Coverage › CVE-2024-21887
CVE-2024-21887 Mapped Sigma
Ivanti Connect Secure and Policy Secure Command Injection Vulnerability
- Vendor / product
- Ivanti — Connect Secure and Policy Secure
- Description (CISA)
- Ivanti Connect Secure (ICS, formerly known as Pulse Connect Secure) and Ivanti Policy Secure contain a command injection vulnerability in the web components of these products, which can allow an authenticated administrator to send crafted requests to execute code on affected appliances. This vulnerability can be leveraged in conjunction with CVE-2023-46805, an authenticated bypass issue.
- Added to KEV
- 2024-01-10
- Due date
- 2024-01-22
- Required action
- Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
- Known ransomware use
- Known
- CWE
- CWE-77
- CISA notes
- Please apply mitigations per vendor instructions. For more information, please see: https://forums.ivanti.com/s/article/KB-CVE-2023-46805-Authentication-Bypass-CVE-2024-21887-Command-Injection-for-Ivanti-Connect-Secure-and-Ivanti-Policy-Secure-Gateways?language=en_US
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-21887 - Elsewhere
- cve.org · NVD · CISA KEV · JSON
ATT&CK techniques · CTID Mappings Explorer, ATT&CK 16.1, KEV snapshot 2025-07-28
4 mapping objects across 4 techniques. exploitation technique states how the vulnerability is exploited; primary and secondary impact state what exploitation achieves. They are different claims and are labelled as such.
| Technique | Mapping type | CTID comment | Status in v19.2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application | exploitation technique | This vulnerability is exploited through a command injection weakness in the web components of Ivanti Connect Secure and Ivanti Policy Secure. Attackers leverage this vulnerability to achieve remote code execution by sending specially crafted requests to vulnerable instances, potentially without requiring authentication when combined with other vulnerabilities. This manipulation allows attackers to execute arbitrary commands on the appliance, potentially enabling further exploitation and system compromise. Threat actors have been reported as likely targeting credentials and the deployment of web shells to provide future access. ref 1 · ref 2 · ref 3 |
live |
| T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter | primary impact | This vulnerability is exploited through a command injection weakness in the web components of Ivanti Connect Secure and Ivanti Policy Secure. Attackers leverage this vulnerability to achieve remote code execution by sending specially crafted requests to vulnerable instances, potentially without requiring authentication when combined with other vulnerabilities. This manipulation allows attackers to execute arbitrary commands on the appliance, potentially enabling further exploitation and system compromise. Threat actors have been reported as likely targeting credentials and the deployment of web shells to provide future access. ref 1 · ref 2 · ref 3 |
live |
| T1505.003 Web Shell | secondary impact | This vulnerability is exploited through a command injection weakness in the web components of Ivanti Connect Secure and Ivanti Policy Secure. Attackers leverage this vulnerability to achieve remote code execution by sending specially crafted requests to vulnerable instances, potentially without requiring authentication when combined with other vulnerabilities. This manipulation allows attackers to execute arbitrary commands on the appliance, potentially enabling further exploitation and system compromise. Threat actors have been reported as likely targeting credentials and the deployment of web shells to provide future access. ref 1 · ref 2 · ref 3 |
live |
| T1552 Unsecured Credentials | secondary impact | This vulnerability is exploited through a command injection weakness in the web components of Ivanti Connect Secure and Ivanti Policy Secure. Attackers leverage this vulnerability to achieve remote code execution by sending specially crafted requests to vulnerable instances, potentially without requiring authentication when combined with other vulnerabilities. This manipulation allows attackers to execute arbitrary commands on the appliance, potentially enabling further exploitation and system compromise. Threat actors have been reported as likely targeting credentials and the deployment of web shells to provide future access. ref 1 · ref 2 · ref 3 |
live |
Detection chain · ATT&CK Enterprise v19.2 detection strategies, analytics, log sources
