Suspicious Fake vSphere Service Installation with SELinux Disable via Command Line (via process_creation)

ATT&CK techniques

Persistence → Impact

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
- T1543.002Systemd Service
Priv Esc
- T1543.002Systemd Service
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact
- T1496Resource Hijacking

What it detects

This rule detects the enablement or starting of rogue systemd services named vsphere or vsphereui, which the cryptominer campaign uses to masquerade as legitimate VMware components for persistence. It is associated with the cryptomining campaign targeting VMware vSphere services reported by Uptycs. Attackers register these fake services to survive reboots while running an XMRig miner, so their creation on non-vCenter hosts is highly suspicious.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1496 — drag to rearrange

Suspicious MSR Kernel Module Loading for Cryptomining Optimization via Command Line (via process_creation)

Malicious CreativeUpdate Cryptominer Execution via mdworker Path (via process_creation)

Malicious Cryptominer Execution via AddInProcess with XMRig Arguments (via process_creation)

Malicious Keyhunter Worker Persistence via Systemd Service

Malicious Cryptocurrency Miner Execution via XMRig and c3pool (via process_creation)

Malicious Systemd Service Masquerading as Sd-Pam Helper

Malicious WinRing0 Vulnerable Driver Load for Coin Mining

Malicious Linux systemd Persistence nvmconf.service

Suspicious Linux Persistence via sed Edit of Boot and Init Files

Suspicious Fake vSphere Service Installation with SELinux Disable via Command Line (via process_creation)

Pivot detection · T1496 · 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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