IMPORTANT: This documentation is no longer updated.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

Update v8.19.24

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This section lists all updates associated with version 8.19.24 of the Fleet integration Prebuilt Security Detection Rules.

Rule Description Status Version

AWS EKS Control Plane Logging Disabled

Detects successful Amazon EKS UpdateClusterConfig requests that disable control plane logging. Disabling EKS API server and control plane logs can reduce visibility into cluster activity and may indicate defense evasion following compromised AWS credentials or unauthorized administrative access. EKS control plane logging changes are typically rare and should align with approved maintenance or cost optimization workflows.

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AWS EKS Access Entry Modified

Detects successful Amazon EKS Access Entries API operations that create, update, attach, detach, or delete authentication mappings between IAM principals and the cluster. Changes to access entries alter who can authenticate to Kubernetes and what Kubernetes-level permissions they receive, without requiring edits to in-cluster RBAC objects. Unexpected callers or timing may indicate persistence or privilege abuse. Common automation identities (service-linked roles, eksctl, Terraform, CloudFormation role patterns) are excluded to reduce noise; tune further for your deployment pipelines.

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AWS EKS Access Entry Granted Cluster Admin Policy

Detects when the AmazonEKSClusterAdminPolicy or AmazonEKSAdminPolicy is associated with a principal via the EKS Access Entries API. This grants full cluster-admin equivalent access to the specified IAM user or role. Unlike the legacy aws-auth ConfigMap which is only visible in Kubernetes audit logs, Access Entries modifications appear in CloudTrail, providing an additional detection surface. Attackers who have obtained IAM permissions to manage EKS access entries can use this API to backdoor cluster access for persistence, mapping attacker-controlled IAM identities to cluster-admin privileges without modifying any Kubernetes resources.

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Microsoft Graph Multi-Category Reconnaissance Burst

Detects Microsoft Graph activity from delegated user tokens (public client, client_auth_method 0) where a single user session and source IP rapidly touches multiple high-value Graph paths indicative of reconnaissance. The query classifies requests into categories such as role discovery, cross-tenant relationship queries, mailbox paths, contact harvesting, and organization or licensing metadata. When three or more distinct categories appear within a short burst window, it suggests a broad enumeration playbook rather than normal application traffic.

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Entra ID Microsoft Authentication Broker Sign-In to Unusual Resource

Detects successful Microsoft Entra ID sign-ins where the client application is the Microsoft Authentication Broker (MAB) and the requested resource identifier is outside a short list of commonly observed first-party targets. Attackers abuse the broker in phishing and token broker flows to obtain tokens for unexpected APIs or enterprise applications. The exclusion list covers legacy Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Graph, Device Registration Service, Microsoft Intune Enrollment, extend or tune exclusions for your tenant after baselining broker traffic.

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Entra ID OAuth Device Code Phishing via AiTM

Detects successful Microsoft Entra ID sign-ins that use the OAuth device code authentication protocol with the Microsoft Authentication Broker client requesting first-party Office API resources (Exchange Online, Microsoft Graph, or SharePoint) while flagged as interactive. This pattern is associated with adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) phishing kits such as Tycoon 2FA, where victims complete device code flows that ultimately broker tokens for mail and collaboration APIs.

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Entra ID Potential AiTM Sign-In via OfficeHome (Tycoon2FA)

Detects Microsoft Entra ID sign-ins consistent with Tycoon2FA phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) activity: the Microsoft Authentication Broker requesting tokens for Microsoft Graph or Exchange Online, or the Office web client application authenticating to itself, combined with Node.js-style user agents (node, axios, undici). Tycoon 2FA bypasses MFA by relaying authentication and capturing session material, often targeting Microsoft 365 and Gmail. Baseline legitimate automation and developer tooling before tuning.

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Entra ID Register Device with Unusual User Agent (Azure AD Join)

Detects successful Microsoft Entra ID audit events for Register device where additional details indicate an Azure AD join and the recorded user agent is not one of the common native registration clients (Dsreg, DeviceRegistrationClient, or Dalvik-based Android enrollment). Legitimate Windows and standard mobile enrollment flows often present predictable user-agent strings; unexpected clients may reflect scripted registration, third-party tooling, or adversary-driven device registration used for persistence or token abuse. Baseline approved provisioning tools and MDM integrations before tuning.

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Google Workspace Device Registration After OAuth from Suspicious ASN

Detects when a Google Workspace account completes OAuth authorization for a specific Google OAuth client from a high-risk autonomous system number (ASN), followed within 30 seconds by a device registration event with account state REGISTERED. This sequence can indicate device enrollment or join flows initiated from attacker-controlled or residential-proxy infrastructure after a user authorizes a sensitive client.

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Kubernetes Pod Exec Cloud Instance Metadata Access

Detects Kubernetes pod exec sessions whose decoded command line references cloud instance metadata endpoints or equivalent hostnames and paths. Workloads that reach the link-local metadata IP, AWS IMDS paths, GCP computeMetadata, Azure IMDS token routes, or encoded variants are often attempting to harvest role credentials, tokens, or instance attributes from the underlying node or hypervisor boundary. That behavior is high risk in multi-tenant and regulated environments because it can expose short-lived cloud credentials to code running inside a container. The rule classifies a coarse cloud target label and whether the string looks like credential retrieval versus lighter reconnaissance.

