Network Connection Initiated by SSHD Child Process

This rule identifies an egress internet connection initiated by an SSH Daemon child process. This behavior is indicative of the alteration of a shell configuration file or other mechanism that launches a process when a new SSH login occurs. Attackers can also backdoor the SSH daemon to allow for persistence, call out to a C2 or to steal credentials.

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:

https://hadess.io/the-art-of-linux-persistence/

Tags:

Domain: Endpoint
OS: Linux
Use Case: Threat Detection
Tactic: Persistence
Data Source: Elastic Defend

Version: 2

Rule authors:

Elastic

Rule license: Elastic License v2

Rule query

edit

sequence by host.id with maxspan=1s
  [process where host.os.type == "linux" and event.type == "start" and event.action == "exec" and
   process.parent.executable == "/usr/sbin/sshd"] by process.entity_id
  [network where host.os.type == "linux" and event.type == "start" and event.action == "connection_attempted" and not (
     destination.ip == null or destination.ip == "0.0.0.0" or cidrmatch(
     destination.ip, "10.0.0.0/8", "127.0.0.0/8", "169.254.0.0/16", "172.16.0.0/12", "192.0.0.0/24", "192.0.0.0/29",
     "192.0.0.8/32", "192.0.0.9/32", "192.0.0.10/32", "192.0.0.170/32", "192.0.0.171/32", "192.0.2.0/24",
     "192.31.196.0/24", "192.52.193.0/24", "192.168.0.0/16", "192.88.99.0/24", "224.0.0.0/4", "100.64.0.0/10",
     "192.175.48.0/24","198.18.0.0/15", "198.51.100.0/24", "203.0.113.0/24", "240.0.0.0/4", "::1", "FE80::/10",
     "FF00::/8", "172.31.0.0/16"
     )
    ) and not process.executable in ("/bin/yum", "/usr/bin/yum")
  ] by process.parent.entity_id

Framework: MITRE ATT&CK^TM

Tactic:
- Name: Persistence
- ID: TA0003
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0003/
Technique:
- Name: Event Triggered Execution
- ID: T1546
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1546/
Sub-technique:
- Name: Unix Shell Configuration Modification
- ID: T1546.004
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1546/004/
Tactic:
- Name: Lateral Movement
- ID: TA0008
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0008/
Technique:
- Name: Remote Services
- ID: T1021
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1021/
Sub-technique:
- Name: SSH
- ID: T1021.004
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1021/004/
Technique:
- Name: Remote Service Session Hijacking
- ID: T1563
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1563/
Sub-technique:
- Name: SSH Hijacking
- ID: T1563.001
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1563/001/
Tactic:
- Name: Command and Control
- ID: TA0011
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0011/

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