Sigma rule: ESXi Admin Permission Assigned To Account Via ESXCLI

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-2e2739e7974b, updated 2023-09-04T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
ESXi Admin Permission Assigned To Account Via ESXCLI
Status
test
Level
high
Author
Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems)
Date
2023-09-04
File
rules/linux/process_creation/proc_creation_lnx_esxcli_permission_change_admin.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects execution of the "esxcli" command with the "system" and "permission" flags in order to assign admin permissions to an account.

Log source

product
linux
category
process_creation

Detection

selection:
    Image|endswith: '/esxcli'
    CommandLine|contains: 'system'
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - ' permission '
        - ' set'
        - 'Admin'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Legitimate administration activities

Tags

  • attack.persistence
  • attack.execution
  • attack.privilege-escalation
  • attack.t1059.012
  • attack.t1098

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/linux/process_creation/proc_creation_lnx_esxcli_permission_change_admin.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "ESXi Admin Permission Assigned To Account Via ESXCLI" by Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/linux/process_creation/proc_creation_lnx_esxcli_permission_change_admin.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: ESXi Admin Permission Assigned To Account Via ESXCLI",
entity page, dataset version ref-2e2739e7974b, updated 2023-09-04T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/9691f58d-92c1-4416-8bf3-2edd753ec9cf (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 9691f58d-92c1-4416-8bf3-2edd753ec9cf, 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.