Sigma rule: Shell Execution via Rsync - Linux

Rule

Title

Shell Execution via Rsync - Linux

Status

experimental

Level

high

Author

Li Ling, Andy Parkidomo, Robert Rakowski, Blake Hartstein (Bloomberg L.P.), Florian Roth

Date

2024-09-02

Modified

2025-01-18

File

rules/linux/process_creation/proc_creation_lnx_rsync_shell_execution.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects the use of the "rsync" utility to execute a shell. 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:
        - '/rsync'
        - '/rsyncd'
    CommandLine|contains: ' -e '
selection_cli:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - '/ash '
        - '/bash '
        - '/dash '
        - '/csh '
        - '/sh '
        - '/zsh '
        - '/tcsh '
        - '/ksh '
        - "'ash "
        - "'bash "
        - "'dash "
        - "'csh "
        - "'sh "
        - "'zsh "
        - "'tcsh "
        - "'ksh "
condition: all of selection_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Legitimate cases in which "rsync" is used to execute a shell

Tags

• attack.execution
• attack.t1059

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1059

References

• https://gtfobins.github.io/gtfobins/rsync/#shell

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_rsync_shell_execution.yml