Sigma rule: ESXi Account Creation Via ESXCLI

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-4af2b717c757, updated 2023-08-22T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
ESXi Account Creation Via ESXCLI
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
Cedric Maurugeon
Date
2023-08-22
File
rules/linux/process_creation/proc_creation_lnx_esxcli_user_account_creation.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects user account creation on ESXi system via esxcli

Log source

product
linux
category
process_creation

Detection

selection:
    Image|endswith: '/esxcli'
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - 'system '
        - 'account '
        - 'add '
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Legitimate administration activities

Tags

  • attack.persistence
  • attack.execution
  • attack.t1136
  • attack.t1059.012

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_user_account_creation.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "ESXi Account Creation Via ESXCLI" by Cedric Maurugeon (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/linux/process_creation/proc_creation_lnx_esxcli_user_account_creation.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 Account Creation Via ESXCLI",
entity page, dataset version ref-4af2b717c757, updated 2023-08-22T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/b28e4eb3-8bbc-4f0c-819f-edfe8e2f25db (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule b28e4eb3-8bbc-4f0c-819f-edfe8e2f25db, 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.