Malicious Diicot Spreader Activity in Hidden update-logs Directory

PremiumReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
linux
Category
process_creation
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-11-05
Updated
2026-11-05

ATT&CK techniques

Cred Access → Lateral Movement
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Persistence

  6. Priv Esc

  7. Defense Evasion

  8. Discovery

  9. Lateral Movement

  10. Collection

  11. C2

  12. Exfiltration

  13. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects process activity referencing the hidden directory /var/tmp/.update-logs which the Diicot threat group uses to stage its SSH brute-force spreader on compromised Linux hosts. This is important because this concealed path is a campaign-specific artifact where Diicot drops its worming and mining components so any process touching it strongly indicates an active Diicot infection.

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Suspicious vCenter VAMI SSH Enable via appliance access API
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Malicious Diicot Spreader Activity in Hidden update-logs Directory
Pivot detection · T1021.004 · 9 related

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