Sigma rule: Kubernetes Admission Controller Modification

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-803bbcec9e17, updated 2024-07-11T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Kubernetes Admission Controller Modification
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
kelnage
Date
2024-07-11
File
rules/application/kubernetes/audit/kubernetes_audit_change_admission_controller.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects when a modification (create, update or replace) action is taken that affects mutating or validating webhook configurations, as they can be used by an adversary to achieve persistence or exfiltrate access credentials.

Log source

product
kubernetes
service
audit

Detection

selection:
    objectRef.apiGroup: 'admissionregistration.k8s.io'
    objectRef.resource:
        - 'mutatingwebhookconfigurations'
        - 'validatingwebhookconfigurations'
    verb:
        - 'create'
        - 'delete'
        - 'patch'
        - 'replace'
        - 'update'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Modifying the Kubernetes Admission Controller may need to be done by a system administrator.
  • Automated processes may need to take these actions and may need to be filtered.

Tags

  • attack.privilege-escalation
  • attack.initial-access
  • attack.persistence
  • attack.stealth
  • attack.t1078
  • attack.credential-access
  • attack.t1552
  • attack.t1552.007

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

Related rules

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/application/kubernetes/audit/kubernetes_audit_change_admission_controller.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Kubernetes Admission Controller Modification" by kelnage (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/application/kubernetes/audit/kubernetes_audit_change_admission_controller.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: Kubernetes Admission Controller Modification",
entity page, dataset version ref-803bbcec9e17, updated 2024-07-11T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/eed82177-38f5-4299-8a76-098d50d225ab (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule eed82177-38f5-4299-8a76-098d50d225ab, 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.