Suspicious SSH authorized_keys Modification for Persistence

ATT&CK techniques

Persistence → Priv Esc

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
- T1098.004SSH Authorized Keys
Priv Esc
- T1098.004SSH Authorized Keys
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects append or redirect operations against an SSH authorized_keys file, an account persistence technique highlighted in Elastic Linux persistence research where an attacker adds their own key to a system user home directory. Planting a controlled public key grants durable password-less remote access that survives credential changes. Writes to authorized_keys through shell redirection outside provisioning workflows should be reviewed.

Reporting behind it

Related detections7 linkedT1098.004 — drag to rearrange

Malicious Immutable Attribute Set on SSH Authorized Keys via chattr on Linux

Suspicious SSH authorized_keys Persistence Modification (via process_creation)

Malicious EtherRAT SSH authorized_keys Backdoor Injection via Shell (via process_creation)

Malicious UNC4841 SSH Backdoor Persistence via Non-Standard Port and AllowUsers Restriction (via process_creation)

Malicious SSH authorized_keys Modification Following Web Server Compromise (via process_creation)

Suspicious Modification of SSH Authorized Keys on SD-WAN Appliance by UAT-8616

Malicious Immutable Flag on SSH authorized_keys via chattr

Suspicious SSH authorized_keys Modification for Persistence

Pivot detection · T1098.004 · 7 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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