Malicious Reverse Shell Spawned by Web Server User (via process_creation)

PremiumReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
linux
Category
process_creation
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-08-20
Updated
2026-08-28

ATT&CK techniques

Execution
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Persistence

  5. Priv Esc

  6. Defense Evasion

  7. Cred Access

  8. Discovery

  9. Lateral Movement

  10. Collection

  11. C2

  12. Exfiltration

  13. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects the web server account www-data launching an interactive reverse shell, as seen in the compromised-container forensics case following web application exploitation. A shell with a network redirect running as the web user indicates active remote control. This behavior is rarely legitimate for a service account.

Related detections9 linkedT1059.004 — drag to rearrange
Suspicious Base64 Decoded Payload Piped to Shell on Linux
Suspicious Netcat Reverse Shell via Named Pipe on Linux via Process Creation (via process_creation)
Suspicious OpenClaw Skill File Modification via File Event
Possible TP-Link Command Injection via WlanNetworkRpm Endpoint (via webserver)
Suspicious Base64 Decoded Shell Dropper via Command Line
Possible Mirai IoT Payload Staging via chmod on Linux (via process_creation)
Malicious Command Injection Probe via node Spawning Shell Arithmetic Echo (via process_creation)
Malicious Reverse Shell via bash dev tcp Redirection (via process_creation)
Suspicious Base64 Bash Execution via nohup on macOS via ClickFix (via process_creation)
Malicious Reverse Shell Spawned by Web Server User (via process_creation)
Pivot detection · T1059.004 · 9 related

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