Detection rules › Elastic
Memory File Descriptor Execution from Suspicious Process
This rule detects when a process creates an in-memory file descriptor (memfd_create) followed by an egress network connection from an unusual executable. This sequence of events may indicate malicious activity, such as fileless malware execution and command and control communication.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Execution | |
| Stealth |
Rule body
[rule]
description = """
This rule detects when a process creates an in-memory file descriptor (memfd_create) followed by an egress network
connection from an unusual executable. This sequence of events may indicate malicious activity, such as fileless malware
execution and command and control communication.
"""
id = "387aa854-d2ce-425f-be4a-c17f67bc2e41"
license = "Elastic License v2"
name = "Memory File Descriptor Execution from Suspicious Process"
os_list = ["linux"]
reference = ["https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man2/memfd_create.2.html"]
version = "1.0.11"
query = '''
sequence by process.entity_id with maxspan=30s
[process where event.type == "start" and event.action == "memfd_create" and process.parent.executable != null and (
process.executable like (
"memfd:*", "?memfd:*", "/tmp/*", "/var/tmp/*", "/dev/shm/*", "./*", "/run/user/*", "/var/run/user/*",
"/boot/*", "/sys/*", "/lost+found/*", "/proc/*", "/var/mail/*", "/var/www/*", "/root/*", "/home/*/*"
) or
process.name like ".*"
) and
not (
process.parent.command_line == "buildah-chroot-runtime" or
process.command_line == "buildah-chroot-runtime" or
process.parent.args == "/usr/bin/crun" or
process.parent.executable like (
"/usr/bin/nvidia-ctk", "/home/*/.local/share/Steam/*", "./usr/bin/qemu-aarch64", "/dev/.buildkit_qemu_emulator",
"/snap/docker/*/usr/bin/nvidia-ctk", "/usr/bin/nvidia-cdi-hook", "./usr/local/nvidia/toolkit/nvidia-cdi-hook.real",
"./usr/bin/qemu-s390x", "/usr/bin/cosmic-files", "/nix/store/*-rofi-unwrapped-*/bin/rofi", "/usr/bin/minecraft-launcher",
"/usr/local/nvidia/toolkit/nvidia-cdi-hook.real", "/home/*/.steam/*"
) or
process.executable like (
"./usr/bin/qemu-aarch64", ".", "/home/*/bin/firefox/firefox-bin", "/home/*/bin/firefox/updater",
"/home/*/.local/share/torbrowser/tbb/x86_64/tor-browser/Browser/updater", "/home/*/.local/opt/tor-browser/app/Browser/updater",
"/home/*/.local/opt/tor-browser/app/Browser/firefox.real", "/home/*/snap/steam/common/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/*/bin/pressure-vessel-wrap",
"/home/*/.local/share/zen/zen", "/home/*/.local/share/zen/updater", "/home/*/.local/share/umu/steamrt4/pressure-vessel/bin/pressure-vessel-wrap",
"/home/*/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/*/pressure-vessel-wrap", "/home/*/tor-browser-linux-*/tor-browser/Browser/updater",
"/home/*/.local/share/claude/versions/*", "/home/*/Downloads/*/firefox/*", "/home/*/.local/share/umu/steamrt3/pressure-vessel/bin/steam-runtime-launch-client",
"/home/*/Desktop/crun/crun-src/crun/crun",
"/home/*/Zotero_linux-x86_64/*"
)
)]
[process where event.type == "start" and event.action == "exec"]
'''
min_endpoint_version = "9.1.4"
optional_actions = []
[[actions]]
action = "kill_process"
field = "process.entity_id"
state = 0
[[actions]]
action = "kill_process"
field = "process.entity_id"
state = 1
[[actions]]
action = "kill_process"
field = "process.parent.entity_id"
state = 0
[[actions]]
action = "kill_process"
field = "process.parent.entity_id"
state = 1
[[threat]]
framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"
[[threat.technique]]
id = "T1106"
name = "Native API"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1106/"
[threat.tactic]
id = "TA0002"
name = "Execution"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0002/"
[[threat]]
framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"
[[threat.technique]]
id = "T1055"
name = "Process Injection"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1055/"
[[threat.technique.subtechnique]]
id = "T1055.009"
name = "Proc Memory"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1055/009/"
[[threat.technique]]
id = "T1620"
name = "Reflective Code Loading"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1620/"
[threat.tactic]
id = "TA0005"
name = "Defense Evasion"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0005/"
[internal]
min_endpoint_version = "9.1.4"
Stages and Predicates
Ordered sequence: each step below must occur in order within 30s, correlated by process.entity_id.