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Kubernetes Pod Exec Sensitive File or Credential Path Access

Detects Kubernetes pod exec sessions whose decoded command line references high-value host or in-cluster paths and material types: mounted service account or platform tokens, kubelet and control-plane configuration areas, host identity stores, root dot-directories for cloud and kubeconfig material, common private-key and keystore extensions, process environment dumps, and configuration filenames suggestive of embedded secrets. The intent is to catch interactive or scripted access that often precedes lateral movement, privilege escalation, or credential theft from the node or workload boundary. A narrow exclusion ignores benign reads of resolv.conf. The query also labels an access_type bucket to speed triage without altering the detection predicates you validated.

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Kubernetes Service Account Token Created via TokenRequest API

Detects the creation of a Kubernetes service account token through the TokenRequest API by a non-system identity. The TokenRequest API allows users and workloads to programmatically generate short-lived tokens for any service account they have create permissions on, without accessing the filesystem or the mounted projected token. Attackers who have gained initial access to a cluster can abuse this API to mint tokens for more privileged service accounts, pivot to cloud provider resources via IRSA/workload identity, or generate long-lived tokens that persist beyond pod termination. Unlike mounted service account tokens which are detectable through file access monitoring, tokens created via the TokenRequest API leave no filesystem footprint, they are only visible in Kubernetes audit logs as a create verb on the serviceaccounts/token subresource. This rule excludes legitimate system components such as the kubelet, kube-controller-manager, and cloud provider managed identities (EKS, AKS, GKE) that routinely create tokens for pod lifecycle management.

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Kubernetes Pod Exec with Curl or Wget to HTTPS

Detects pod or attach exec API calls where the decoded request query implies curl or wget fetching an https URL. Attackers with permission to exec into workloads often run one-liners to stage tooling, pull scripts or binaries, or exfiltrate data over HTTPS—activity that should be rare compared to shells, debuggers, or expected health checks. The rule decodes the audit requestURI, reconstructs a readable command string from repeated command parameters, and applies noise filters for common cluster health and OIDC/JWKS endpoints so benign automation is less likely to alert.

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Kubernetes Pod Exec Potential Reverse Shell

Flags exec into a pod when the URL-decoded command payload resembles reverse-shell or bind-shell one-liners invocation patterns. Legitimate debug sessions sometimes use similar building blocks, but together these patterns align with post-exploitation interactive access and command-and-control.

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Kubernetes CoreDNS or Kube-DNS Configuration Modified

Detects modifications to the CoreDNS or kube-dns ConfigMap in the kube-system namespace. These ConfigMaps control cluster DNS resolution for all pods. An attacker who modifies the CoreDNS Corefile can redirect internal service DNS names to attacker-controlled IP addresses, enabling man-in-the-middle attacks against the Kubernetes API server, database services, and other internal endpoints. Pods that resolve service names via cluster DNS will transparently connect to the attacker instead of the legitimate service, allowing interception of service account tokens, database credentials, and API traffic. DNS poisoning at the cluster level is particularly dangerous because it affects every pod in every namespace simultaneously and does not require any modification to the victim workloads. CoreDNS configuration changes are rare in normal operations and any unexpected modification should be investigated immediately.

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Kubernetes Admission Webhook Created or Modified

Detects creation, modification, or deletion of Kubernetes MutatingWebhookConfigurations or ValidatingWebhookConfigurations by non-system identities. Admission webhooks intercept every API request matching their rules before persistence, giving an attacker powerful capabilities: injecting malicious sidecars into every new pod via a mutating webhook, blocking security tooling deployments via a validating webhook, or silently exfiltrating pod specifications to an external server. Webhook manipulation is a stealthy persistence and defense evasion technique because the webhook configuration itself looks benign in kubectl output while actively modifying or intercepting all matching Kubernetes API traffic.

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Kubernetes Client Certificate Signing Request Created or Approved

Detects creation or approval of a Kubernetes CertificateSigningRequest (CSR) by a non-system identity. Attackers who have gained cluster access can submit a CSR with a privileged Common Name such as system:kube-controller-manager or system:masters, then approve it themselves to obtain a long-lived client certificate. Unlike service account tokens which expire in hours, client certificates persist until they expire or the cluster CA is rotated, providing durable access that survives pod termination, token revocation, and RBAC changes. On non-EKS clusters, the signed certificate allows the attacker to authenticate as the privileged identity from anywhere without needing cluster network access, making it one of the most persistent backdoor mechanisms available in Kubernetes.

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EKS Authentication Configuration Modified

Detects modifications to the aws-auth ConfigMap in Amazon EKS clusters. The aws-auth ConfigMap maps AWS IAM roles and users to Kubernetes RBAC groups, an attacker who modifies it can grant any IAM role cluster-admin access by adding a mapping to the system:masters group. This is a well-documented persistence technique that survives pod restarts, node replacements, and RBAC changes because the authentication mapping exists outside of normal Kubernetes Role objects. Modifications to aws-auth are rare in normal operations, the ConfigMap is typically set during cluster provisioning and updated only during node group or access configuration changes.

