LoFP LoFP / false positives may arise from legitimate actions by administrators or network operators who may use these commands for automation purposes. therefore, it's recommended to adjust filter macros to eliminate such false positives.

Techniques

Sample rules

Linux Possible Append Cronjob Entry on Existing Cronjob File

Description

The following analytic detects potential tampering with cronjob files on a Linux system by identifying ’echo’ commands that append code to existing cronjob files. It leverages logs from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on process names, parent processes, and command-line executions. This activity is significant because adversaries often use it for persistence or privilege escalation. If confirmed malicious, this could allow attackers to execute unauthorized code automatically, leading to system compromises and unauthorized data access, thereby impacting business operations and data integrity.

Detection logic


| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count from datamodel=Endpoint.Processes where Processes.process = "*echo*" AND Processes.process IN("*/etc/cron*", "*/var/spool/cron/*", "*/etc/anacrontab*") by Processes.action Processes.dest Processes.original_file_name Processes.parent_process Processes.parent_process_exec Processes.parent_process_guid Processes.parent_process_id Processes.parent_process_name Processes.parent_process_path Processes.process Processes.process_exec Processes.process_guid Processes.process_hash Processes.process_id Processes.process_integrity_level Processes.process_name Processes.process_path Processes.user Processes.user_id Processes.vendor_product 
| `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)` 
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` 
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
| `linux_possible_append_cronjob_entry_on_existing_cronjob_file_filter`

Linux Auditd Possible Append Cronjob Entry On Existing Cronjob File

Description

The following analytic detects potential tampering with cronjob files on a Linux system by identifying ’echo’ commands that append code to existing cronjob files. It leverages logs from Linux Auditd, focusing on process names, parent processes, and command-line executions. This activity is significant because adversaries often use it for persistence or privilege escalation. If confirmed malicious, this could allow attackers to execute unauthorized code automatically, leading to system compromises and unauthorized data access, thereby impacting business operations and data integrity.

Detection logic

`linux_auditd` type=PATH name IN("*/etc/cron*", "*/var/spool/cron/*", "*/etc/anacrontab*") 
| rename host as dest 
| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime by name nametype OGID  dest 
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
| `linux_auditd_possible_append_cronjob_entry_on_existing_cronjob_file_filter`