Suspicious Proxyware Installation via accept-tos Flag on Linux

PremiumReviewedSigma · Medium · v1
Product
linux
Category
process_creation
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-10-25
Updated
2026-10-25

ATT&CK techniques

Resource Dev → C2
  1. Recon

  2. Initial Access

  3. Execution

  4. Persistence

  5. Priv Esc

  6. Defense Evasion

  7. Cred Access

  8. Discovery

  9. Lateral Movement

  10. Collection

  11. Exfiltration

  12. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects a Linux binary being executed with the -accept-tos flag used by residential proxyware agents to silently accept terms and enroll the host. Attackers monetise compromised hosts by installing proxyware, and this non-interactive acceptance flag is characteristic of that abuse.

Related detections9 linkedT1090 — drag to rearrange
Suspicious DNS Query to Dynamic DNS and Tunneling Providers Abused by RATs
Malicious GenAI Browser Extension C2 and PAC Redirection (via proxy)
Malicious FRP Reverse Proxy Tunnel Identified by Hardcoded Token (via process_creation)
Suspicious SSH Reverse Tunnel Over DNS Port
Suspicious Chisel SOCKS Tunnel Command Line
Suspicious Cloudflare Quick Tunnel Used for Covert Access (via dns_query)
Suspicious SOCKS Proxy Autorun Registry Persistence via Registry Set
Suspicious Browser Launched With Injected Proxy Server Argument
Malicious Port Forwarding via QSC pf Tool listen conn Syntax
Suspicious Proxyware Installation via accept-tos Flag on Linux
Pivot detection · T1090 · 9 related

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