T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter primary impact
- DET0516 Behavioral Detection of Command and Scripting Interpreter Abuse
AN1428 WindowsDetects the execution of scripting or command interpreters (e.g., powershell.exe, cmd.exe, wscript.exe) outside expected administrative time windows or from abnormal user contexts, often followed by encoded/obfuscated arguments or secondary execution events.Tunable:
CommandLinePatternParentProcessNameTimeWindowAN1429 LinuxDetects use of shell interpreters (e.g., bash, sh, python, perl) initiated by users or processes not normally executing them, especially when chaining suspicious utilities like netcat, curl, or ssh.Tunable:InterpreterNameUserContextExecutionChainLengthAN1430 macOSDetects launch of command-line interpreters via Terminal, Automator, or hiddenosascript, especially when parent process lineage deviates from user-initiated applications.macos:unifiedloglog stream --info --predicate 'eventMessage CONTAINS "exec"'→ DC0032 Process CreationTunable:LaunchAgentNameScriptNameTerminalAppUsageAN1431 ESXiDetects use of 'esxcli system' or direct interpreter commands (e.g., busybox shell) invoked from SSH or host terminal unexpectedly.Tunable:ShellEnabledFlagSSHContextAN1432 Network DevicesIdentifies CLI interpreter access (e.g., Cisco IOS, Juniper JUNOS) viaenablemode or scripting-capable sessions used by uncommon accounts or from unknown IPs.Tunable:UserRoleDeviceType
Sigma rules tagged attack.t1059 (95)
Author: Sohan G (D4rkCiph3r)
· 2023-04-05 · logsource: product=macos category=process_creation · 0250638a-2b28-4541-86fc-ea4c558fa0c6
Detects suspicious child processes spawned from browsers. This could be a result of a potential web browser exploitation.
Author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
· 2023-04-17 · logsource: product=windows category=process_creation · 05ebafc8-7aa2-4bcd-a269-2aec93f9e842
Detects usage of winget to add new additional download sources
Author: Victor Sergeev, oscd.community
· 2020-10-09 (modified 2024-04-23) · logsource: product=windows category=process_creation · 06b401f4-107c-4ff9-947f-9ec1e7649f1e
Detects execution of "ftp.exe" script with the "-s" or "/s" flag and any child processes ran by "ftp.exe".
Author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems), E.M. Anhaus (originally from Atomic Blue Detections, Endgame), oscd.community
· 2022-06-14 (modified 2023-01-04) · logsource: product=windows category=process_creation · 0955e4e1-c281-4fb9-9ee1-5ee7b4b754d2
Detects execition of commands and binaries from the context of The program compatibility assistant (Pcalua.exe). This can be used as a LOLBIN in order to bypass application whitelisting.
Author: Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems)
· 2025-11-25 · logsource: product=linux category=process_creation · 11bb9b26-4179-4a06-afcb-1ec31fce1627
Detects potential Shai-Hulud malware indicators based on specific command line arguments associated with its execution.
Author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
· 2022-02-08 (modified 2026-02-17) · logsource: product=windows category=process_creation · 1228c958-e64e-4e71-92ad-7d429f4138ba
Detects suspicious script execution from suspicious directories or folders accessible by environment variables that may indicate malware activity.
Script interpreters (cscript, wscript, mshta, powershell) executing from folders like Temp, Public, or user profile directories may suggest attempts to evade detection or execute malicious scripts.
Author: Josh Nickels, Marius Rothenbücher
· 2024-09-06 · logsource: product=windows category=dns_query · 12310575-e8b1-475c-a976-57ed540b349c
Detects unusual domain resolutions originating from CScript/WScript that can identify malicious javascript files executing in an environment, often as a result from a phishing or watering hole attack.
Author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
· 2021-11-20 (modified 2023-03-29) · logsource: product=windows category=file_event · 1277f594-a7d1-4f28-a2d3-73af5cbeab43
Detects Windows shells and scripting applications that write files to suspicious folders
Author: frack113, Tim Shelton (update fp)
· 2022-12-05 (modified 2025-03-06) · logsource: product=windows category=process_creation · 178e615d-e666-498b-9630-9ed363038101
Detects when a shell program such as the Windows command prompt or PowerShell is launched with system privileges from a uncommon parent location.
