FortiGate: Local User Added via CLI Event

ATT&CK techniques

Persistence

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
- T1136.001Local Account
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule identifies FortiGate event log entries indicating a new local user was added under user.local. Attackers may create local users to establish persistent access, including potential use for VPN authentication. It relies on FortiGate event telemetry fields where the action is "Add" and the configuration path is "user.local".

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1136.001 — drag to rearrange

Suspicious Local Account Creation via Net User in Pre-Ransomware Phase

Suspicious Hidden Local Account Creation via Net User by UAT-8099

Malicious Local Account Creation of Support or Whiteninja via net.exe

Malicious Dynamicweb Unauthenticated Administrator Creation via Setup Default.aspx (via webserver)

Suspicious Hidden Backdoor Account Creation Ending With Dollar Sign (via process_creation)

Malicious User Creation via Commandline (via process_creation)

Suspicious Local Account Creation and Privileged Group Addition via Net.EXE (via process_creation)

Suspicious Hidden Local Account Creation via Dscl (via process_creation)

Suspicious Local Account Creation on Linux (via process_creation)

FortiGate: Local User Added via CLI Event

Pivot detection · T1136.001 · 9 related

Changelog

v2

v2
Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
v1
No changelog recorded for this version.2026-07-30

Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.

fortigate-local-user-added-user-local-via-event-logs-ddbbe845

title: "FortiGate: Local User Added via CLI Event"
id: 34651e05-6a4a-479a-adba-a1dcba62086a
status: experimental
description: This rule identifies FortiGate event log entries indicating a new local user was added under user.local. Attackers may create local users to establish persistent access, including potential use for VPN authentication. It relies on FortiGate event telemetry fields where the action is "Add" and the configuration path is "user.local".
references:
  - https://www.fortiguard.com/psirt/FG-IR-24-535
  - https://docs.fortinet.com/document/fortigate/7.6.4/fortios-log-message-reference/398/event
  - https://docs.fortinet.com/document/fortigate/7.6.4/cli-reference/109120963/config-user-local
  - https://docs.fortinet.com/document/fortigate/7.6.4/fortios-log-message-reference/44547/44547-logid-event-config-objattr
  - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/network/fortinet/fortigate/fortinet_fortigate_new_local_user_created.yml
author: Marco Pedrinazzi (@pedrinazziM) (InTheCyber), Huntrule Team
date: 2025-11-01
tags:
  - attack.persistence
  - attack.t1136.001
logsource:
  product: fortigate
  service: event
detection:
  selection:
    action: Add
    cfgpath: user.local
  condition: selection
falsepositives:
  - A local user can be created for legitimate purposes. Investigate the user details to determine if it is authorized.
level: medium
license: DRL-1.1
related:
  - id: ddbbe845-1d74-43a8-8231-2156d180234d
    type: derived

Convert

This rule as a query you can run. Uses no unlock credit.

SplunkSPL