Suspicious Kernel Module Load Or Unload For Rootkit Deployment via PUMAKIT

ATT&CK techniques

Persistence → Defense Evasion

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
- T1547.006Kernel Modules and Extensions
Priv Esc
- T1547.006Kernel Modules and Extensions
Defense Evasion
- T1014Rootkit
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects invocation of module management utilities that insert or remove Linux kernel modules which the PUMAKIT rootkit relies on to load its kernel component and manipulate the running kernel. Adversaries load a malicious LKM to gain kernel level control and conceal processes files and network activity.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1014 — drag to rearrange

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Malicious perfctl Rootkit Library Drop via ld.so.preload (via file_event)

Suspicious Kernel Extension Load on macOS (via process_creation)

Suspicious Kernel Module Load Or Unload For Rootkit Deployment via PUMAKIT

Pivot detection · T1014 · 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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