GitHub Workflow Using Self-Hosted Runner

Severity: informational
Log types: GitHub.Webhook
Tags: CI/CD, Workflow, Self-Hosted, Infrastructure
Reference: https://docs.github.com/en/actions/hosting-your-own-runners/managing-self-hosted-runners/about-self-hosted-runners#self-hosted-runner-security
Source: github.com/panther-labs/panther-analysis

Detects when a GitHub Actions workflow runs on a self-hosted runner.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Initial Access	`T1195.002` Supply Chain Compromise: Compromise Software Supply Chain
Execution	`T1072` Software Deployment Tools
Lateral Movement	`T1021` Remote Services, `T1072` Software Deployment Tools

Rules detecting the same action

Other rules on this platform that filter on the same API call or operation.

GitHub pull_request_target Workflow Usage (Panther)
GitHub Workflow Contains Checkout Action (Panther)
GitHub Workflow Downloading Artifacts (Panther)

Rule body yaml

AnalysisType: rule
Filename: github_self_hosted_runner_used.py
RuleID: "GitHub.Webhook.SelfHostedRunnerUsed"
DisplayName: "GitHub Workflow Using Self-Hosted Runner"
Enabled: true
LogTypes:
  - GitHub.Webhook
Reports:
  MITRE ATT&CK:
    - TA0001:T1195.002  # Supply Chain Compromise: Compromise Software Supply Chain
    - TA0002:T1072  # Execution: Software Deployment Tools
    - TA0008:T1021  # Lateral Movement: Remote Services
Tags:
  - CI/CD
  - Workflow
  - Self-Hosted
  - Infrastructure
CreateAlert: false
Severity: Info
DedupPeriodMinutes: 60
Description: Detects when a GitHub Actions workflow runs on a self-hosted runner.
Reference: https://docs.github.com/en/actions/hosting-your-own-runners/managing-self-hosted-runners/about-self-hosted-runners#self-hosted-runner-security
Tests:
  - Name: "Self-hosted runner on public repository"
    ExpectedResult: true
    Log:
      action: "completed"
      workflow_job:
        id: 52841003143
        name: "Build"
        status: "completed"
        conclusion: "success"
        run_url: "https://github.com/example-org/example-repo/actions/runs/12345678/job/52841003143"
        head_branch: "main"
        head_sha: "abc123"
        run_id: 12345678
        runner_group_id: 1
        runner_group_name: "Default"
        runner_id: 42
        runner_name: "my-runner-01"
        started_at: "2025-10-15T18:31:06Z"
        completed_at: "2025-10-15T18:41:54Z"
        steps:
          - name: "Setup"
            status: "completed"
            conclusion: "success"
      repository:
        id: 123456789
        full_name: "example-org/example-repo"
        private: false
        visibility: "public"
        allow_forking: true
      sender:
        login: "developer"

  - Name: "Self-hosted runner on private forkable repository"
    ExpectedResult: true
    Log:
      action: "completed"
      workflow_job:
        id: 52841003144
        name: "Deploy"
        status: "completed"
        conclusion: "success"
        run_id: 12345679
        runner_group_id: 2
        runner_group_name: "Production"
        runner_id: 43
        runner_name: "prod-runner-vm-02"
      repository:
        id: 123456790
        full_name: "example-org/private-repo"
        private: true
        visibility: "private"
        allow_forking: true
      sender:
        login: "developer"

  - Name: "Self-hosted runner on private non-forkable repository"
    ExpectedResult: true
    Log:
      action: "completed"
      workflow_job:
        id: 52841003145
        name: "Test"
        status: "completed"
        conclusion: "success"
        run_id: 12345680
        runner_group_id: 1
        runner_group_name: "Default"
        runner_id: 44
        runner_name: "internal-runner"
      repository:
        id: 123456791
        full_name: "example-org/internal-repo"
        private: true
        visibility: "private"
        allow_forking: false
      sender:
        login: "developer"

  - Name: "GitHub-hosted runner (not self-hosted)"
    ExpectedResult: false
    Log:
      action: "completed"
      workflow_job:
        id: 52841003146
        name: "Lint"
        status: "completed"
        conclusion: "success"
        run_id: 12345681
        runner_group_id: 0
        runner_group_name: "GitHub Actions"
        runner_id: 1000000001
        runner_name: "GitHub Actions 1000000001"
      repository:
        id: 123456792
        full_name: "example-org/example-repo"
        private: true

  - Name: "Workflow job in progress (not completed)"
    ExpectedResult: false
    Log:
      action: "in_progress"
      workflow_job:
        id: 52841003147
        name: "Build"
        status: "in_progress"
        run_id: 12345682
        runner_name: "my-runner-01"
      repository:
        id: 123456793
        full_name: "example-org/example-repo"

  - Name: "Self-hosted runner with empty name"
    ExpectedResult: false
    Log:
      action: "completed"
      workflow_job:
        id: 52841003148
        status: "completed"
        run_id: 12345683
        runner_name: ""
      repository:
        id: 123456794
        full_name: "example-org/example-repo"

Detection logic

Condition

action eq "completed"
workflow_job.runner_name is_not_null
workflow_job.runner_name not starts_with "GitHub Actions"

Exclusions

Top-level NOT(...) conjuncts: predicates this rule actively suppresses.

Field	Kind	Excluded values
`workflow_job.runner_name`	starts_with	`GitHub Actions`

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
`action`	eq	`completed`
`workflow_job.runner_name`	is_not_null	(no value, null check)

Output fields

Fields the rule emits when it matches. Chronicle authors list these in the outcome block; they appear on the detection and $risk_score drives alerting. Sentinel / Defender XDR rules build them up through project / summarize / extend stages. Sentinel maps these into alert fields via entityMappings and customDetails; Defender XDR custom detections surface them as alert fields directly.

Field	Source
`workflow_name`	`workflow_job.name`
`workflow_job_id`	`workflow_job.id`
`workflow_run_id`	`workflow_job.run_id`
`workflow_url`	`workflow_job.html_url`
`repository`	`repository.full_name`
`repository_private`	`repository.private`
`repository_visibility`	`repository.visibility`
`head_branch`	`workflow_job.head_branch`
`head_sha`	`workflow_job.head_sha`
`conclusion`	`workflow_job.conclusion`
`runner_name`	`workflow_job.runner_name`
`runner_group_name`	`workflow_job.runner_group_name`
`runner_id`	`workflow_job.runner_id`
`runner_group_id`	`workflow_job.runner_group_id`
`actor`	`sender.login`

`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)