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Kubernetes API Server Proxying Request to Kubelet

Detects non-system identities using the Kubernetes nodes/proxy API to proxy requests through the API server directly to a node’s Kubelet. The nodes/proxy subresource allows any principal with this RBAC permission to reach the Kubelet API on any worker node without needing direct network access or Kubelet TLS certificates. Through this proxy path, an attacker can list all pod specifications including environment variable secrets, read Kubelet configuration and PKI material, retrieve container logs, and access running pod metadata across all workloads on the target node. Monitoring and health check endpoints such as /metrics, /healthz, and /stats are excluded to reduce noise from legitimate observability tooling.

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Kubernetes API Request Impersonating Privileged Identity

Detects Kubernetes API requests where a user is impersonating a privileged cluster identity such as system:kube-controller-manager, system:admin, system:anonymous, or a member of the system:masters group. These identities have broad cluster-wide permissions including unrestricted access to all secrets, the ability to create tokens for any service account, schedule pods on any node, and modify RBAC policies. An attacker impersonating system:masters gains full cluster-admin equivalent access, while impersonating system:kube-controller-manager grants access to every secret in every namespace and the ability to mint service account tokens for lateral movement.

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Kubernetes Ephemeral Container Added to Pod

Detects allowed updates to the pods/ephemeralcontainers subresource by a non-system identity. Ephemeral containers are commonly used for debugging (kubectl debug) but can also be abused to inject tooling into a running pod, access mounted secrets, and execute commands in the target pod context. Attackers with sufficient RBAC may use ephemeral containers to escalate privileges, move laterally, or establish persistence without deploying a new workload.

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M365 Potential AiTM UserLoggedIn via Office App (Tycoon2FA)

Detects Microsoft 365 audit "UserLoggedIn" events consistent with Tycoon 2FA phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) activity: the Microsoft Authentication Broker requesting access where the object identifier matches Microsoft Graph or Exchange Online, or the Office web client application authenticating to itself, combined with Node.js-style user agents (node, axios, undici). Tycoon 2FA bypasses MFA by relaying authentication and capturing session material, often targeting Microsoft 365 and Gmail. Baseline legitimate automation and developer tooling before tuning.

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Kubernetes and Cloud Credential Path Access via Process Arguments

Flags Linux process executions whose arguments reference high-value Kubernetes service-account material, kubeconfig or node PKI paths, or common cloud and SSH credential files, when invoked via typical file-reading utilities or from ephemeral directories. Useful for spotting in-cluster and hybrid credential theft early.

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Potential Kubeletctl Execution

Detects the execution of kubeletctl on Linux hosts. Kubeletctl is a command-line tool that can be used to interact with the Kubelet API directly, simplifying access to Kubelet endpoints that can be used for discovery and, in some cases, lateral movement within Kubernetes environments.

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Container Runtime CLI Execution with Suspicious Arguments

Detects execution of container runtime CLI tools (ctr, crictl, nerdctl) with arguments indicating container creation, command execution inside existing containers, image manipulation, or host filesystem mounting. These tools interact directly with the container runtime socket, bypassing the Kubernetes API server, RBAC authorization, admission webhooks, pod security standards, and Kubernetes audit logging entirely. Attackers with host-level access may use these tools to create privileged ghost containers, exec into other pods to steal service account tokens and secrets, pull attacker-controlled images, and destroy evidence, all while remaining invisible to Kubernetes-level monitoring.

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Potential Direct Kubelet Access via Process Arguments

Detects potential direct Kubelet API access attempts on Linux by identifying process executions whose arguments contain URLs targeting Kubelet ports (10250/10255). Adversaries may probe or access Kubelet endpoints to enumerate pods, fetch logs, or attempt remote execution, which can enable discovery and lateral movement in Kubernetes environments.

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Kubelet API Connection Attempt to Internal IP

Detects network connection attempts to the Kubernetes Kubelet API port (10250/10255) on internal IP ranges from Linux hosts. This rule focuses on common request and scripting utilities (curl, wget, python, node, etc.) and executions from world-writable or ephemeral paths (/tmp, /var/tmp, /dev/shm, /var/run), which are frequently abused during container and cluster lateral movement.

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Kubernetes Static Pod Manifest File Access

Detects Linux process executions where shells, editors, interpreters, or file/stream utilities reference /etc/kubernetes/manifests in process arguments. That directory holds static pod manifests read by the kubelet; interaction via editors, downloaders, kubectl, redirection helpers (tee, dd), or scripting runtimes may indicate staging or tampering with manifests for persistence or privileged workload placement. Pairs with file-telemetry rules that flag direct manifest creation on container workloads.

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Potential Privilege Escalation in Container via Runc Init

Identifies audit events for runc init child processes where the effective user is root and the login user ID is not root. This pattern can indicate privilege escalation or credential separation abuse inside container runtimes, where a process executes with elevated effective privileges while retaining a non-root audit identity.

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Potential Privilege Escalation via SUID/SGID

Detects potential privilege escalation under the root effective user when the real user and parent user are not root, indicative of the execution of binaries with SUID or SGID bits set.

