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Loadable Kernel Module Configuration File Creation

Elastic Stack Serverless Security

This rule detects the creation of Loadable Kernel Module (LKM) configuration files. Attackers may create or modify these files to allow their LKMs to be loaded upon reboot, ensuring persistence on a compromised system.

Rule type: eql

Rule indices:

  • logs-endpoint.events.file*

Severity: low

Risk score: 21

Runs every: 5m

Searches indices from: now-9m (https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/common-options.html#date-math[Date Math format], see also Additional look-back time)

Maximum alerts per execution: 100

References: None

Tags:

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

Version: 1

Rule authors:

  • Elastic

Rule license: Elastic License v2

Rule query

file where host.os.type == "linux" and event.action in ("rename", "creation") and process.executable != null and
file.path like~ (
  "/etc/modules", "/etc/modprobe.d/*", "/usr/lib/modprobe.d/*", "/etc/modules-load.d/*",
  "/run/modules-load.d/*", "/usr/local/lib/modules-load.d/*", "/usr/lib/modules-load.d/*"
) and not (
  process.executable in (
    "/bin/dpkg", "/usr/bin/dpkg", "/bin/dockerd", "/usr/bin/dockerd", "/usr/sbin/dockerd", "/bin/microdnf",
    "/usr/bin/microdnf", "/bin/rpm", "/usr/bin/rpm", "/bin/snapd", "/usr/bin/snapd", "/bin/yum", "/usr/bin/yum",
    "/bin/dnf", "/usr/bin/dnf", "/bin/podman", "/usr/bin/podman", "/bin/dnf-automatic", "/usr/bin/dnf-automatic",
    "/bin/pacman", "/usr/bin/pacman", "/usr/bin/dpkg-divert", "/bin/dpkg-divert", "/sbin/apk", "/usr/sbin/apk",
    "/usr/local/sbin/apk", "/usr/bin/apt", "/usr/sbin/pacman", "/bin/podman", "/usr/bin/podman", "/usr/bin/puppet",
    "/bin/puppet", "/opt/puppetlabs/puppet/bin/puppet", "/usr/bin/chef-client", "/bin/chef-client",
    "/bin/autossl_check", "/usr/bin/autossl_check", "/proc/self/exe", "/dev/fd/*",  "/usr/bin/pamac-daemon",
    "/bin/pamac-daemon", "/usr/local/bin/dockerd", "/opt/elasticbeanstalk/bin/platform-engine",
    "/opt/puppetlabs/puppet/bin/ruby", "/usr/libexec/platform-python", "/opt/imunify360/venv/bin/python3",
    "/opt/eset/efs/lib/utild", "/usr/sbin/anacron", "/usr/bin/podman", "/kaniko/kaniko-executor", "/usr/bin/prime-select"
  ) or
  file.extension in ("swp", "swpx", "swx", "dpkg-remove") or
  file.Ext.original.extension == "dpkg-new" or
  process.executable like (
    "/nix/store/*", "/var/lib/dpkg/info/kmod.postinst", "/tmp/vmis.*", "/snap/*", "/dev/fd/*",
    "/usr/libexec/platform-python*"
  ) or
  process.executable == null or
  process.name in (
    "crond", "executor", "puppet", "droplet-agent.postinst", "cf-agent", "schedd", "imunify-notifier", "perl",
    "jumpcloud-agent", "crio", "dnf_install", "utild"
  ) or
  (process.name == "sed" and file.name : "sed*") or
  (process.name == "perl" and file.name : "e2scrub_all.tmp*")
)

Framework: MITRE ATT&CKTM