Author: Micah Babinski
· 2023-10-15 · logsource: product=windows category=file_event · 1a433e1d-03d2-47a6-8063-ece992cf4e73
Detects the usage of curl.exe, KeyScramblerLogon, or other non-standard/suspicious processes used to create Autoit3.exe.
This activity has been associated with DarkGate malware, which uses Autoit3.exe to execute shellcode that performs
process injection and connects to the DarkGate command-and-control server. Curl, KeyScramblerLogon, and these other
processes consitute non-standard and suspicious ways to retrieve the Autoit3 executable.
Author: Andreas Braathen (mnemonic.io)
· 2023-11-14 · logsource: product=windows category=process_creation · 1ddaa9a4-eb0b-4398-a9fe-7b018f9e23db
Detects exploitation attempt of CVE-2023-22518 (Confluence Data Center / Confluence Server), where an attacker can exploit vulnerable endpoints to e.g. create admin accounts and execute arbitrary commands.
Author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
· 2023-01-02 · logsource: product=windows category=process_creation · 20a5ffa1-3848-4584-b6f8-c7c7fd9f69c8
Detects execution of ruby using the "-e" flag. This is could be used as a way to launch a reverse shell or execute live ruby code.
Author: Tim Rauch (rule), Elastic (idea)
· 2022-10-17 · logsource: product=macos category=process_creation · 234dc5df-40b5-49d1-bf53-0d44ce778eca
Detects when a built-in utility is used to decode and decrypt a payload after a macOS disk image (DMG) is executed. Malware authors may attempt to evade detection and trick users into executing malicious code by encoding and encrypting their payload and placing it in a disk image file. This behavior is consistent with adware or malware families such as Bundlore and Shlayer.
Author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
· 2023-06-14 · logsource: product=windows category=process_creation · 236d8e89-ed95-4789-a982-36f4643738ba
Detects execution of the "VMwareToolBoxCmd.exe" with the "script" and "set" flag to setup a specific script that's located in a potentially suspicious location to run for a specific VM state
Author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems), X__Junior (Nextron Systems)
· 2024-01-11 · logsource: product=windows category=process_creation · 2433a154-bb3d-42e4-86c3-a26bdac91c45
Detects the execution of a renamed "PingCastle" binary based on the PE metadata fields.
All 95 rules on the technique page →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application exploitation technique
- DET0080 Exploit Public-Facing Application – multi-signal correlation (request → error → post-exploit process/egress)
AN0219 WindowsAdversary sends crafted HTTP/S (or other service) input to an Internet-facing app (IIS/ASP.NET, API, device portal). Chain: (1) abnormal request patterns to public endpoint → (2) elevated 4xx/5xx or unusual methods/paths → (3) server process (w3wp.exe/other service) spawns shell/LOLbins or loads non-standard modules → (4) optional outbound callback from the host/container.ApplicationLog:IIS
IIS W3C logs in C:\inetpub\logs\LogFiles\W3SVC* (spikes in 5xx, RCE/SQLi/path traversal/JNDI patterns)→ DC0038 Application Log ContentTunable:PublicVIPsSuspiciousPatternsErrorRateThresholdTimeWindowAllowedChildListAN0220 LinuxAdversary exploits Apache/Nginx/app servers. Chain: (1) suspicious requests in access logs → (2) spike of 5xx or WAF blocks → (3) web server or interpreter (apache2/nginx/php-fpm/node/python) spawns /bin/sh, curl, wget, socat, or writes webshell → (4) outbound callback.ApplicationLog:WebServer/var/log/httpd/access_log, /var/log/apache2/access.log, /var/log/nginx/access.log with exploit indicators and burst errors→ DC0038 Application Log ContentNSM:FlowHTTP payloads with SQLi/LFI/JNDI/deserialization indicators→ DC0085 Network Traffic ContentTunable:WebProcListChildToolListBurstThresholdTimeWindowAN0221 macOSAdversary targets macOS-hosted public services (e.g., nginx, node). Chain: suspicious inbound request → service crash/5xx → service spawns shell or writes file → new outbound connection.macos:unifiedlogApp/web server logs ingested via unified logging or filebeat (nginx/apache/node).