Exec into Pod

Severity: medium
Log types: GCP.AuditLog
Tags: GCP, Security Control, Configuration Required
Reference: https://cloud.google.com/migrate/containers/docs/troubleshooting/executing-shell-commands
Source: github.com/panther-labs/panther-analysis

Alerts when users exec into pod. Possible to specify specific projects and allowed users.

Rule body yaml

AnalysisType: rule
Filename: gcp_k8s_exec_into_pod.py
RuleID: "GCP.K8s.ExecIntoPod"
DisplayName: "Exec into Pod"
Enabled: false
LogTypes:
  - GCP.AuditLog
Tags:
  - GCP
  - Security Control
  - Configuration Required
Severity: Medium
Description: >
  Alerts when users exec into pod. Possible to specify specific projects and allowed users.
Runbook: >
  Investigate the user and determine why. Advise that it is discouraged practice. Create ticket if appropriate.
Reference: https://cloud.google.com/migrate/containers/docs/troubleshooting/executing-shell-commands
Tests:
  - Name: Disallowed User
    ExpectedResult: true
    Log:
      {
        "protoPayload":
          {
            "authenticationInfo":
              { "principalEmail": "disallowed.user@example.com" },
            "authorizationInfo":
              [
                {
                  "permission": "io.k8s.core.v1.pods.exec.create",
                  "resource": "core/v1/namespaces/example/pods/example-57998cf7c5-bjkfk/exec",
                },
              ],
            "methodName": "io.k8s.core.v1.pods.exec.create",
            "requestMetadata":
              {
                "callerIp": "88.88.88.88",
                "callerSuppliedUserAgent": "kubectl/v1.40.8 (darwin/amd64) kubernetes/6575935",
              },
            "resourceName": "core/v1/namespaces/example/pods/one-off-valerii-tovstyk-1646666967280/exec",
            "timestamp": "2022-03-04T16:01:49.978756Z",
          },
        "resource":
          {
            "type": "k8s_cluster",
            "labels": { "project_id": "rigup-production" },
          },
      }
  - Name: Disallowed User2 - not an allowed namespace
    ExpectedResult: true
    Log:
      {
        "protoPayload":
          {
            "authenticationInfo":
              { "principalEmail": "example-allowed-user@example.com" },
            "authorizationInfo":
              [
                {
                  "permission": "io.k8s.core.v1.pods.exec.create",
                  "resource": "core/v1/namespaces/istio-system/pods/opa-57998cf7c5-bjkfk/exec",
                },
              ],
            "methodName": "io.k8s.core.v1.pods.exec.create",
            "requestMetadata":
              {
                "callerIp": "88.88.88.88",
                "callerSuppliedUserAgent": "kubectl/v1.40.8 (darwin/amd64) kubernetes/6575935",
              },
            "resourceName": "core/v1/namespaces/istio-system/pods/one-off-valerii-tovstyk-1646666967280/exec",
            "timestamp": "2022-03-04T16:01:49.978756Z",
          },
        "resource":
          {
            "type": "k8s_cluster",
            "labels": { "project_id": "rigup-production" },
          },
      }

Detection logic

Condition

protoPayload.methodName eq "io.k8s.core.v1.pods.exec.create"
resource.type eq "k8s_cluster"

This rule also runs imperative logic the parser cannot express as a filter; the conditions above are the structured part it could extract.

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
`protoPayload.methodName`	eq	`io.k8s.core.v1.pods.exec.create`
`resource.type`	eq	`k8s_cluster`

`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)

Exec into Pod

Rule body yaml

Detection logic

Condition

Indicators

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