Malicious Rogue Root User Creation via Useradd UID Zero

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 detects useradd invoked with the non-unique flag and a UID of 0 which creates a hidden secondary root-equivalent account for persistence and privilege escalation on Linux. Adversaries add a UID 0 account to retain full administrative control while blending in as an ordinary user.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1136.001 — drag to rearrange

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Suspicious Creation of ctxsvc Local Account via net Command

Suspicious Local Administrator Account Addition via net localgroup

Malicious Rogue Root User Creation via Useradd UID Zero

Pivot detection · T1136.001 · 9 related

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

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