→ DC0038 Application Log ContentTunable:ServiceListTimeWindowAN0222 ContainersAdversary exploits containerized app via ingress or service. Chain: (1) suspicious request in ingress/app logs → (2) container process spawns a shell/exec/sidecar (kubectl exec/docker exec) → (3) egress to Internet or metadata service (169.254.169.254).ApplicationLog:IngressKubernetes NGINX/Envoy ingress controller logs with anomalous payloads and 5xx spikes→ DC0038 Application Log Contentdocker:eventsDocker/Kubernetes audit of exec/attach (kubectl exec) or unexpected child processes inside container→ DC0032 Process CreationNSM:FlowRequests towards cloud metadata or command & control from pod IPs→ DC0085 Network Traffic ContentTunable:IngressNamespacesMetadataEndpointsTimeWindowAN0223 IaaSAdversary targets cloud-hosted public endpoints. Chain: (1) ALB/ELB/Cloud LB logs show exploit-like inputs or error spikes → (2) workload spawns shell or reaches metadata API → (3) egress to new external hosts.ALB:HTTPLogsAWS ALB/ELB/GCP/Azure Application Gateway HTTP logs with unusual methods, long URIs, serialized payloads, 4xx/5xx bursts→ DC0085 Network Traffic ContentAWS:VPCFlowLogsVPC/NSG flow logs for pod/instance egress to Internet or metadata→ DC0078 Network Traffic FlowTunable:LBProjectsErrorBurstAN0224 ESXiAdversary exploits exposed OpenSLP on ESXi or vCenter public endpoints. Chain: inbound request pattern to mgmt service → hostd/vpxd error/crash/restart → unexpected process behavior or datastore access → outbound callback.esxi:hostd/var/log/hostd.log anomalies (faults, crashes, restarts) around inbound connections→ DC0038 Application Log ContentNSM:FlowConnections to TCP 427 (SLP) or vCenter web services from untrusted sources→ DC0085 Network Traffic ContentTunable:MgmtCIDRTimeWindowAN0225 Network DevicesAdversary exploits public admin services on routers/firewalls/switches. Chain: anomalous HTTP/SNMP/SmartInstall inputs → device syslog errors/restarts → config changes/CLI spawn → egress to attacker C2.networkdevice:controlplaneSyslog from edge devices with HTTP 500s on mgmt portal, SmartInstall events, unexpected CLI commands→ DC0038 Application Log ContentTunable:MgmtPortsTrustedAdmins
Sigma rules tagged attack.t1190 (149)
Author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
· 2023-05-30 · logsource: category=webserver · 043c1609-0e32-4462-a6f2-5a0c2da3fafe
Detects a potential exploitation attempt of CVE-2023-25717 a Remote Code Execution via an unauthenticated HTTP GET Request, in Ruckus Wireless Admin
Author: @gott_cyber
· 2022-12-11 (modified 2023-03-24) · logsource: category=webserver · 0bbcd74b-0596-41a4-94a0-4e88a76ffdb3
Detects exploitation attempt of the CVE-2021-27905 which affects all Apache Solr versions prior to and including 8.8.1.
Author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
· 2020-07-10 (modified 2023-01-02) · logsource: category=webserver · 0d0d9a8a-a49e-4e27-b061-7ce4b936cfb7
Detects exploitation attempt against Citrix Netscaler, Application Delivery Controller (ADS) and Citrix Gateway exploiting vulnerabilities reported as CVE-2020-8193 and CVE-2020-8195
Author: Thomas Patzke
· 2017-08-06 (modified 2020-09-01) · logsource: product=ruby_on_rails category=application · 0d2c3d4c-4b48-4ac3-8f23-ea845746bb1a
Detects suspicious Ruby on Rails exceptions that could indicate exploitation attempts
Author: Bhabesh Raj
· 2023-02-23 · logsource: category=webserver · 0e1ebc5a-15d0-4bf6-8199-b2535397433a
Detects the potential exploitation attempt of CVE-2023-23752 an Improper access check, in web service endpoints in Joomla
Author: Nisarg Suthar
· 2025-08-01 · logsource: product=windows category=process_creation · 0fdc7c7f-c690-4217-9ae3-31f5156eed72
Detects suspicious child processes created by CrushFTP. It could be an indication of exploitation of a RCE vulnerability such as CVE-2025-54309.
