdlets like Invoke-WebRequest or Invoke-RestMethod with Microsoft Graph API to exfiltrate data after compromising OAuth tokens via device code phishing or other credential theft techniques. This rule detects both direct PowerShell access and PnP PowerShell module usage for file operations. FileAccessed events are included to detect adversaries reading file content via API and saving locally, bypassing traditional download methods. Normal users access SharePoint/OneDrive via browsers or sync clients, making PowerShell-based file access inherently suspicious.

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M365 Exchange MFA Notification Email Deleted or Moved

Identifies when an MFA enrollment, registration, or security notification email is deleted or moved to deleted items in Microsoft 365 Exchange. Adversaries who compromise accounts and register their own MFA device often delete the notification emails to cover their tracks and prevent the legitimate user from noticing the unauthorized change. This technique is commonly observed in business email compromise (BEC) and account takeover attacks.

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M365 SharePoint Search for Sensitive Content

Identifies search queries in SharePoint containing sensitive terms related to credentials, financial data, PII, legal matters, or infrastructure information. Adversaries who compromise user accounts often search for high-value files before exfiltration. This rule detects searches containing terms across multiple sensitivity categories, regardless of the access method (browser, PowerShell, or API). The actual search query text is analyzed against a curated list of sensitive terms to identify potential reconnaissance activity.

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Okta Alerts Following Unusual Proxy Authentication

Correlates the first occurrence of an Okta user session started via a proxy with subsequent Okta security alerts for the same user. Attackers frequently use proxy infrastructure (VPNs, Tor, residential proxies) to mask their origin when using stolen credentials, and their post-authentication activity often triggers additional detection rules.

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First Time Seen DNS Query to RMM Domain

Detects DNS queries to commonly abused remote monitoring and management (RMM) or remote access software domains from processes that are not browsers. Intended to surface RMM clients, scripts, or other non-browser activity contacting these services.

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Newly Observed ScreenConnect Host Server

Detects when the ScreenConnect client (ConnectWise Control) connects to a newly observed host server that is not the official ScreenConnect cloud. ScreenConnect is a common RMM/remote access tool abused for C2 and persistence. Self-hosted or non-standard relay servers may indicate abuse or compromise. The rule aggregates by server host (parsed from the client command line), requires first-time observation within the rule window, and limits to a single host to reduce noise.

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Suspicious Execution from VS Code Extension

Detects suspicious process execution launched from a VS Code extension context (parent command line contains .vscode/extensions). Malicious extensions can run on startup and drop or execute payloads (e.g. RATs like ScreenConnect, script interpreters, or download utilities). This covers both script/LOLBin children and recently created executables from non-Program Files paths, as seen in campaigns such as the fake Clawdbot extension that installed ScreenConnect RAT.

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Potential Account Takeover - Mixed Logon Types

Identifies a user account (often a service account) that normally logs in with high volume using one logon type suddenly showing successful logons using a different logon type with low count. This pattern may indicate account takeover or use of stolen credentials from a new context (e.g. interactive or network logon where only batch/service was expected).

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Potential Account Takeover - Logon from New Source IP

Identifies a user account that normally logs in with high volume from one source IP suddenly logging in from a different source IP. This pattern (one IP with many successful logons, another IP with very few) may indicate account takeover or use of stolen credentials from a new location.

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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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AWS STS Role Assumption by User

Identifies when a user or role has assumed a role in AWS Security Token Service (STS). Users can assume a role to obtain temporary credentials and access AWS resources. Adversaries can use this technique for credential access and privilege escalation. This is a New Terms rule that identifies when a user assumes a role in AWS Security Token Service (STS) to obtain temporary credentials and access AWS resources. While often legitimate, adversaries may use this technique for unauthorized access, privilege escalation, or lateral movement within an AWS environment.

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Kubernetes Denied Service Account Request via Unusual User Agent

This rule detects when a service account makes an unauthorized request for resources from the API server via an unusual user agent. Service accounts follow a very predictable pattern of behavior. A service account should never send an unauthorized request to the API server. This behavior is likely an indicator of compromise or of a problem within the cluster. An adversary may have gained access to credentials/tokens and this could be an attempt to access or create resources to facilitate further movement or execution within the cluster.

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Kubernetes Potential Endpoint Permission Enumeration Attempt by Anonymous User Detected

This rule detects potential endpoint enumeration attempts by an anonymous user. An anonymous user is a user that is not authenticated or authorized to access the Kubernetes API server. By looking for a series of failed API requests, on multiple endpoints, and a limited number of documents, this rule can detect automated permission enumeration attempts. This behavior is uncommon for regular Kubernetes clusters.

