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Linux Suspicious Staging of Alternate System Files

The following analytic detects the creation of sensitive system files such as nsswitch.conf, passwd, shadow, sudoers, and NSS shared libraries outside of their canonical /etc or /var/lib/docker paths. This technique…

Description

The following analytic detects the creation of sensitive system files such as nsswitch.conf, passwd, shadow, sudoers, and NSS shared libraries outside of their canonical /etc or /var/lib/docker paths. This technique is associated with CVE-2025-32463 (chwoot), where an attacker stages a fake root directory containing spoofed system configuration files and NSS libraries to manipulate how privileged processes such as sudo resolve name services, enabling local privilege escalation by hijacking library loading without modifying the real /etc directory.

Detection logic

Detection requirements

Platform
ContainersESXiLinuxmacOSWindows

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

Log source category
sysmon_for_linux_eventid_11

Known benign triggers

  • Developers or system administrators may stage alternate system files for legitimate testing or containerized environments. Filter based on known development or testing systems.

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