Author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
· 2019-05-22 (modified 2023-01-25) · logsource: product=windows category=process_creation · 1012f107-b8f1-4271-af30-5aed2de89b39
Detects a process spawned by the terminal service server process (this could be an indicator for an exploitation of CVE-2019-0708)
Author: jamesc-grafana
· 2024-07-11 · logsource: product=aws service=cloudtrail · 14f3f1c8-02d5-43a2-a191-91ffb52d3015
Detects changes to the security group entries for RDS databases.
This can indicate that a misconfiguration has occurred which potentially exposes the database to the public internet, a wider audience within the VPC or that removal of valid rules has occurred which could impact the availability of the database to legitimate services and users.
Author: Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems)
· 2025-11-20 · logsource: category=proxy · 15697955-6a29-47ca-92e9-0e05efae3260
Detects suspicious requests to Cisco ASA WebVpn via proxy logs associated with CVE-2025-20333 and CVE-2025-20362 exploitation.
Author: Bhabesh Raj
· 2021-01-25 (modified 2023-01-02) · logsource: category=webserver · 15c312b9-00d0-4feb-8870-7d940a4bdc5e
Detects the exploitation of the TerraMaster TOS vulnerability described in CVE-2020-28188
Author: Moti Harmats
· 2023-02-11 · logsource: product=velocity category=application · 16c86189-b556-4ee8-b4c7-7e350a195a4f
Detects exceptions in velocity template renderer, this most likely happens due to dynamic rendering of user input and may lead to RCE.
Author: Bhabesh Raj
· 2021-02-24 (modified 2023-01-02) · logsource: category=webserver · 179ed852-0f9b-4009-93a7-68475910fd86
Detects the exploitation of VSphere Remote Code Execution vulnerability as described in CVE-2021-21972
Author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
· 2022-12-22 (modified 2023-01-02) · logsource: category=webserver · 181f49fa-0b21-4665-a98c-a57025ebb8c7
Detects exploitation attempt of the OWASSRF variant targeting exchange servers It uses the OWA endpoint to access the powershell backend endpoint
Author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems), Tim Shelton
· 2022-07-19 (modified 2026-06-11) · logsource: category=webserver · 19aa4f58-94ca-45ff-bc34-92e533c0994a
Detects known suspicious (default) user-agents related to scanning/recon tools
Author: Thomas Patzke
· 2017-08-12 (modified 2020-09-01) · logsource: product=python category=application · 19aefed0-ffd4-47dc-a7fc-f8b1425e84f9
Generic rule for SQL exceptions in Python according to PEP 249
All 149 rules on the technique page →
T1505.003 Web Shell secondary impact
- DET0394 Web Shell Detection via Server Behavior and File Execution Chains
AN1108 WindowsUnexpected file creation in web directories followed by web server processes (e.g., w3wp.exe) spawning command shells or script interpreters (e.g., cmd.exe, powershell.exe)NSM:Flow
Inbound HTTP POST with suspicious payload size or user-agent→ DC0085 Network Traffic ContentTunable:WebRootPathParentProcessAN1109 LinuxFile creation of unauthorized script (e.g., .php, .sh) in /var/www/html followed by execution of unexpected system utilities (e.g., curl, bash, nc) by apache/nginxauditd:SYSCALLnew file created in /var/www/html, /srv/http, or similar web root→ DC0039 File CreationNSM:FlowPOST requests to .php, .jsp, .aspx files with high entropy body→ DC0085 Network Traffic ContentTunable:WebRootPathPayloadEntropyThresholdTimeWindowAN1110 macOSWeb servers (e.g., httpd) spawning abnormal processes post file upload into /Library/WebServer/Documents or /usr/local/var/wwwTunable:InterpreterNameExecutionParent
Sigma rules tagged attack.t1505.003 (35)
Author: Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems)
· 2025-07-24 · logsource: product=windows category=file_event · 1f0489be-b496-4ddf-b3a9-5900f2044e9c
Detects suspicious file writes to SharePoint layouts directory which could indicate webshell activity or post-exploitation.
