Potential Privilege Escalation via Python cap_setuid

This detection rule monitors for the execution of a system command with setuid or setgid capabilities via Python, followed by a uid or gid change to the root user. This sequence of events may indicate successful privilege escalation. Setuid (Set User ID) and setgid (Set Group ID) are Unix-like OS features that enable processes to run with elevated privileges, based on the file owner or group. Threat actors can exploit these attributes to escalate privileges to the privileges that are set on the binary that is being executed.

Elastic rule (View on GitHub)

 1[metadata]
 2creation_date = "2023/09/05"
 3integration = ["endpoint"]
 4maturity = "production"
 5updated_date = "2024/05/21"
 6
 7[rule]
 8author = ["Elastic"]
 9description = """
10This detection rule monitors for the execution of a system command with setuid or setgid capabilities via Python,
11followed by a uid or gid change to the root user. This sequence of events may indicate successful privilege escalation.
12Setuid (Set User ID) and setgid (Set Group ID) are Unix-like OS features that enable processes to run with elevated
13privileges, based on the file owner or group. Threat actors can exploit these attributes to escalate privileges to the
14privileges that are set on the binary that is being executed.
15"""
16from = "now-9m"
17index = ["logs-endpoint.events.*"]
18language = "eql"
19license = "Elastic License v2"
20name = "Potential Privilege Escalation via Python cap_setuid"
21risk_score = 47
22rule_id = "a0ddb77b-0318-41f0-91e4-8c1b5528834f"
23setup = """## Setup
24
25This rule requires data coming in from Elastic Defend.
26
27### Elastic Defend Integration Setup
28Elastic Defend is integrated into the Elastic Agent using Fleet. Upon configuration, the integration allows
29the Elastic Agent to monitor events on your host and send data to the Elastic Security app.
30
31#### Prerequisite Requirements:
32- Fleet is required for Elastic Defend.
33- To configure Fleet Server refer to the [documentation](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/fleet/current/fleet-server.html).
34
35#### The following steps should be executed in order to add the Elastic Defend integration on a Linux System:
36- Go to the Kibana home page and click "Add integrations".
37- In the query bar, search for "Elastic Defend" and select the integration to see more details about it.
38- Click "Add Elastic Defend".
39- Configure the integration name and optionally add a description.
40- Select the type of environment you want to protect, either "Traditional Endpoints" or "Cloud Workloads".
41- Select a configuration preset. Each preset comes with different default settings for Elastic Agent, you can further customize these later by configuring the Elastic Defend integration policy. [Helper guide](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/security/current/configure-endpoint-integration-policy.html).
42- We suggest to select "Complete EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response)" as a configuration setting, that provides "All events; all preventions"
43- Enter a name for the agent policy in "New agent policy name". If other agent policies already exist, you can click the "Existing hosts" tab and select an existing policy instead.
44For more details on Elastic Agent configuration settings, refer to the [helper guide](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/fleet/8.10/agent-policy.html).
45- Click "Save and Continue".
46- To complete the integration, select "Add Elastic Agent to your hosts" and continue to the next section to install the Elastic Agent on your hosts.
47For more details on Elastic Defend refer to the [helper guide](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/security/current/install-endpoint.html).
48"""
49severity = "medium"
50tags = [
51    "Domain: Endpoint",
52    "OS: Linux",
53    "Use Case: Threat Detection",
54    "Tactic: Privilege Escalation",
55    "Data Source: Elastic Defend",
56]
57type = "eql"
58
59query = '''
60sequence by host.id, process.entity_id with maxspan=1s
61  [process where host.os.type == "linux" and event.type == "start" and event.action == "exec" and 
62   process.args : "import os;os.set?id(0);os.system(*)" and process.args : "*python*" and user.id != "0"]
63  [process where host.os.type == "linux" and event.action in ("uid_change", "gid_change") and event.type == "change" and 
64   (user.id == "0" or group.id == "0")]
65'''
66
67
68[[rule.threat]]
69framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"
70[[rule.threat.technique]]
71id = "T1068"
72name = "Exploitation for Privilege Escalation"
73reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1068/"
74
75[[rule.threat.technique]]
76id = "T1548"
77name = "Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism"
78reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1548/"
79[[rule.threat.technique.subtechnique]]
80id = "T1548.001"
81name = "Setuid and Setgid"
82reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1548/001/"
83
84
85
86[rule.threat.tactic]
87id = "TA0004"
88name = "Privilege Escalation"
89reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0004/"

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