Sigma rule: Pnscan Binary Data Transmission Activity

Rule

Title

Pnscan Binary Data Transmission Activity

Status

test

Level

medium

Author

David Burkett (@signalblur)

Date

2024-04-16

File

rules/linux/process_creation/proc_creation_lnx_pnscan_binary_cli_pattern.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects command line patterns associated with the use of Pnscan for sending and receiving binary data across the network.
This behavior has been identified in a Linux malware campaign targeting Docker, Apache Hadoop, Redis, and Confluence and was previously used by the threat actor known as TeamTNT

Log source

product

linux

category

process_creation

Detection

selection:
    CommandLine|re: -(W|R)\s?(\s|"|')([0-9a-fA-F]{2}\s?){2,20}(\s|"|')
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Unknown

Tags

• attack.discovery
• attack.t1046

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1046

References

• https://www.cadosecurity.com/blog/spinning-yarn-a-new-linux-malware-campaign-targets-docker-apache-hadoop-redis-and-confluence
• https://intezer.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/TeamTNT-Cryptomining-Explosion.pdf
• https://regex101.com/r/RugQYK/1
• https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/beddf70a7bab805f0c0b69ac0989db6755949f9f68525c08cb874988353f78a9/content

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_pnscan_binary_cli_pattern.yml