This behavior has been observed in the exploitation of SharePoint vulnerabilities such as CVE-2025-49704, CVE-2025-49706 or CVE-2025-53770.
Author: Jason Rathbun (Blackpoint Cyber)
· 2025-04-17 · logsource: product=windows category=process_creation · 2d79e371-2a27-42de-87a4-b4213fc72a6a
Detects unexpected command shell execution (cmd.exe) from w3wp.exe when tied to CentreStack's portal.config, indicating potential exploitation (e.g., CVE-2025-30406)
Author: Cian Heasley
· 2020-08-04 (modified 2023-01-02) · logsource: category=webserver · 2ea44a60-cfda-11ea-87d0-0242ac130003
Certain strings in the uri_query field when combined with null referer and null user agent can indicate activity associated with the webshell ReGeorg.
Author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
· 2019-01-16 (modified 2024-01-18) · logsource: product=windows category=process_creation · 35efb964-e6a5-47ad-bbcd-19661854018d
Detects a program executing from a web server root folder. Use this rule to hunt for potential interesting activity such as webshell or backdoors
Author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
· 2018-07-22 (modified 2023-01-02) · logsource: category=webserver · 37e8369b-43bb-4bf8-83b6-6dd43bda2000
Detects access to a webshell dropped into a keystore folder on the WebLogic server
Author: Beyu Denis, oscd.community, Tim Shelton, Thurein Oo
· 2019-10-22 (modified 2023-10-15) · logsource: product=windows category=file_event · 39f1f9f2-9636-45de-98f6-a4046aa8e4b9
Detects the creation of files with certain extensions on a static web site. This can be indicative of potential uploads of a web shell.
Author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
· 2023-06-03 (modified 2023-07-28) · logsource: category=webserver · 435e41f2-48eb-4c95-8a2b-ed24b50ec30b
Detects get requests to specific files used during the exploitation of MOVEit CVE-2023-34362
Author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
· 2022-03-17 (modified 2023-11-09) · logsource: product=windows category=process_creation · 4ebc877f-4612-45cb-b3a5-8e3834db36c9
Detects certain parent child patterns found in cases in which a web shell is used to perform certain credential dumping or exfiltration activities on a compromised system
Author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Rich Warren, Christian Burkard (Nextron Systems)
· 2021-08-09 (modified 2023-04-30) · logsource: product=windows service=msexchange-management · 516376b4-05cd-4122-bae0-ad7641c38d48
Detects a successful export of an Exchange mailbox to untypical directory or with aspx name suffix which can be used to place a webshell or the needed role assignment for it
Author: Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems)
· 2025-05-14 · logsource: category=webserver · 639b893f-f93a-4e53-a7c8-f08cf73fe7f7
Detects potential Java webshell uploads via HTTP requests with Content-Type 'application/octet-stream' and Java file extensions.
This behavior might indicate exploitation of vulnerabilities like CVE-2025-31324, which allows remote code execution through webshells in SAP NetViewer.
