Linux Change File Owner To Root
Description
The following analytic detects the use of the 'chown' command to change a file owner to 'root' on a Linux system. It leverages Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) telemetry, specifically monitoring command-line executions and process details. This activity is significant as it may indicate an attempt to escalate privileges by adversaries, malware, or red teamers. If confirmed malicious, this action could allow an attacker to gain root-level access, leading to full control over the compromised host and potential persistence within the environment.
- Type: Anomaly
- Product: Splunk Enterprise, Splunk Enterprise Security, Splunk Cloud
- Datamodel: Endpoint
- Last Updated: 2024-05-22
- Author: Teoderick Contreras, Splunk
- ID: c1400ea2-6257-11ec-ad49-acde48001122
Annotations
ATT&CK
Kill Chain Phase
- Exploitation
NIST
- DE.AE
CIS20
- CIS 10
CVE
Search
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| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime from datamodel=Endpoint.Processes where (Processes.process_name = chown OR Processes.process = "*chown *") AND Processes.process = "* root *" by Processes.dest Processes.user Processes.parent_process_name Processes.process_name Processes.process Processes.process_id Processes.parent_process_id Processes.process_guid
| `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)`
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
| `linux_change_file_owner_to_root_filter`
Macros
The SPL above uses the following Macros:
linux_change_file_owner_to_root_filter is a empty macro by default. It allows the user to filter out any results (false positives) without editing the SPL.
Required fields
List of fields required to use this analytic.
- _time
- Processes.dest
- Processes.user
- Processes.parent_process_name
- Processes.process_name
- Processes.process
- Processes.process_id
- Processes.parent_process_id
How To Implement
The detection is based on data that originates from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents. These agents are designed to provide security-related telemetry from the endpoints where the agent is installed. To implement this search, you must ingest logs that contain the process GUID, process name, and parent process. Additionally, you must ingest complete command-line executions. These logs must be processed using the appropriate Splunk Technology Add-ons that are specific to the EDR product. The logs must also be mapped to the Processes
node of the Endpoint
data model. Use the Splunk Common Information Model (CIM) to normalize the field names and speed up the data modeling process.
Known False Positives
Administrator or network operator can execute this command. Please update the filter macros to remove false positives.
Associated Analytic Story
RBA
Risk Score | Impact | Confidence | Message |
---|---|---|---|
64.0 | 80 | 80 | A commandline $process$ that may change ownership to root on $dest$ |
The Risk Score is calculated by the following formula: Risk Score = (Impact * Confidence/100). Initial Confidence and Impact is set by the analytic author.
Reference
- https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/101073/how-to-change-permissions-from-root-user-to-all-users
- https://askubuntu.com/questions/617850/changing-from-user-to-superuser
Test Dataset
Replay any dataset to Splunk Enterprise by using our replay.py
tool or the UI.
Alternatively you can replay a dataset into a Splunk Attack Range
source | version: 2