IMPORTANT: No additional bug fixes or documentation updates will be released for this version. For the latest information, see the current release documentation.
« ESXI Discovery via Grep EggShell Backdoor Execution »
Elastic Docs ›Elastic Security Solution [8.8] ›Detections and alerts ›Prebuilt rule reference

ESXI Timestomping using Touch Command

edit

ESXI Timestomping using Touch Command

edit

Identifies instances where the touch command is executed on a Linux system with the "-r" flag, which is used to modify the timestamp of a file based on another file’s timestamp. The rule targets specific VM-related paths, such as "/etc/vmware/", "/usr/lib/vmware/", or "/vmfs/*". These paths are associated with VMware virtualization software, and their presence in the touch command arguments may indicate that a threat actor is attempting to tamper with timestamps of VM-related files and configurations on the system.

Rule type: eql

Rule indices:

  • logs-endpoint.events.*

Severity: medium

Risk score: 47

Runs every: 5m

Searches indices from: now-9m (Date Math format, see also Additional look-back time)

Maximum alerts per execution: 100

References:

Tags:

  • Domain: Endpoint
  • OS: Linux
  • Use Case: Threat Detection
  • Tactic: Defense Evasion
  • Data Source: Elastic Defend

Version: 5

Rule authors:

  • Elastic

Rule license: Elastic License v2

Rule query

edit
process where host.os.type == "linux" and event.type == "start" and event.action == "exec" and
process.name : "touch" and process.args : "-r" and process.args : ("/etc/vmware/*", "/usr/lib/vmware/*", "/vmfs/*")

Framework: MITRE ATT&CKTM

« ESXI Discovery via Grep EggShell Backdoor Execution »