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Kubernetes Ephemeral Container Added to Pod

Detects allowed updates to the pods/ephemeralcontainers subresource by a non-system identity. Ephemeral containers are commonly used for debugging (kubectl debug) but can also be abused to inject tooling into a…

Description

Detects allowed updates to the pods/ephemeralcontainers subresource by a non-system identity. Ephemeral containers are commonly used for debugging (kubectl debug) but can also be abused to inject tooling into a running pod, access mounted secrets, and execute commands in the target pod context. Attackers with sufficient RBAC may use ephemeral containers to escalate privileges, move laterally, or establish persistence without deploying a new workload.

Detection logic

Its licence does not clear it for publishing here

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Detection requirements

Platform
ContainersESXiLinuxWindows

The rule states no platform. This is derived from the 2 ATT&CK techniques it maps to.

Log source category
event_index

Known benign triggers

  • Cluster operators or SREs may legitimately use ephemeral containers for debugging production workloads. Baseline approved admin identities and tune exclusions for known automation.

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