Suspicious Reverse SSH Tunnel Exposing Local SSH via process_creation

ATT&CK techniques

Lateral Movement → C2

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
- T1021.004SSH
Collection
C2
- T1572Protocol Tunneling
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects the reverse SSH tunnel used in the AI assisted intrusions where ssh -R forwards a remote listener back to the local SSH service to keep persistent inbound access through an attacker relay. Protocol tunneling over SSH lets operators bypass inbound firewall controls. Legitimate administrative reverse tunnels exist, so review the destination and account context when this fires.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1572 — drag to rearrange

Suspicious OpenSSH Reverse Tunnel Creation via Process Creation

Suspicious OpenSSH Reverse Tunnel Over HTTPS Port (Chaos Ransomware)

Port Forwarding via SSH.EXE on Windows

Suspicious vCenter VAMI SSH Enable via appliance access API

Suspicious OpenSSH Reverse Tunnel Establishment via process_creation

Suspicious LocalToNet Tunneling Tool Execution

Malicious RDP Tunneling via ngrok (via process_creation)

Suspicious UUID Named Pipe Created Consistent with Mythic SMB Agent

Malicious Chisel Reverse Tunnel Execution for Protocol Tunneling

Suspicious Reverse SSH Tunnel Exposing Local SSH 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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