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Kubernetes Potential Endpoint Permission Enumeration Attempt Detected

This rule detects potential endpoint enumeration attempts by a single user and source IP address. By looking for a combination of failed/successful API requests across multiple endpoints and a limited number of documents, this rule can detect automated permission enumeration attempts. This behavior is uncommon for regular Kubernetes clusters.

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Kubernetes Suspicious Self-Subject Review via Unusual User Agent

This rule detects when a service account or node attempts to enumerate their own permissions via the selfsubjectaccessreview or selfsubjectrulesreview APIs via an unusual user agent. This is highly unusual behavior for non-human identities like service accounts and nodes. An adversary may have gained access to credentials/tokens and this could be an attempt to determine what privileges they have to facilitate further movement or execution within the cluster.

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Kubernetes Forbidden Request from Unusual User Agent

This rule detects when a forbidden request is made from an unusual user agent in a Kubernetes environment. Adversary tooling may use non-standard or unexpected user agents to interact with the Kubernetes API, which can indicate an attempt to evade detection or blend in with legitimate traffic. In combination with a forbidden request, this behavior can suggest an adversary is attempting to exploit vulnerabilities or misconfigurations in the Kubernetes cluster.

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Kubernetes Unusual Decision by User Agent

This rule detects unusual request responses in Kubernetes audit logs through the use of the "new_terms" rule type. In production environments, default API requests are typically made by system components or trusted users, who are expected to have a consistent user agent and allowed response annotations. By monitoring for anomalies in the username and response annotations, this rule helps identify potential unauthorized access or misconfigurations in the Kubernetes environment.

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Kubernetes Anonymous Request Authorized by Unusual User Agent

This rule detects when an unauthenticated user request is authorized within the cluster via an unusual user agent. Attackers may attempt to use anonymous accounts to gain initial access to the cluster or to avoid attribution of their activities within the cluster. This rule excludes the /healthz, /livez, /version and /.well-known/oauth-authorization-server endpoints which are commonly accessed anonymously.

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Kubernetes Creation or Modification of Sensitive Role

Detects the creation or modification of Kubernetes Roles or ClusterRoles that grant high-risk permissions, such as wildcard access or RBAC escalation verbs (e.g., bind, escalate, impersonate), which may enable privilege escalation or unauthorized access within the cluster.

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M365 OneDrive/SharePoint Excessive File Downloads

Identifies when an excessive number of files are downloaded from OneDrive or SharePoint by an authorized user or application in a short period of time. This may indicate a potential data exfiltration event, especially if the downloads are performed using OAuth authentication which could suggest an OAuth phishing attack such as Device Code Authentication phishing.

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M365 OneDrive Malware File Upload

Identifies the occurrence of files uploaded to OneDrive being detected as Malware by the file scanning engine. Attackers can use File Sharing and Organization Repositories to spread laterally within the company and amplify their access. Users can inadvertently share these files without knowing their maliciousness, giving adversaries an opportunity to gain initial access to other endpoints in the environment.

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M365 SharePoint Malware File Detected

Identifies the occurrence of files uploaded to SharePoint being detected as Malware by the file scanning engine. Attackers can use File Sharing and Organization Repositories to spread laterally within the company and amplify their access. Users can inadvertently share these files without knowing their maliciousness, giving adversaries opportunities to gain initial access to other endpoints in the environment.

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First Occurrence of Okta User Session Started via Proxy

Identifies the first occurrence of an Okta user session started via a proxy.

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Linux Clipboard Activity Detected

This rule monitors for the usage of the most common clipboard utilities on unix systems by an uncommon process parent. Adversaries may collect data stored in the clipboard from users copying information within or between applications.

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Linux Audio Recording Activity Detected

This rule monitors for the usage of the most common audio recording utilities on unix systems by an uncommon process parent. Adversaries may collect audio data from users or systems for a variety of reasons including espionage, credential theft, or reconnaissance.

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Linux Video Recording or Screenshot Activity Detected

This rule monitors for the usage of the most common video recording or screenshot utilities on unix systems by an uncommon process parent. Adversaries may collect video or screenshot data from users or systems for a variety of reasons including espionage, credential theft, or reconnaissance.

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Sensitive Files Compression

Identifies the use of a compression utility to collect known files containing sensitive information, such as credentials and system configurations.

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Base64 Decoded Payload Piped to Interpreter

This rule detects when a base64 decoded payload is piped to an interpreter on Linux systems. Adversaries may use base64 encoding to obfuscate data and pipe it to an interpreter to execute malicious code. This technique may be used to evade detection by host- or network-based security controls.

