Headless Browser Usage
The following analytic detects the usage of headless browsers within an organization. It identifies processes containing the "--headless" and "--disable-gpu" command line arguments, which are indicative of headless…
Description
The following analytic detects the usage of headless browsers within an organization. It identifies processes containing the "--headless" and "--disable-gpu" command line arguments, which are indicative of headless browsing. This detection leverages data from the Endpoint.Processes datamodel to identify such processes. Monitoring headless browser usage is significant as these tools can be exploited by adversaries for malicious activities like web scraping, automated testing, and undetected web interactions. If confirmed malicious, this activity could lead to unauthorized data extraction, automated attacks, or other covert operations on web applications.
Detection logic
Detection requirements
- Platform
- LinuxmacOSWindows
The rule states no platform. This is derived from the 2 ATT&CK techniques it maps to.
- Log source category
- crowdstrike_processrollup2sysmon_eventid_1windows_event_log_security_4688
Known benign triggers
- Administrators may enable or disable this feature for framework testing that may cause some false positive.
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 |
|---|---|
| cert.gov.ua/article/5702579 | Only this detection cites it |
| www.trendmicro.com/en_us/research/26/a/analysis-of-the-evelyn-stealer-campaign.html | 5 |
From the source
- At source
- Open at source
- Upstream identifier
- 869ba261-c272-47d7-affe-5c0aa85c93d6
- Tagged by the source as
- Browser HijackingForest BlizzardPhantom StealerEndpointendpointSplunk CloudSplunk EnterpriseSplunk Enterprise Securityendpoint
Licence
- Published under
- Apache License 2.0Read the licence
- Attribution
- Required
- Obtained under
- Apache-2.0Read the origin licence
Authorship
- Written by
- Published
- Aug 26, 2026
- Version
- 1