Stage 1: process
[process where event.type == "start" and event.action == "memfd_create" and process.parent.executable != null and (
process.executable like (
"memfd:*", "?memfd:*", "/tmp/*", "/var/tmp/*", "/dev/shm/*", "./*", "/run/user/*", "/var/run/user/*",
"/boot/*", "/sys/*", "/lost+found/*", "/proc/*", "/var/mail/*", "/var/www/*", "/root/*", "/home/*/*"
) or
process.name like ".*"
) and
not (
process.parent.command_line == "buildah-chroot-runtime" or
process.command_line == "buildah-chroot-runtime" or
process.parent.args == "/usr/bin/crun" or
process.parent.executable like (
"/usr/bin/nvidia-ctk", "/home/*/.local/share/Steam/*", "./usr/bin/qemu-aarch64", "/dev/.buildkit_qemu_emulator",
"/snap/docker/*/usr/bin/nvidia-ctk", "/usr/bin/nvidia-cdi-hook", "./usr/local/nvidia/toolkit/nvidia-cdi-hook.real",
"./usr/bin/qemu-s390x", "/usr/bin/cosmic-files", "/nix/store/*-rofi-unwrapped-*/bin/rofi", "/usr/bin/minecraft-launcher",
"/usr/local/nvidia/toolkit/nvidia-cdi-hook.real", "/home/*/.steam/*"
) or
process.executable like (
"./usr/bin/qemu-aarch64", ".", "/home/*/bin/firefox/firefox-bin", "/home/*/bin/firefox/updater",
"/home/*/.local/share/torbrowser/tbb/x86_64/tor-browser/Browser/updater", "/home/*/.local/opt/tor-browser/app/Browser/updater",
"/home/*/.local/opt/tor-browser/app/Browser/firefox.real", "/home/*/snap/steam/common/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/*/bin/pressure-vessel-wrap",
"/home/*/.local/share/zen/zen", "/home/*/.local/share/zen/updater", "/home/*/.local/share/umu/steamrt4/pressure-vessel/bin/pressure-vessel-wrap",
"/home/*/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/*/pressure-vessel-wrap", "/home/*/tor-browser-linux-*/tor-browser/Browser/updater",
"/home/*/.local/share/claude/versions/*", "/home/*/Downloads/*/firefox/*", "/home/*/.local/share/umu/steamrt3/pressure-vessel/bin/steam-runtime-launch-client",
"/home/*/Desktop/crun/crun-src/crun/crun",
"/home/*/Zotero_linux-x86_64/*"
)
)]
Stage 2: process
[process where event.type == "start" and event.action == "exec"]
Exclusions
The rule actively suppresses these predicates.
| Field | Kind | Excluded values | Search |
|---|---|---|---|
process.command_line | eq | buildah-chroot-runtime | excludes:process.command_line field:"process.command_line" value:"buildah-chroot-runtime" |
process.executable | wildcard | ./usr/bin/qemu-aarch64, ., /home/*/bin/firefox/firefox-bin, /home/*/bin/firefox/updater, /home/*/.local/share/torbrowser/tbb/x86_64/tor-browser/Browser/updater, /home/*/.local/opt/tor-browser/app/Browser/updater, /home/*/.local/opt/tor-browser/app/Browser/firefox.real, /home/*/snap/steam/common/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/*/bin/pressure-vessel-wrap, /home/*/.local/share/zen/zen, /home/*/.local/share/zen/updater, /home/*/.local/share/umu/steamrt4/pressure-vessel/bin/pressure-vessel-wrap, /home/*/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/*/pressure-vessel-wrap, /home/*/tor-browser-linux-*/tor-browser/Browser/updater, /home/*/.local/share/claude/versions/*, /home/*/Downloads/*/firefox/*, /home/*/.local/share/umu/steamrt3/pressure-vessel/bin/steam-runtime-launch-client, /home/*/Desktop/crun/crun-src/crun/crun, /home/*/Zotero_linux-x86_64/* | excludes:process.executable |
process.parent.args | eq | /usr/bin/crun | excludes:process.parent.args field:"process.parent.args" value:"/usr/bin/crun" |
process.parent.command_line | eq | buildah-chroot-runtime | excludes:process.parent.command_line field:"process.parent.command_line" value:"buildah-chroot-runtime" |
process.parent.executable | wildcard | /usr/bin/nvidia-ctk, /home/*/.local/share/Steam/*, ./usr/bin/qemu-aarch64, /dev/.buildkit_qemu_emulator, /snap/docker/*/usr/bin/nvidia-ctk, /usr/bin/nvidia-cdi-hook, ./usr/local/nvidia/toolkit/nvidia-cdi-hook.real, ./usr/bin/qemu-s390x, /usr/bin/cosmic-files, /nix/store/*-rofi-unwrapped-*/bin/rofi, /usr/bin/minecraft-launcher, /usr/local/nvidia/toolkit/nvidia-cdi-hook.real, /home/*/.steam/* | excludes:process.parent.executable |
Indicators
These rows show field, operator, and value matches.
| Field | Kind | Values | Search |
|---|---|---|---|
event.action | eq |
| field:"EventType" kind:eq |
event.type | eq |
| field:"event.type" kind:eq value:"start" |
process.executable | wildcard |
| field:"Image" kind:wildcard |
process.name | wildcard |
| field:"process_name" kind:wildcard value:".*" |
process.parent.executable | is_not_null | field:"ParentImage" kind:is_not_null |