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Kubernetes User Exec into Pod

This rule detects a user attempt to establish a shell session into a pod using the 'exec' command. Using the 'exec' command in a pod allows a user to establish a temporary shell session and execute any…

Description

This rule detects a user attempt to establish a shell session into a pod using the 'exec' command. Using the 'exec' command in a pod allows a user to establish a temporary shell session and execute any process/commands in the pod. An adversary may call bash to gain a persistent interactive shell which will allow access to any data the pod has permissions to, including secrets.

Detection logic

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Detection requirements

Platform
Containers

The rule states no platform. This is derived from the ATT&CK technique it maps to.

Log source category
event_index

Known benign triggers

  • An administrator may need to exec into a pod for a legitimate reason like debugging purposes. Containers built from Linux and Windows OS images, tend to include debugging utilities. In this case, an admin may choose to run commands inside a specific container with kubectl exec ${POD_NAME} -c ${CONTAINER_NAME} -- ${CMD} ${ARG1} ${ARG2} ... ${ARGN}. For example, the following command can be used to look at logs from a running Cassandra pod: kubectl exec cassandra --cat /var/log/cassandra/system.log . Additionally, the -i and -t arguments might be used to run a shell connected to the terminal: kubectl exec -i -t cassandra -- sh

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