Sigma rule: Vim GTFOBin Abuse - Linux

Rule

Title

Vim GTFOBin Abuse - Linux

Status

test

Level

high

Author

Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems), Luc Génaux

Date

2022-12-28

Modified

2026-06-05

File

rules/linux/process_creation/proc_creation_lnx_vim_shell_execution.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects the use of "vim" and it's siblings commands to execute a shell or proxy commands.
Such behavior may be associated with privilege escalation, unauthorized command execution, or to break out from restricted environments.

Log source

product

linux

category

process_creation

Detection

selection_img:
    Image|endswith:
        - '/rvim'
        - '/vi'
        - '/vim'
        - '/vimdiff'
    CommandLine|contains:
        - ' --cmd '
        - ' -c'
selection_cli:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - ':!/'
        - ':!$'
        - ':!..'
        - ':lua '
        - ':py '
        - ':shell'
        - '/bin/bash'
        - '/bin/dash'
        - '/bin/fish'
        - '/bin/sh'
        - '/bin/csh'
        - '/bin/ksh'
        - '/bin/zsh'
        - '/bin/tmux'
condition: all of selection_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Unknown

Tags

• attack.execution
• attack.discovery
• attack.t1059
• attack.t1083

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1059
• T1083

References

• https://gtfobins.github.io/gtfobins/vi/
• https://gtfobins.github.io/gtfobins/vim/
• https://gtfobins.github.io/gtfobins/rvim/
• https://gtfobins.github.io/gtfobins/vimdiff/

Read on 2026-11-03T00:58:21.399Z under licence sigma-drl-1.1@d5f4c36a from https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/linux/process_creation/proc_creation_lnx_vim_shell_execution.yml