Suspicious Reverse SSH Tunnel Creation with Host Key Verification Disabled (via process_creation)

ATT&CK techniques

Initial Access → C2

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
- T1133External Remote Services
Execution
Persistence
- T1133External Remote Services
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
- T1572Protocol Tunneling
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects establishment of a reverse SSH tunnel with remote port forwarding while host key checking is disabled and keep alive is enforced. Abyss Locker operators used native SSH with these options to build a persistent reverse tunnel from compromised Windows, NAS and ESXi systems to their infrastructure. Automated backup or administration jobs may rarely resemble this pattern.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1572 — drag to rearrange

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Suspicious Reverse SSH Tunnel Creation with Host Key Verification Disabled (via process_creation)

Pivot detection · T1572 · 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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