Reverse Shell Created via Named Pipe
Identifies a reverse shell via the abuse of named pipes on Linux with the help of OpenSSL or Netcat. First in, first out (FIFO) files are special files for reading and writing to by Linux processes. For this to work,…
Description
Identifies a reverse shell via the abuse of named pipes on Linux with the help of OpenSSL or Netcat. First in, first out (FIFO) files are special files for reading and writing to by Linux processes. For this to work, a named pipe is created and passed to a Linux shell where the use of a network connection tool such as Netcat or OpenSSL has been established. The stdout and stderr are captured in the named pipe from the network connection and passed back to the shell for execution.
Detection logic
Its licence does not clear it for publishing here
Sunturai publishes a detection's own text where the licence it arrived under has been reviewed and permits it, and Elastic License 2.0 has not. The query as its source wrote it, its canonical form and the hash that pins this revision are in the workspace record.
Detection requirements
- Platform
- ContainersESXiIaaSIdentity ProviderLinuxmacOSNetwork DevicesOffice SuiteSaaSWindows
The rule states no platform. This is derived from the ATT&CK technique it maps to.
- Log source category
- event_index
Known benign triggers
- Netcat and OpenSSL are common tools used for establishing network connections and creating encryption keys. While they are popular, capturing the stdout and stderr in a named pipe pointed to a shell is anomalous.
MITRE ATT&CK mappings
0 exclusive techniques.This is coverage no other published rule has; it is not this rule's total technique count.
References
| Reference | Cited by |
|---|---|
| blog.gregscharf.com/2021/03/22/tar-in-cronjob-to-privilege-escalation/ | Only this detection cites it |
| github.com/swisskyrepo/PayloadsAllTheThings/blob/master/Methodology%20and%20Resources/Reverse%20Shell%20Cheatsheet.md#openssl | 9 |
| int0x33.medium.com/day-43-reverse-shell-with-openssl-1ee2574aa998 | Only this detection cites it |
From the source
- At source
- Open at source
- Upstream identifier
- dd7f1524-643e-11ed-9e35-f661ea17fbcd
- Tagged by the source as
- Data Source: Elastic EndgameDomain: EndpointOS: LinuxTactic: ExecutionUse Case: Threat Detection
Licence
- Published under
- Elastic License 2.0Read the licence
- Attribution
- Required
Authorship
- Written by
- Published
- Aug 27, 2026
- Version
- 1