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Suspicious SUID Binary Execution (Auditd Sequence)

Detects suspicious sequences where a non-root user launches a high-risk parent process (interpreter, shell one-liner, or execution from user-writable paths) and then quickly executes a common privilege elevation helper (su, sudo, pkexec, passwd, chsh, newgrp) that gains an effective UID of 0 while the real UID remains non-root. This can indicate misuse of SUID/SGID helpers, polkit/sudo abuse, or interactive privilege escalation attempts captured via Auditd Manager telemetry.

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Potential Privilege Escalation via unshare Followed by Root Process

Detects a short sequence where a non-root user performs unshare-related namespace activity (often associated with user namespace privilege escalation primitives) and then a root process is executed shortly after. This can indicate a successful local privilege escalation attempt or suspicious namespace manipulation captured in Auditd Manager telemetry.

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Potential cPanel WHM CRLF Authentication Bypass (CVE-2026-41940)

Identifies the network signature of CVE-2026-41940, a pre-auth root-level authentication bypass in cPanel and WebHost Manager (WHM) caused by a CRLF injection in the session writer. The exploit-inherent shape on the wire is a GET / request to a cPanel/WHM admin port (typically TCP/2087, 2086, 2083, 2082, 2095, 2096) carrying an Authorization: Basic header whose base64-decoded value contains CRLF-injected session fields, which causes cpsrvd to respond with a 3xx redirect whose Location header leaks a /cpsessNNNNNNNNNN token granting the attacker a privileged session. This is the network-layer equivalent of the cPanel access_log artifact identified by Unfold and watchTowr as the first bulletproof detection for this CVE: a GET / recorded with auth_method=b (HTTP Basic). Legitimate access to GET / on a WHM admin port returns 200 with the login screen and never includes HTTP Basic credentials, so this combination is not produced by normal use.

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AWS SSM Session Manager Child Process Execution

Identifies process start events where the parent process is the AWS Systems Manager (SSM) Session Manager worker. Session Manager provides interactive shell access to EC2 instances and hybrid nodes without bastion hosts or open inbound ports. Adversaries abuse it for remote execution and lateral movement using legitimate AWS credentials and IAM permissions. This rule surfaces endpoint execution occurring under that worker for visibility and hunting. Expect noise from authorized administrative sessions.

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GitHub Private Repository Turned Public

Detects when a private GitHub repository is changed to public visibility. Adversaries may change repository visibility to public in order to exfiltrate sensitive code or data, potentially indicating a compromise or unauthorized access.

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Kubernetes Rapid Secret GET Activity Against Multiple Objects

This rule detects an unusual volume of Kubernetes API get requests against multiple distinct Secret objects from the same client fingerprint (user, source IP, and user agent) within a defined lookback window. This can indicate credential access or in-cluster reconnaissance, where a user or token is used to enumerate and retrieve sensitive data such as service account tokens, registry credentials, TLS material, or application configuration. Failed get requests are also included, as they may reveal RBAC boundaries, confirm the existence of targeted secrets, or reflect automated probing activity.

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Kubernetes Secret get or list from Node or Pod Service Account

Kubernetes audit identities for kubelet (system:node:*) and workloads (system:serviceaccount:*) are meant to operate with tight, predictable API usage. Direct get or list on the Secrets API from those principals is often a sign of credential access. Attackers who stole a pod service-account token or node credentials sweep Secret objects for tokens, registry credentials, TLS keys, or application configuration. Even denied attempts still reveal intent to reach sensitive material. Legitimate controllers do read secrets they mount or manage, so this signal is most valuable when paired with triage (namespace scope, user agent, RBAC, and whether the identity should touch those secret names at all).

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Kubernetes Secrets List Across Cluster or Sensitive Namespaces

Detects list operations on Kubernetes Secrets from a non-loopback client when the request URI targets cluster-wide secrets or list operations under kube-system or default. Useful for spotting broad secret enumeration from remote clients.

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Kubernetes Multi-Resource Discovery

Adversaries who land credentials in a cluster—or abuse an over-privileged token—often map the environment before exfiltration or privilege escalation. A practical first pass is to learn where workloads run, how the cluster is partitioned, and what RBAC exists at namespace vs cluster scope. Rapid get/list traffic across distinct API resource kinds that answer those questions (namespaces, workloads, roles, cluster-wide roles) is a common setup and orientation pattern for both interactive attackers and automated recon scripts. It is less typical for steady-state controllers, which usually touch a narrow set of resources repeatedly. This rule highlights that cross-resource burst from a single client fingerprint within a one-minute bucket so analysts can separate routine automation from potential discovery and permission reconnaissance ahead of follow-on actions.

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M365 Identity Login from Atypical Region

Detects successful Microsoft 365 portal logins from a country and region the user has not previously authenticated from in a specific time window. Atypical regions are identified by combining the user’s country and region geolocation history; an authentication from a new country/region pair for that user may indicate an adversary attempting to access the account from an unusual location or behind a VPN.

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M365 Identity Login from Impossible Travel Location

Detects successful Microsoft 365 portal logins from impossible travel locations. Impossible travel locations are defined as two different countries within a short time frame. This behavior may indicate an adversary attempting to access a Microsoft 365 account from a compromised account or a malicious actor attempting to access a Microsoft 365 account from a different location.