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System Binary Symlink to Suspicious Location

This rule detects the creation of a symbolic link from a system binary to a suspicious and writable location. This activity may indicate an attacker’s attempt to evade detection by behavioral rules that depend on predefined process parent/child relationships. By executing the symlinked variant of a binary instead of the original, the attacker aims to bypass these rules. Through the new_terms rule type, this rule can identify uncommon parent processes that may indicate the presence of a malicious symlink.

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Suspicious Named Pipe Creation

This rule detects the creation of unusually labeled named pipes (FIFOs) by the mkfifo command, which is often used by attackers to establish persistence on a target system or to execute commands in the background. Through the new_terms rule type, this rule can identify uncommon process command lines that may indicate the presence of a malicious named pipe.

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High Number of Process Terminations

This rule identifies a high number (10) of process terminations via pkill from the same host within a short time period.

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Telnet Authentication Bypass via User Environment Variable

Identifies potential exploitation of a Telnet remote authentication bypass vulnerability (CVE-2026-24061) in GNU Inetutils telnetd. The vulnerability allows unauthenticated access by supplying a crafted -f <username> value via the USER environment variable, resulting in a login process spawned with elevated privileges.

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Potential Telnet Authentication Bypass (CVE-2026-24061)

Identifies potential exploitation of a Telnet remote authentication bypass vulnerability (CVE-2026-24061) in GNU Inetutils telnetd. The vulnerability allows unauthenticated access by supplying a crafted -f <username> value via the USER environment variable, resulting in a login process spawned with elevated privileges.

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Remote File Creation in World Writeable Directory

This rule detects the creation of a file in a world-writeable directory through a service that is commonly used for file transfer. This behavior is often associated with lateral movement and can be an indicator of an attacker attempting to move laterally within a network.

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6

Unusual Remote File Creation

This rule leverages the new_terms rule type to detect file creation via a commonly used file transfer service while excluding typical remote file creation activity. This behavior is often linked to lateral movement, potentially indicating an attacker attempting to move within a network.

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6

Unusual Login via System User

This rule identifies successful logins by system users that are uncommon to authenticate. These users have "nologin" set by default, and must be modified to allow SSH access. Adversaries may backdoor these users to gain unauthorized access to the system.

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Modification of Dynamic Linker Preload Shared Object

Identifies modification of the dynamic linker preload shared object (ld.so.preload). Adversaries may execute malicious payloads by hijacking the dynamic linker used to load libraries.

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Unusual Process For a Windows Host

Identifies rare processes that do not usually run on individual hosts, which can indicate execution of unauthorized services, malware, or persistence mechanisms. Processes are considered rare when they only run occasionally as compared with other processes running on the host.

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Potential Network Sweep Detected

This rule identifies a potential network sweep. A network sweep is a method used by attackers to scan a target network, identifying active hosts, open ports, and available services to gather information on vulnerabilities and weaknesses. This reconnaissance helps them plan subsequent attacks and exploit potential entry points for unauthorized access, data theft, or other malicious activities. This rule defines a threshold-based approach to detect multiple connection attempts from a single host to numerous destination hosts over commonly used network services.

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14

Potential Network Scan Detected

This rule identifies a potential port scan from an internal IP address. A port scan is a method utilized by attackers to systematically scan a target system for open ports, allowing them to identify available services and potential vulnerabilities. By mapping out the open ports, attackers can gather critical information to plan and execute targeted attacks, gaining unauthorized access, compromising security, and potentially leading to data breaches, unauthorized control, or further exploitation of the targeted system. This rule defines a threshold-based approach to detect connection attempts from a single internal source to a wide range of destination ports on a single destination.

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Potential SYN-Based Port Scan Detected

This rule identifies a potential SYN-Based port scan. A SYN port scan is a technique employed by attackers to scan a target network for open ports by sending SYN packets to multiple ports and observing the response. Attackers use this method to identify potential entry points or services that may be vulnerable to exploitation, allowing them to launch targeted attacks or gain unauthorized access to the system or network, compromising its security and potentially leading to data breaches or further malicious activities. This rule defines a threshold-based approach to detect connection attempts from a single source to a large number of unique destination ports, while limiting the number of packets per port.

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RPC (Remote Procedure Call) from the Internet

This rule detects network events that may indicate the use of RPC traffic from the Internet. RPC is commonly used by system administrators to remotely control a system for maintenance or to use shared resources. 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.

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First Time Seen Remote Monitoring and Management Tool

Adversaries may install legitimate remote monitoring and management (RMM) tools or remote access software on compromised endpoints for command-and-control (C2), persistence, and execution of native commands. This rule detects when a process is started whose name or code signature (or whose parent’s name or code signature) resembles commonly abused RMM/remote access tools, including first-time-seen child processes of such tools. New Terms type: host has not seen this process (or child-of-RMM pattern) before within the configured history window.

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