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Linux Puppet Privilege Escalation

The following analytic detects the execution of Puppet commands with elevated privileges, specifically when Puppet is used to apply configurations with sudo rights. This detection leverages data from Endpoint…

Description

The following analytic detects the execution of Puppet commands with elevated privileges, specifically when Puppet is used to apply configurations with sudo rights. This detection leverages data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, focusing on process execution logs that include command-line details. This activity is significant because it indicates a potential privilege escalation attempt, where a user could gain root access and execute system commands as the root user. If confirmed malicious, this could allow an attacker to fully compromise the system, execute arbitrary commands, and maintain persistent control.

Detection logic

Detection requirements

Platform
LinuxmacOS

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

Log source category
sysmon_for_linux_eventid_1

Known benign triggers

  • False positives may be present, filter as needed.

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