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Curl or Wget Execution from Container Context

Detects execution of curl or wget from processes whose title aligns with runc init, a common fingerprint for workloads running inside OCI/runc-backed containers on Linux hosts instrumented with Auditd Manager. After breaking out of an application container or abusing a privileged workload, attackers often pull ingress tooling (stagers, scripts, implants) or stage exfiltration with minimal HTTP clients. Those utilities are also used benignly in images, so context matters; the runc init anchor narrows the signal to the container runtime boundary where unexpected download clients are more worthy of review than the same binaries on a bare-metal admin shell.

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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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File Creation in World-Writable Directory by Unusual Process

This rule detects the creation of files in world-writable directories by an unusual process. Attackers may attempt to hide their activities by creating files in world-writable directories, which are commonly used for temporary file storage. 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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Potential Reverse Shell via Java

This detection rule identifies the execution of a Linux shell process from a Java JAR application post an incoming network connection. This behavior may indicate reverse shell activity via a Java application.

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Potential Privilege Escalation via unshare and UID Change

Identifies potentially suspicious use of unshare to create a user namespace context followed by a UID change event indicating a transition to root. Adversaries may use unshare-based primitives as part of local privilege escalation chains. This rule is intentionally generic and can surface multiple local privesc patterns beyond a single CVE.

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Suspicious SUID Binary Execution

Detects execution of SUID binaries that may be used for privilege escalation under the root effective user when the real user and parent user are not root, combined with minimal argument counts and suspicious parent context (interpreters, short shell -c invocations, or parents running from user-writable paths) to indicate potential misuse of SUID binaries for privilege escalation.

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Potential macOS SSH Brute Force Detected

Identifies a high number of inbound SSH login attempts on a macOS host within a short time window. On macOS, each inbound SSH authentication attempt spawns the sshd-keygen-wrapper process once, whether the login succeeds or fails. Adversaries may perform password brute force or password spraying against exposed SSH services to obtain unauthorized access.

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DNS Request for IP Lookup Service via Unsigned Binary

Detects when a DNS request is made for an IP lookup service to determine the external IP address of the system via an unsigned or untrusted binary. This is commonly used by malware for reconnaissance before establishing C2 connections.

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Suspicious macOS MS Office Child Process

Identifies suspicious child processes of frequently targeted Microsoft Office applications (Word, PowerPoint, and Excel). These child processes are often launched during exploitation of Office applications or by documents with malicious macros.

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Finder Sync Plugin Registered and Enabled

Finder Sync plugins enable users to extend Finder’s functionality by modifying the user interface. Adversaries may abuse this feature by adding a rogue Finder Plugin to repeatedly execute malicious payloads for persistence.

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User Added to the Admin Group

Identifies users being added to the admin group. This could be an indication of privilege escalation activity.

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Cobalt Strike Command and Control Beacon

Cobalt Strike is a threat emulation platform commonly modified and used by adversaries to conduct network attack and exploitation campaigns. This rule detects a network activity algorithm leveraged by Cobalt Strike implant beacons for command and control.

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Possible FIN7 DGA Command and Control Behavior

This rule detects a known command and control pattern in network events. The FIN7 threat group is known to use this command and control technique, while maintaining persistence in their target’s network.

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First-Time FortiGate Administrator Login

This rule detects the first observed successful login of a user with the Administrator role to the FortiGate management interface within the last 5 days. First-time administrator logins can indicate newly provisioned accounts, misconfigurations, or unauthorized access using valid credentials and should be reviewed promptly.

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Inbound Connection to an Unsecure Elasticsearch Node

Identifies Elasticsearch nodes that do not have Transport Layer Security (TLS), and/or lack authentication, and are accepting inbound network connections over the default Elasticsearch port.

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Suspicious Module Loaded by LSASS

Identifies LSASS loading an unsigned or untrusted DLL. Windows Security Support Provider (SSP) DLLs are loaded into LSSAS process at system start. Once loaded into the LSA, SSP DLLs have access to encrypted and plaintext passwords that are stored in Windows, such as any logged-on user’s Domain password or smart card PINs.

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LSASS Memory Dump Handle Access

Identifies handle requests for the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS) object access with specific access masks that many tools with a capability to dump memory to disk use (0x1fffff, 0x1010, 0x120089). This rule is tool agnostic as it has been validated against a host of various LSASS dump tools such as SharpDump, Procdump, Mimikatz, Comsvcs etc. It detects this behavior at a low level and does not depend on a specific tool or dump file name.

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LSASS Process Access via Windows API

Identifies access attempts to the LSASS handle, which may indicate an attempt to dump credentials from LSASS memory.

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Mimikatz Memssp Log File Detected

Identifies the default Mimikatz MemSSP credential log file, mimilsa.log. This file is created after the misc::memssp module injects a malicious Security Support Provider into LSASS and can contain credentials from subsequent logons to the host.

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Untrusted Driver Loaded

Identifies an untrusted driver loaded by the Windows kernel. Adversaries may modify code signing policies to enable execution of unsigned or self-signed kernel code.

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System Public IP Discovery via DNS Query

Identifies DNS queries to known public IP address lookup web services from suspicious Windows processes, which can reveal external IP or internet-connectivity discovery before follow-on activity.

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Potential Foxmail Exploitation

Identifies the Foxmail client spawning a child process with arguments pointing to user-profile AppData paths or remote shares. This may indicate exploitation of a Foxmail vulnerability for initial access and execution via a malicious email.