Author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
· 2022-10-04 · logsource: product=windows category=file_event · 6b269392-9eba-40b5-acb6-55c882b20ba6
Detects suspicious file type dropped by an Exchange component in IIS
Author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)
· 2022-02-25 · logsource: product=windows category=file_event · 7280c9f3-a5af-45d0-916a-bc01cb4151c9
Detects suspicious activity in which the MSExchangeMailboxReplication process writes .asp and .apsx files to disk, which could be a sign of ProxyShell exploitation
Author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
· 2017-02-19 (modified 2022-11-18) · logsource: category=webserver · 7ff9db12-1b94-4a79-ba68-a2402c5d6729
Detects common commands used in Windows webshells
Author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
· 2021-10-15 (modified 2026-08-19) · logsource: product=linux category=process_creation · 818f7b24-0fba-4c49-a073-8b755573b9c7
Detects suspicious sub processes of web server processes
Author: Thomas Patzke, Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Zach Stanford @svch0st, Tim Shelton, Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
· 2019-01-16 (modified 2024-11-26) · logsource: product=windows category=process_creation · 8202070f-edeb-4d31-a010-a26c72ac5600
Detects potentially suspicious processes being spawned by a web server process which could be the result of a successfully placed web shell or exploitation
All 35 rules on the technique page →
T1552 Unsecured Credentials secondary impact
- DET0412 Detect Access or Search for Unsecured Credentials Across Platforms
AN1153 WindowsUnusual access to bash history, registry credentials paths, or private key files by unauthorized or scripting tools, with correlated file and process activity.Tunable:
TimeWindowSuspiciousProcessListAN1154 LinuxReading of sensitive files like .bash_history, /etc/shadow, or private key directories by unauthorized users or unusual processes.auditd:SYSCALLexecution of tools like cat, grep, or awk on credential files→ DC0064 Command ExecutionTunable:SensitivePathsUserContextAN1155 macOSUnusual access to ~/Library/Keychains, ~/.bash_history, or Terminal command history by unauthorized processes or users.macos:unifiedlogread access to ~/Library/Keychains or history files by terminal processes→ DC0055 File Accessmacos:unifiedlogexecution of 'security', 'cat', or 'grep' commands accessing credential storage→ DC0064 Command ExecutionTunable:ProcessNameTargetPathAN1156 SaaSUnusual web-based access or API scraping of password managers, single sign-on sessions, or credential sync services via browser automation or anomalous API tokens.saas:googleworkspaceAccessed third-party credential management service→ DC0002 User Account Authenticationsaas:zoomunusual web session tokens and automation patterns during login→ DC0038 Application Log ContentTunable:TokenAnomalyThresholdAccessGeoLocationAN1157 Identity ProviderUnauthorized API or console calls to retrieve or reset password credentials, download key material, or modify SSO settings.Tunable:SSOSettingScopeSecretTypeAN1158 ContainersAccess to container image layers or mounted secrets (e.g., Docker secrets) by processes not tied to entrypoint or orchestration context.auditd:SYSCALLread of /run/secrets or docker volumes by non-entrypoint process→ DC0055 File AccessTunable:EntrypointAllowlistVolumeMountPathAN1159 Network DevicesUse of configuration backup utilities or CLI access to dump plaintext passwords, local user hashes, or SNMP strings.linux:syslogCLI access to 'show running-config', 'show password', or 'cat config.txt'→ DC0064 Command ExecutionTunable:ManagementInterfaceIPsCommandPattern
Sigma rules tagged attack.t1552 (13)
Author: Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems)
· 2025-11-25 · logsource: product=windows category=process_creation · 0f60b28c-64dd-4e2c-9a63-5334d3e3a6e6
Detects a script interpreter process (like node.js or bun) spawning a known credential scanning tool (e.g., trufflehog, gitleaks).
This behavior is indicative of an attempt to find and steal secrets, as seen in the "Shai-Hulud: The Second Coming" campaign.
Author: Mark Morowczynski '@markmorow', Bailey Bercik '@baileybercik'
· 2022-06-02 · logsource: product=azure service=auditlogs · 1b45b0d1-773f-4f23-aedc-814b759563b1
Detects when a configuration change is made to an applications AppID URI.
Author: Austin Songer @austinsonger
· 2021-08-16 (modified 2022-08-23) · logsource: product=azure service=activitylogs · 459a2970-bb84-4e6a-a32e-ff0fbd99448d
Identifies when a key vault is modified or deleted.
Author: Austin Songer @austinsonger
· 2021-11-25 (modified 2022-12-18) · logsource: product=gcp service=gcp.audit · 6ad91e31-53df-4826-bd27-0166171c8040
Identifies when an admission controller is executed in GCP Kubernetes.
A Kubernetes Admission controller intercepts, and possibly modifies, requests to the Kubernetes API server.
