Linux SSH Authorized Keys Modification

Original Source: [splunk source]
Name:Linux SSH Authorized Keys Modification
id:f5ab595e-28e5-4327-8077-5008ba97c850
version:7
date:2024-11-13
author:Michael Haag, Splunk
status:production
type:Anomaly
Description:The following analytic detects the modification of SSH Authorized Keys on Linux systems. It leverages process execution data from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents, specifically monitoring commands like "bash" and "cat" interacting with "authorized_keys" files. This activity is significant as adversaries often modify SSH Authorized Keys to establish persistent access to compromised endpoints. If confirmed malicious, this behavior could allow attackers to maintain unauthorized access, bypassing traditional authentication mechanisms and potentially leading to further exploitation or data exfiltration.
Data_source:
  • -Sysmon for Linux EventID 1
search:| tstats `security_content_summariesonly` count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime from datamodel=Endpoint.Processes where Processes.process_name IN ("bash","cat") Processes.process IN ("*/authorized_keys*") by Processes.action Processes.dest Processes.original_file_name Processes.parent_process Processes.parent_process_exec Processes.parent_process_guid Processes.parent_process_id Processes.parent_process_name Processes.parent_process_path Processes.process Processes.process_exec Processes.process_guid Processes.process_hash Processes.process_id Processes.process_integrity_level Processes.process_name Processes.process_path Processes.user Processes.user_id Processes.vendor_product
| `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)`
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
| `linux_ssh_authorized_keys_modification_filter`


how_to_implement:The detection is based on data that originates from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents. These agents are designed to provide security-related telemetry from the endpoints where the agent is installed. To implement this search, you must ingest logs that contain the process GUID, process name, and parent process. Additionally, you must ingest complete command-line executions. These logs must be processed using the appropriate Splunk Technology Add-ons that are specific to the EDR product. The logs must also be mapped to the `Processes` node of the `Endpoint` data model. Use the Splunk Common Information Model (CIM) to normalize the field names and speed up the data modeling process.
known_false_positives:Filtering will be required as system administrators will add and remove. One way to filter query is to add "echo".
References:
  -https://redcanary.com/blog/lateral-movement-with-secure-shell/
  -https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/master/atomics/T1098.004/T1098.004.md
drilldown_searches:
name:'View the detection results for - "$user$" and "$dest$"'
search:'%original_detection_search% | search user = "$user$" dest = "$dest$"'
earliest_offset:'$info_min_time$'
latest_offset:'$info_max_time$'
name:'View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$user$" and "$dest$"'
search:'| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$user$", "$dest$") starthoursago=168 | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(search_name) as "Search Name" values(risk_message) as "Risk Message" values(analyticstories) as "Analytic Stories" values(annotations._all) as "Annotations" values(annotations.mitre_attack.mitre_tactic) as "ATT&CK Tactics" by normalized_risk_object | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`'
earliest_offset:'$info_min_time$'
latest_offset:'$info_max_time$'
tags:
  analytic_story:
    - 'Linux Living Off The Land'
  asset_type:Endpoint
  mitre_attack_id:
    - 'T1098.004'
  product:
    - 'Splunk Enterprise'
    - 'Splunk Enterprise Security'
    - 'Splunk Cloud'
  security_domain:endpoint

tests:
name:'True Positive Test'
 attack_data:
  data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1098.004/ssh_authorized_keys/authkey_linux-sysmon.log
  source: Syslog:Linux-Sysmon/Operational
  sourcetype: sysmon:linux
manual_test:None

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