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209

Unusual Execution via Microsoft Common Console File

Identifies the execution of a child process from a Microsoft Common Console file. Adversaries may embed a malicious command in an MSC file in order to trick victims into executing malicious commands.

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WPS Office Exploitation via DLL Hijack

Identifies the load of a remote library by the WPS Office promecefpluginhost.exe executable. This may indicate the successful exploitation of CVE-2024-7262 or CVE-2024-7263 via DLL hijack abusing the ksoqing custom protocol handler.

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Execution of File Written or Modified by Microsoft Office

Identifies an executable created by a Microsoft Office application and subsequently executed. These processes are often launched via scripts inside documents or during exploitation of Microsoft Office applications.

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Suspicious Execution with NodeJS

Identifies suspicious Node.js execution patterns, including user-writable runtimes, preload arguments, and inline eval, decode, or child-process usage.

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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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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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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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PowerShell PSReflect Script

Detects PowerShell script block content containing PSReflect-style helper indicators, such as Add-Win32Type, New-InMemoryModule, or DllImport patterns, that may support dynamic Win32 API invocation from PowerShell.

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318

Command and Scripting Interpreter via Windows Scripts

Identifies PowerShell, PowerShell ISE, or Cmd execution spawned from Windows Script Host or MSHTA.

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Potential Command Shell via NetCat

Identifies potential attempt to execute via a reverse shell using the netcat utility to execute Windows commands using the default interpreters like Cmd.exe and Powershell.

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3

Suspicious Execution from a WebDav Share

Identifies attempts to execute or invoke content from remote WebDAV shares. Adversaries may abuse WebDAV paths, public tunnels, or host@port UNC paths to run tools or scripts while reducing local staging on the victim file system.

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4

Suspicious JavaScript Execution via Deno

Detects execution of JavaScript via Deno with suspicious command-line patterns (base64, eval, http, or import in a javascript context). Adversaries may abuse Deno to run malicious JavaScript for execution or staging.

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4

Suspicious Cmd Execution via WMI

Identifies suspicious command execution (cmd) via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) on a remote host. This could be indicative of adversary lateral movement.

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322

Conhost Spawned By Suspicious Parent Process

Detects when the Console Window Host (conhost.exe) process is spawned by a suspicious parent process, which could be indicative of code injection.

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314

Suspicious Windows Command Shell Arguments

Identifies the execution of the Windows Command Shell process (cmd.exe) with suspicious argument values. This behavior is often observed during malware installation.

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209

Potential Fake CAPTCHA Phishing Attack

Identifies potential fake CAPTCHA phishing attacks based on PowerShell, Cmd, or Mshta command-line values. Adversaries employ this technique via compromised websites with browser injects, posing either as fake CAPTCHAs to access the site or as a page loading error requiring a fix to display the page. The victim is instructed to copy and paste a malicious command to the Windows Run dialog box.

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4

Potential Execution via FileFix Phishing Attack

Identifies the execution of Windows commands or downloaded files via the browser’s dialog box. Adversaries may use phishing to instruct the victim to copy and paste malicious commands for execution via crafted phishing web pages.

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4

Potential System Tampering via File Modification

Identifies attempts to delete or modify critical files used during the boot process to prevent the system from booting. This may indicate a destructive attack behavior.

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Suspicious File Renamed via SMB

Identifies an incoming SMB connection followed by a suspicious file rename operation. This may indicate a remote ransomware attack via the SMB protocol.

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Potential Ransomware Note File Dropped via SMB

Identifies an incoming SMB connection followed by the creation of a file with a name similar to ransomware note files. This may indicate a remote ransomware attack via the SMB protocol.

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8

Volume Shadow Copy Deleted or Resized via VssAdmin

Identifies use of vssadmin.exe for shadow copy deletion or resizing on endpoints. This commonly occurs in tandem with ransomware or other destructive attacks.

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318

Volume Shadow Copy Deletion via PowerShell

Identifies the use of the Win32_ShadowCopy class and related cmdlets to achieve shadow copy deletion. This commonly occurs in tandem with ransomware or other destructive attacks.

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319

Volume Shadow Copy Deletion via WMIC

Identifies use of wmic.exe for shadow copy deletion on endpoints. This commonly occurs in tandem with ransomware or other destructive attacks.

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318

Suspicious Execution from INET Cache

Identifies the execution of a process with arguments pointing to the INetCache Folder. Adversaries may deliver malicious content via WININET during initial access.

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213

Suspicious SolarWinds Web Help Desk Java Module Load or Child Process

Identifies the SolarWinds Web Help Desk Java process loading an untrusted or remote native module (DLL) or spawning a suspicious child process such as cmd, PowerShell, or rundll32. This behavior is uncommon for the Web Help Desk server and may indicate successful exploitation of deserialization vulnerabilities (CVE-2025-40536, CVE-2025-40551), which allow attackers to load malicious SQLite extensions and achieve remote code execution.

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3

Microsoft Exchange Worker Spawning Suspicious Processes

Identifies suspicious processes being spawned by the Microsoft Exchange Server worker process (w3wp). This activity may indicate exploitation activity or access to an existing web shell backdoor.

