Kubectl Workload and Cluster Discovery

Status: production
Kind: building block (feeds higher-level correlation rules; not a standalone alert)
Severity: low
Time window: 119m
Author: Elastic
Source: github.com/elastic/detection-rules

This rule detects the execution of kubectl commands that are commonly used for workload and cluster discovery in Kubernetes environments. It looks for process events where kubectl is executed with arguments that query cluster information, such as namespaces, nodes, pods, deployments, and other resources. In environments where kubectl is not expected to be used, this could indicate potential reconnaissance activity by an adversary.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Discovery	`T1069` Permission Groups Discovery, `T1613` Container and Resource Discovery

Rule body elastic

[metadata]
creation_date = "2025/06/19"
integration = ["endpoint", "auditd_manager", "crowdstrike", "cloud_defend"]
maturity = "production"
min_stack_comments = "Defend for Containers integration was re-introduced in 9.3.0"
min_stack_version = "9.3.0"
updated_date = "2026/03/24"

[rule]
author = ["Elastic"]
building_block_type = "default"
description = """
This rule detects the execution of kubectl commands that are commonly used for workload and cluster
discovery in Kubernetes environments. It looks for process events where kubectl is executed with
arguments that query cluster information, such as namespaces, nodes, pods, deployments, and other
resources. In environments where kubectl is not expected to be used, this could indicate potential
reconnaissance activity by an adversary.
"""
from = "now-119m"
index = ["logs-endpoint.events.*", "endgame-*", "auditbeat-*", "logs-auditd_manager.auditd-*", "logs-crowdstrike.fdr*", "logs-cloud_defend.process*"]
interval = "60m"
language = "eql"
license = "Elastic License v2"
name = "Kubectl Workload and Cluster Discovery"
risk_score = 21
rule_id = "74e5241e-c1a1-4e70-844e-84ee3d73eb7d"
severity = "low"
tags = [
  "Domain: Container",
  "Domain: Endpoint",
  "Domain: Kubernetes",
  "OS: Linux",
  "Use Case: Threat Detection",
  "Tactic: Discovery",
  "Rule Type: BBR",
  "Data Source: Elastic Defend",
  "Data Source: Elastic Endgame",
  "Data Source: Auditd Manager",
  "Data Source: Crowdstrike",
  "Data Source: Elastic Defend for Containers",
]
timestamp_override = "event.ingested"
type = "eql"
query = '''
process where host.os.type == "linux" and event.type == "start" and
event.action in ("exec", "exec_event", "executed", "process_started", "ProcessRollup2") and
process.name == "kubectl" and (
  (process.args in ("cluster-info", "api-resources", "api-versions", "version")) or
  (process.args in ("get", "describe") and process.args in (
    "namespaces", "nodes", "pods", "pod", "deployments", "deployment",
    "replicasets", "statefulsets", "daemonsets", "services", "service",
    "ingress", "ingresses", "endpoints", "configmaps", "events", "svc",
    "roles", "rolebindings", "clusterroles", "clusterrolebindings"
    )
  )
)
'''

[[rule.threat]]
framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"

[[rule.threat.technique]]
id = "T1069"
name = "Permission Groups Discovery"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1069/"

[[rule.threat.technique]]
id = "T1613"
name = "Container and Resource Discovery"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1613/"

[rule.threat.tactic]
id = "TA0007"
name = "Discovery"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0007/"

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: `process`

process where host.os.type == "linux" and event.type == "start" and
event.action in ("exec", "exec_event", "executed", "process_started", "ProcessRollup2") and
process.name == "kubectl" and (
  (process.args in ("cluster-info", "api-resources", "api-versions", "version")) or
  (process.args in ("get", "describe") and process.args in (
    "namespaces", "nodes", "pods", "pod", "deployments", "deployment",
    "replicasets", "statefulsets", "daemonsets", "services", "service",
    "ingress", "ingresses", "endpoints", "configmaps", "events", "svc",
    "roles", "rolebindings", "clusterroles", "clusterrolebindings"
    )
  )
)

Indicators

Each row is a field, operator, and value that the rule matches. The corpus column counts how many other rules in the catalog look for the same combination: high numbers point to widely-used, community-vetted indicators. Blank or 1 shows that the indicator is specific to this rule.

