Shell or Suspicious Process Spawned by Ray Worker
Detects a Ray worker (`ray/_private/workers/default_worker.py`) spawning a shell, an inline Python command (`python -c` / `python3 -c`), or a discovery or download utility. Ray runs job entrypoints from that worker…
Description
Detects a Ray worker (`ray/_private/workers/default_worker.py`) spawning a shell, an inline Python command (`python -c` / `python3 -c`), or a discovery or download utility. Ray runs job entrypoints from that worker through a shell, so a Python reverse shell shows up as `sh -c` or `bash -c` whose command line contains `python -c` and the program it starts, such as `/bin/sh -i`. On an exposed cluster this is exploitation of the public-facing Ray jobs API (CVE-2023-48022). Ray commonly hosts LLM training, fine-tuning, and serving, so this can be an attack on that infrastructure: theft of model weights, datasets, or API and cloud tokens, tampering with a served model, or use of the GPUs for cryptomining.
Detection logic
Its licence does not clear it for publishing here
Sunturai publishes a detection's own text where the licence it arrived under has been reviewed and permits it, and Elastic License 2.0 has not. The query as its source wrote it, its canonical form and the hash that pins this revision are in the workspace record.
Detection requirements
- Platform
- ContainersESXiIaaSIdentity ProviderLinuxmacOSNetwork DevicesOffice SuiteSaaSWindows
The rule states no platform. This is derived from the 5 ATT&CK techniques it maps to.
References
| Reference | Cited by |
|---|---|
| docs.ray.io/en/latest/ray-security/index.html | Only this detection cites it |
| nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-48022 | Only this detection cites it |
| www.oligo.security/blog/shadowray-attack-ai-workloads-actively-exploited-in-the-wild | Only this detection cites it |
From the source
- At source
- Open at source
- Upstream identifier
- fc7b9873-a9ed-43af-a9a2-c37660c4a211
- Tagged by the source as
- Data Source: Elastic DefendDomain: EndpointNoise: HighOS: LinuxOS: macOSOS: WindowsPerformance: NormalPlatform: LinuxPlatform: macOSPlatform: WindowsResources: Investigation GuideRule Type: ES|QLTactic: DiscoveryTactic: ExecutionTactic: Initial AccessThreat: Vulnerability ExploitUse Case: Threat DetectionVuln: CVE-2023-48022
Licence
- Published under
- Elastic License 2.0Read the licence
- Attribution
- Required
Authorship
- Written by
- Published
- Nov 1, 2026
- Version
- 1