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316

Windows Server Update Service Spawning Suspicious Processes

Identifies suspicious processes being spawned by the Windows Server Update Service. This activity may indicate exploitation activity or access to an existing web shell backdoor.

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4

Potential CVE-2025-33053 Exploitation

Identifies Internet Explorer Diagnostics launching a helper name from a non-System32 path, which may indicate CVE-2025-33053 exploitation.

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4

ScreenConnect Server Spawning Suspicious Processes

Identifies suspicious processes being spawned by the ScreenConnect server process (ScreenConnect.Service.exe). This activity may indicate exploitation activity or access to an existing web shell backdoor.

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211

Suspicious Kerberos Authentication Ticket Request

Correlates network connections to the standard Kerberos port by an unusual process from the source machine with a Kerberos authentication ticket request from the target domain controller.

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5

Incoming DCOM Lateral Movement via MSHTA

Identifies the use of Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) to execute commands from a remote host, which are launched via the HTA Application COM Object. This behavior may indicate an attacker abusing a DCOM application to move laterally while attempting to evade detection.

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212

Incoming DCOM Lateral Movement with MMC

Identifies the use of Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) to run commands from a remote host, which are launched via the MMC20 Application COM Object. This behavior may indicate an attacker abusing a DCOM application to move laterally.

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213

Potential Remote Desktop Shadowing Activity

Identifies the modification of the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) Shadow registry or the execution of processes indicative of an active RDP shadowing session. An adversary may abuse the RDP Shadowing feature to spy on or control other users active RDP sessions.

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316

Execution via TSClient Mountpoint

Identifies execution from the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) shared mountpoint tsclient on the target host. This may indicate a lateral movement attempt.

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320

Potential SharpRDP Behavior

Identifies potential behavior of SharpRDP, which is a tool that can be used to perform authenticated command execution against a remote target via Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) for the purposes of lateral movement.

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113

Unusual Child Process of dns.exe

Identifies an unexpected process spawning from dns.exe, the process responsible for Windows DNS server services, which may indicate activity related to remote code execution or other forms of exploitation.

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320

Lateral Movement via Startup Folder

Identifies suspicious file creations in the startup folder of a remote system. An adversary could abuse this to move laterally by dropping a malicious script or executable that will be executed after a reboot or user logon.

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315

AdminSDHolder Backdoor

Detects modifications in the AdminSDHolder object. Attackers can abuse the SDProp process to implement a persistent backdoor in Active Directory. SDProp compares the permissions on protected objects with those defined on the AdminSDHolder object. If the permissions on any of the protected accounts and groups do not match, the permissions on the protected accounts and groups are reset to match those of the domain’s AdminSDHolder object, regaining their Administrative Privileges.

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216

Creation of a Hidden Local User Account

Identifies the creation of a hidden local user account by appending the dollar sign to the account name. This is sometimes done by attackers to increase access to a system and avoid appearing in the results of accounts listing using the net users command.

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317

Suspicious Startup Shell Folder Modification

Identifies suspicious startup shell folder modifications to change the default Startup directory in order to bypass detections monitoring file creation in the Windows Startup folder.

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320

Persistence via Microsoft Office AddIns

Detects attempts to establish persistence on an endpoint by abusing Microsoft Office add-ins.

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314

KRBTGT Delegation Backdoor

Identifies the modification of the msDS-AllowedToDelegateTo attribute to KRBTGT. Attackers can use this technique to maintain persistence to the domain by having the ability to request tickets for the KRBTGT service.

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214

Potential Modification of Accessibility Binaries

Windows contains accessibility features that may be launched with a key combination before a user has logged in. An adversary can modify the way these programs are launched to get a command prompt or backdoor without logging in to the system.

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218

AdminSDHolder SDProp Exclusion Added

Identifies a modification on the dsHeuristics attribute on the bit that holds the configuration of groups excluded from the SDProp process. The SDProp compares the permissions on protected objects with those defined on the AdminSDHolder object. If the permissions on any of the protected accounts and groups do not match, the permissions on the protected accounts and groups are reset to match those of the domain’s AdminSDHolder object, meaning that groups excluded will remain unchanged. Attackers can abuse this misconfiguration to maintain long-term access to privileged accounts in these groups.

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219

Suspicious ImagePath Service Creation

Identifies the creation of a suspicious ImagePath value. This could be an indication of an adversary attempting to stealthily persist or escalate privileges through abnormal service creation.

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315

Persistence via Hidden Run Key Detected

Identifies a persistence mechanism that utilizes the NtSetValueKey native API to create a hidden (null terminated) registry key. An adversary may use this method to hide from system utilities such as the Registry Editor (regedit).

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216

Persistence via TelemetryController Scheduled Task Hijack

Detects the successful hijack of Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser scheduled task to establish persistence with an integrity level of system.

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318

Persistence via Update Orchestrator Service Hijack

Identifies potential hijacking of the Microsoft Update Orchestrator Service to establish persistence with an integrity level of SYSTEM.

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319

Persistence via WMI Standard Registry Provider

Identifies use of the Windows Management Instrumentation StdRegProv (registry provider) to modify commonly abused registry locations for persistence.

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114

Web Shell Detection: Script Process Child of Common Web Processes

Identifies suspicious commands executed via a web server, which may suggest a vulnerability and remote shell access.

