Sigma rule: PwnKit Local Privilege Escalation

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-a72e79c91ab1, updated 2024-09-11T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
PwnKit Local Privilege Escalation
Status
test
Level
high
Author
Sreeman
Date
2022-01-26
Modified
2024-09-11
File
rules-emerging-threats/2021/Exploits/CVE-2021-4034/lnx_auth_exploit_cve_2021_4034_pwnkit_lpe.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects potential PwnKit exploitation CVE-2021-4034 in auth logs

Log source

product
linux
service
auth

Detection

keywords:
    '|all':
        - 'pkexec'
        - 'The value for environment variable XAUTHORITY contains suspicious content'
        - '[USER=root] [TTY=/dev/pts/0]'
condition: keywords

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Unknown

Tags

  • attack.privilege-escalation
  • attack.t1548.001
  • detection.emerging-threats
  • cve.2021-4034

CVEs this rule names

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

References

Read on 2026-11-03T00:58:21.399Z under licence sigma-drl-1.1@d5f4c36a from https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules-emerging-threats/2021/Exploits/CVE-2021-4034/lnx_auth_exploit_cve_2021_4034_pwnkit_lpe.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "PwnKit Local Privilege Escalation" by Sreeman (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules-emerging-threats/2021/Exploits/CVE-2021-4034/lnx_auth_exploit_cve_2021_4034_pwnkit_lpe.yml.
    Licensed under the Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/Detection-Rule-License

    Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1

Cite this page

Dragons Eye Ransomware Tracker, "Sigma rule: PwnKit Local Privilege Escalation",
entity page, dataset version ref-a72e79c91ab1, updated 2024-09-11T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/0506a799-698b-43b4-85a1-ac4c84c720e9 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 0506a799-698b-43b4-85a1-ac4c84c720e9, commit ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84.

Pages change. The dataset version identifies the data, but no archive of old versions is kept, so this citation cannot be replayed later.