Detection rules › Sigma
Python WebServer Execution - Linux
Detects the execution of Python web servers via command line interface (CLI). After gaining access to target systems, adversaries may use Python's built-in HTTP server modules to quickly establish a web server without requiring additional software. This technique is commonly used in post-exploitation scenarios as it provides a simple method for transferring files between the compromised host and attacker-controlled systems.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Exfiltration | T1048.003 Exfiltration Over Alternative Protocol: Exfiltration Over Unencrypted Non-C2 Protocol |
Event coverage
| Provider | Event |
|---|---|
| Sysmon-for-Linux | Event ID 1 |
Rule body yaml
title: Python WebServer Execution - Linux
id: 3f0f5957-04f8-4792-ad89-192b0303bde6
status: experimental
description: |
Detects the execution of Python web servers via command line interface (CLI).
After gaining access to target systems, adversaries may use Python's built-in HTTP server modules to quickly establish a web server without requiring additional software.
This technique is commonly used in post-exploitation scenarios as it provides a simple method for transferring files between the compromised host and attacker-controlled systems.
references:
- https://www.atomicredteam.io/atomic-red-team/atomics/T1048.003#atomic-test-8---python3-httpserver
- https://docs.python.org/3/library/http.server.html
- https://docs.python.org/2/library/simplehttpserver.html
author: Mohamed LAKRI
date: 2025-10-17
tags:
- attack.exfiltration
- attack.t1048.003
logsource:
product: linux
category: process_creation
detection:
selection_img:
- Image|endswith:
- '/python'
- '/python2'
- '/python3'
- Image|contains:
- '/python2.' # python image is always of the form ../python3.10; ../python is just a symlink
- '/python3.'
selection_module:
CommandLine|contains:
- 'http.server'
- 'SimpleHTTPServer'
condition: all of selection_*
falsepositives:
- Testing or development activity
level: medium
Stages and Predicates
Stage 0: condition
all of selection_*Stage 1: selection_img
selection_img:
- Image|endswith:
- '/python'
- '/python2'
- '/python3'
- Image|contains:
- '/python2.'
- '/python3.'
Stage 2: selection_module
selection_module:
CommandLine|contains:
- 'http.server'
- 'SimpleHTTPServer'
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 |
|---|---|---|
CommandLine | match |
|
Image | ends_with |
|
Image | match |
|