The behavior of this admission controller is determined by an admission webhook (MutatingAdmissionWebhook or ValidatingAdmissionWebhook) that the user deploys in the cluster.
An adversary can use such webhooks as the MutatingAdmissionWebhook for obtaining persistence in the cluster.
For example, attackers can intercept and modify the pod creation operations in the cluster and add their malicious container to every created pod. An adversary can use the webhook ValidatingAdmissionWebhook, which could be used to obtain access credentials.
An adversary could use the webhook to intercept the requests to the API server, record secrets, and other sensitive information.
Author: Mark Morowczynski '@markmorow', Bailey Bercik '@baileybercik'
· 2022-06-02 · logsource: product=azure service=auditlogs · 74298991-9fc4-460e-a92e-511aa60baec1
Detects when a new owner is added to an application. This gives that account privileges to make modifications and configuration changes to the application.
Author: Austin Songer @austinsonger
· 2021-08-16 (modified 2022-08-23) · logsource: product=azure service=activitylogs · 80eeab92-0979-4152-942d-96749e11df40
Identifies when a Keyvault Key is modified or deleted in Azure.
Author: kelnage
· 2023-04-03 (modified 2026-04-27) · logsource: product=okta service=okta · 91b76b84-8589-47aa-9605-c837583b82a9
Detects when a user has potentially entered their password into the
username field, which will cause the password to be retained in log files.
Author: Ali Alwashali, Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
· 2023-11-20 (modified 2024-01-24) · logsource: product=windows category=process_creation · 9cd55b6c-430a-4fa9-96f4-7cadf5229e9f
Detect attempts to query the contents of the event log using command line utilities. Attackers use this technique in order to look for sensitive information in the logs such as passwords, usernames, IPs, etc.
Author: Austin Songer @austinsonger
· 2021-11-25 (modified 2022-12-18) · logsource: product=azure service=activitylogs · a61a3c56-4ce2-4351-a079-88ae4cbd2b58
Identifies when an admission controller is executed in Azure Kubernetes.
A Kubernetes Admission controller intercepts, and possibly modifies, requests to the Kubernetes API server.
The behavior of this admission controller is determined by an admission webhook (MutatingAdmissionWebhook or ValidatingAdmissionWebhook) that the user deploys in the cluster.
An adversary can use such webhooks as the MutatingAdmissionWebhook for obtaining persistence in the cluster.
For example, attackers can intercept and modify the pod creation operations in the cluster and add their malicious container to every created pod.
An adversary can use the webhook ValidatingAdmissionWebhook, which could be used to obtain access credentials.
An adversary could use the webhook to intercept the requests to the API server, record secrets, and other sensitive information.
Author: Austin Songer @austinsonger
· 2021-08-16 (modified 2022-08-23) · logsource: product=azure service=activitylogs · b831353c-1971-477b-abb6-2828edc3bca1
Identifies when secrets are modified or deleted in Azure.
Author: Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems), X__Junior (Nextron Systems)
· 2022-09-09 (modified 2025-12-02) · logsource: product=windows category=process_creation · beaa66d6-aa1b-4e3c-80f5-e0145369bfaf
Detects execution of different log query utilities and commands to search and dump the content of specific event logs or look for specific event IDs.
This technique is used by threat actors in order to extract sensitive information from events logs such as usernames, IP addresses, hostnames, etc.
Author: kelnage
· 2024-07-11 · logsource: product=kubernetes service=audit · eed82177-38f5-4299-8a76-098d50d225ab
Detects when a modification (create, update or replace) action is taken that affects mutating or validating webhook configurations, as they can be used by an adversary to achieve persistence or exfiltrate access credentials.
Author: Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems)
· 2025-11-25 · logsource: product=linux category=process_creation · f0025a69-e1b7-4dda-a53c-db21fa2d4071
Detects a script interpreter process (like node.js or bun) spawning a known credential scanning tool (e.g., trufflehog, gitleaks).
This behavior is indicative of an attempt to find and steal secrets, as seen in the "Shai-Hulud: The Second Coming" campaign.