Suspicious ESXi Account Creation Through ESXCLI (via process_creation)

title: Suspicious ESXi Account Creation Through ESXCLI (via process_creation)
id: 9dfb2cc2-32ca-51e5-a59c-8e3325e1e769
status: stable
description: This rule detects user account creation on ESXi system via esxcli
references:
    - https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1059/012/
    - https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1136/
    - https://developer.broadcom.com/xapis/esxcli-command-reference/7.0.0/namespace/esxcli_system.html
author: Huntrule Team
date: 2026-03-31
tags:
    - attack.persistence
    - attack.execution
    - attack.t1136
    - attack.t1059.012
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: linux
detection:
    selection:
        Image|endswith: '/esxcli'
        CommandLine|contains|all:
            - 'system '
            - 'account '
            - 'add '
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: medium