Linux Pnscan Binary Data Transfer via Command-Line

Flags Linux executions with Pnscan-like arguments indicating binary send/receive data transfer.

FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v2

Product: linux
Category: process_creation
Author: David Burkett (@signalblur) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published: 2024-04-16
Updated: 2026-07-31

ATT&CK techniques

Discovery

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
- T1046Network Service Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

Identifies process executions whose command line includes patterns consistent with Pnscan sending/receiving binary data over the network. Attackers may use tools like Pnscan to move or stage payload contents in a way that blends into network-adjacent activity. The rule relies on Linux process creation telemetry and matches command-line arguments containing repeated hex byte sequences with a W/R indicator.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1046 — drag to rearrange

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Suspicious Network Scanning Tool Execution

Malicious RDP Discovery Performed on Multiple Hosts (via rdp)

Malicious Anonymous Access Performed to Multiple Targets (via security)

Malicious Network Login Performed to Multiple Targets (via security)

Suspicious SoftPerfect Network Scanner Execution for Discovery

Suspicious SoftPerfect Network Scanner Execution (via process_creation)

Linux Pnscan Binary Data Transfer via Command-Line

Pivot detection · T1046 · 9 related

Changelog

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.

linux-process-command-lines-showing-pnscan-binary-data-transfer-usage-97de11cd

title: Linux Pnscan Binary Data Transfer via Command-Line
id: 206c78a6-ebe7-432d-94eb-b09651f0c469
status: test
description: Identifies process executions whose command line includes patterns consistent with Pnscan sending/receiving binary data over the network. Attackers may use tools like Pnscan to move or stage payload contents in a way that blends into network-adjacent activity. The rule relies on Linux process creation telemetry and matches command-line arguments containing repeated hex byte sequences with a W/R indicator.
author: David Burkett (@signalblur), Huntrule Team
date: 2024-04-16
references:
  - https://www.cadosecurity.com/blog/spinning-yarn-a-new-linux-malware-campaign-targets-docker-apache-hadoop-redis-and-confluence
  - https://intezer.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/TeamTNT-Cryptomining-Explosion.pdf
  - https://regex101.com/r/RugQYK/1
  - https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/beddf70a7bab805f0c0b69ac0989db6755949f9f68525c08cb874988353f78a9/content
  - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/linux/process_creation/proc_creation_lnx_pnscan_binary_cli_pattern.yml
tags:
  - attack.discovery
  - attack.t1046
logsource:
  category: process_creation
  product: linux
detection:
  selection:
    CommandLine|re: -(W|R)\s?(\s|"|')([0-9a-fA-F]{2}\s?){2,20}(\s|"|')
  condition: selection
falsepositives:
  - Unknown
level: medium
license: DRL-1.1
related:
  - id: 97de11cd-4b67-4abf-9a8b-1020e670aa9e
    type: derived

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

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