Suspicious PHP Webshell in Netscaler VPN Theme Directory

PremiumReviewedSigma · Medium · v1
Category
webserver
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-10-01
Updated
2026-10-01

ATT&CK techniques

Persistence
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Priv Esc

  6. Defense Evasion

  7. Cred Access

  8. Discovery

  9. Lateral Movement

  10. Collection

  11. C2

  12. Exfiltration

  13. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects requests to PHP files under the Netscaler /vpn/themes/ path, where the actor planted webshells following Netscaler exploitation. The theme image directories serve static assets and should not host PHP, so PHP execution there indicates a webshell used for post-exploitation access.

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