Field	Kind	Values
`event.action`	in	`ProcessRollup2` `exec` `exec_event` `executed` `process_started`
`event.type`	eq	`start`
`process.args`	in	`api-resources` `api-versions` `cluster-info` `version`
`process.name`	eq	`kubectl`

`j` / `k`	Scroll down / up
`d` / `u`	Half-page down / up
`gg` / `G`	Top / bottom
`h` / `l`	History back / forward
`f`	Follow link (`Shift` = new tab)
`/`	Focus search
`?`	Toggle this help
`↑` / `↓`	Navigate search results
`Enter`	Open highlighted result
`Esc`	Close results / dialog

`type:`	`events` / `rules` / `providers`
`vendor:`	`sigma` / `elastic` / `splunk` / `kusto` / `chronicle` (vendor name alone also works: `sigma:`, `kql:`, `secops:`…)
`tactic:`	TA-id, slug, or name: `credential_access`, `TA0006`
`technique:`	technique or sub-technique ID: `T1003`, `T1003.001` (alias `tech:`)
`severity:`	`critical` / `high` / `medium` / `low` / `informational` (alias `sev:`)
`risk_score`	Numeric comparison on the Elastic risk score (0 to 100): `risk_score>50`, `risk_score<=20`, `risk_score=99` (alias `risk`; Elastic rules only)
`stages:`	Rules with exactly N pipeline stages
`correlation:`	`single_event` / `sequence` / `alternatives` / `alternatives_cross_log` / `all_required` / `correlated`
`with:`	Co-occurrence event-id; stacks (`with:4624 with:4769`) to require all, while a comma list in one occurrence (`with:4624,4769`) is an either-or group. Implies multi-event
`like:`	Structural neighbors of a rule slug (equivalents + subsumption stricter / broader): `like:comsvcs_lsass_memory_dump-splunk-sysmon`
`groupby:`	Entity-grouping substring match against `group_by_keys`: `groupby:user`, `groupby:host`
`uses:`	Rules whose predicate tree touches the field (any kind, any value): `uses:CommandLine`
`excludes:`	Rules with top-level `not()` clauses on the field (FP whitelists): `excludes:ParentImage`
`field:` / `value:`	Predicate search; narrows rule cards to those with a matching leaf and drives the indicator tier. Unquoted = substring, wildcards allowed (`value:mimikatz`)
`indicator:`	Shorthand for `field:F value:V`: `indicator:Image=*\powershell.exe`
`kind:`	Filter by predicate kind. Narrows rule cards to those carrying a matching predicate leaf (`vendor:elastic kind:cidr_match`) and drives the indicator tier: `contains` / `starts_with` / `ends_with` / `regex` / `cidr` / `eq` / `in` … (operator aliases `op:`/`match:`)
`has:` / `no:`	`sample`, `field`, `notes`, `refs`, `trace`, `thirdparty`, `rule`, `pattern`, `timewindow`, `threshold`, `newterms`, `sigma`/`elastic`/`splunk`/`kusto`/`chronicle`
`-op:val`	Exclude matches; works on most operators but not `type:`/`like:`/`has:`/`no:` (use `no:<flag>` to exclude a rule flag): `tactic:execution -vendor:splunk`. Standalone `-kind:`/`-field:`/`-value:` drop every rule carrying a matching predicate leaf (`type:rules -kind:is_null`)
`field:"…"` / `value:"…"`	Quoted value = anchored exact match (also allows spaces): `value:"net user"`
`a,b`	Comma = OR inside one operator (`vendor:sigma,elastic`, `severity:high,critical`); repeating a facet merges the same way. `field:`/`value:` never split (literal commas)
`vendors:` / `stage:`	Singular and plural spellings fold to the canonical operator and value: `tactics:` = `tactic:`, `type:event` = `type:events`, `correlation:sequences` = `correlation:sequence`, `has:thresholds` = `has:threshold`
`"quoted phrase"`	Exact-match a multi-word phrase (free text)

Kubectl Workload and Cluster Discovery

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rule body elastic

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: `process`

Indicators

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Kubectl Workload and Cluster Discovery

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rule body elastic

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: process

Indicators

Stage 1: `process`