Suspicious Login Shell Assigned to Service Account games on Linux

ATT&CK techniques

Initial Access → Defense Evasion

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
- T1078Valid Accounts
Execution
Persistence
- T1078Valid Accounts
- T1098Account Manipulation
Priv Esc
- T1078Valid Accounts
- T1098Account Manipulation
Defense Evasion
- T1078Valid Accounts
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects a command that assigns an interactive login shell to the built in games service account which DripDropper abuses to convert an unused system account into a usable backdoor. Service accounts normally have a nologin shell so granting one a real shell is a strong sign of account manipulation. Detecting this change surfaces persistence via a valid but repurposed account.

Reporting behind it

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Suspicious Login Shell Assigned to Service Account games on Linux

Pivot detection · T1098 · 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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