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424

Delegated Managed Service Account Modification by an Unusual User

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

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4

dMSA Account Creation by an Unusual User

Detects creation of a delegated Managed Service Account by an unusual subject account. Attackers can abuse weak child-object or msDS-DelegatedManagedServiceAccount rights during account migration to elevate privileges.

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5

Potential privilege escalation via CVE-2022-38028

Identifies a potential privilege escalation attempt via CVE-2022-38028 through modification of the protected Print to PDF MPDW constraints script.

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211

Group Policy Abuse for Privilege Addition

Detects the first occurrence of a modification to Group Policy Object Attributes to add privileges to user accounts or use them to add users as local admins.

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215

Potential Privilege Escalation via InstallerFileTakeOver

Identifies a potential exploitation of InstallerTakeOver (CVE-2021-41379) default PoC execution. Successful exploitation allows an unprivileged user to escalate privileges to SYSTEM.

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116

Service Creation via Local Kerberos Authentication

Identifies a suspicious local successful logon event where the Logon Package is Kerberos, the remote address is set to localhost, followed by service creation from the same LogonId. This may indicate an attempt to leverage a Kerberos relay attack variant that can elevate privileges locally from a domain-joined user to LocalSystem privileges.

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214

Interactive Logon by an Unusual Process

Identifies interactive logon attempt with alternate credentials and by an unusual process. Adversaries may create a new token to escalate privileges and bypass access controls.

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109

Potential Escalation via Vulnerable MSI Repair

Identifies when a browser process navigates to the Microsoft Help page followed by spawning an elevated process. This may indicate a successful exploitation for privilege escalation abusing a vulnerable Windows Installer repair setup.

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207

Privilege Escalation via Named Pipe Impersonation

Identifies a privilege escalation attempt via named pipe impersonation. An adversary may abuse this technique by utilizing a framework such as Metasploit’s meterpreter getsystem command.

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319

Suspicious Print Spooler Point and Print DLL

Detects attempts to exploit a privilege escalation vulnerability (CVE-2020-1030) related to the print spooler service. Exploitation involves chaining multiple primitives to load an arbitrary DLL into the print spooler process running as SYSTEM.

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215

Privilege Escalation via Windir Environment Variable

Identifies a privilege escalation attempt via a rogue Windows directory (Windir) environment variable. This is a known primitive that is often combined with other vulnerabilities to elevate privileges.

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316

Potential Privileged Escalation via SamAccountName Spoofing

Identifies a suspicious computer account name rename event, which may indicate an attempt to exploit CVE-2021-42278 to elevate privileges from a standard domain user to a user with domain admin privileges. CVE-2021-42278 is a security vulnerability that allows potential attackers to impersonate a domain controller via samAccountName attribute spoofing.

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216

Remote Computer Account DnsHostName Update

Identifies the remote update to a computer account’s DnsHostName attribute. If the new value set is a valid domain controller DNS hostname and the subject computer name is not a domain controller, then it’s highly likely a preparation step to exploit CVE-2022-26923 in an attempt to elevate privileges from a standard domain user to domain admin privileges.

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215

Suspicious SeIncreaseBasePriorityPrivilege Use

Identifies attempts to use the SeIncreaseBasePriorityPrivilege privilege by an unusual process. This could be related to hijack execution flow of a process via threats priority manipulation.

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3

UAC Bypass Attempt with IEditionUpgradeManager Elevated COM Interface

Identifies attempts to bypass User Account Control (UAC) by abusing an elevated COM Interface to launch a rogue Windows ClipUp program. Attackers may attempt to bypass UAC to stealthily execute code with elevated permissions.

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314

UAC Bypass via ICMLuaUtil Elevated COM Interface

Identifies User Account Control (UAC) bypass attempts via the ICMLuaUtil Elevated COM interface. Attackers may attempt to bypass UAC to stealthily execute code with elevated permissions.

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215

Bypass UAC via Event Viewer

Identifies User Account Control (UAC) bypass via eventvwr.exe. Attackers bypass UAC to stealthily execute code with elevated permissions.

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323

UAC Bypass Attempt via Windows Directory Masquerading

Identifies an attempt to bypass User Account Control (UAC) by masquerading as a Microsoft trusted Windows directory. Attackers may bypass UAC to stealthily execute code with elevated permissions.

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323

Privileges Elevation via Parent Process PID Spoofing

Identifies parent process spoofing used to create an elevated child process. Adversaries may spoof the parent process identifier (PPID) of a new process to evade process-monitoring defenses or to elevate privileges.

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12

Privilege Escalation via Rogue Named Pipe Impersonation

Identifies a privilege escalation attempt via rogue named pipe impersonation. An adversary may abuse this technique by masquerading as a known named pipe and manipulating a privileged process to connect to it.

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212

Process Created with an Elevated Token

Identifies the creation of a process running as SYSTEM while impersonating the token context of a Windows core binary. Adversaries may create a new process with a different token to escalate privileges and bypass access controls.

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12

Windows Service Installed via an Unusual Client

Identifies the creation of a Windows service by an unusual client process. Services may be created with administrator privileges but are executed under SYSTEM privileges, so an adversary may also use a service to escalate privileges from administrator to SYSTEM.

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218