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[New Rule] Potential Kubectl Masquerading #4832

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[New Rule] Potential Kubectl Masquerading #4832

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@Aegrah Aegrah commented Jun 19, 2025

Summary

This rule detects potential kubectl masquerading activity by monitoring for process events where the process name is not "kubectl" but the command line arguments include kubectl-related commands. This could indicate an adversary attempting to masquerade as legitimate kubectl activity to evade detection. This rule covers evasion gaps introduced by renaming the kubectl binary.

Telemetry

An endpoint rule was tuned to contain kubectl copy/move activity. This will further reduce evasion capabilities related to kubectl usage, as this is a common red teamers' trick.

In my own stack, 0 hits last 365 day. In telemetry, 0 hits last 30d. If this gets noisy, I will just remove/modify the noisy patterns.

@Aegrah Aegrah self-assigned this Jun 19, 2025
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Rule: New - Guidelines

These guidelines serve as a reminder set of considerations when proposing a new rule.

Documentation and Context

  • Detailed description of the rule.
  • List any new fields required in ECS/data sources.
  • Link related issues or PRs.
  • Include references.

Rule Metadata Checks

  • creation_date matches the date of creation PR initially merged.
  • min_stack_version should support the widest stack versions.
  • name and description should be descriptive and not include typos.
  • query should be inclusive, not overly exclusive, considering performance for diverse environments. Non ecs fields should be added to non-ecs-schema.json if not available in an integration.
  • min_stack_comments and min_stack_version should be included if the rule is only compatible starting from a specific stack version.
  • index pattern should be neither too specific nor too vague, ensuring it accurately matches the relevant data stream (e.g., use logs-endpoint.process-* for process data).
  • integration should align with the index. If the integration is newly introduced, ensure the manifest, schemas, and new_rule.yaml template are updated.
  • setup should include the necessary steps to configure the integration.
  • note should include any additional information (e.g. Triage and analysis investigation guides, timeline templates).
  • tags should be relevant to the threat and align/added to the EXPECTED_RULE_TAGS in the definitions.py file.
  • threat, techniques, and subtechniques should map to ATT&CK always if possible.

New BBR Rules

  • building_block_type should be included if the rule is a building block and the rule should be located in the rules_building_block folder.
  • bypass_bbr_timing should be included if adding custom lookback timing to the rule.

Testing and Validation

  • Provide evidence of testing and detecting the expected threat.
  • Check for existence of coverage to prevent duplication.

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tradebot-elastic commented Jun 19, 2025 •
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⛔️ Test failed

Results
  • ❌ Potential Kubectl Masquerading (eql)
    • coverage_issue: no_rta
    • stack_validation_failed: no_rta

Aegrah
Aegrah commented Jun 19, 2025
View reviewed changes
rules/linux/defense_evasion_potential_kubectl_masquerading.toml Outdated
" *describe secret*", " *describe configmap*", " *describe clusterrole*", " *describe ingress*",

// exec commands
" *exec -it*", " *exec --stdin*", " *exec --tty*",
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These may be susceptible to FPs due to the usage of these in other container management tools, however, if this is the case I will either remove or modify them.

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tradebot-elastic commented Jun 19, 2025 •
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⛔️ Test failed

Results
  • ❌ Potential Kubectl Masquerading (eql)
    • coverage_issue: no_rta
    • stack_validation_failed: no_rta

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Starting the rule tests ...

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Aegrah commented Jun 25, 2025

Update

After an update to fix logic issue by @w0rk3r this PR will go back to the drawing board. Will get it updated soon.

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@terrancedejesus terrancedejesus terrancedejesus approved these changes

@w0rk3r w0rk3r Awaiting requested review from w0rk3r

@imays11 imays11 Awaiting requested review from imays11

@shashank-elastic shashank-elastic Awaiting requested review from shashank-elastic

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backport: auto container Domain: Endpoint OS: Linux Rule: New Proposal for new rule Team: TRADE
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