Potential Suspicious Change To Sensitive/Critical Files

Detects changes of sensitive and critical files. Monitors files that you don't expect to change without planning on Linux system. These files include, but are not limited to, system configuration files, authentication files, and critical application files. Attackers often target these files to maintain persistence, escalate privileges, or disrupt system operations.

title: Potential Suspicious Change To Sensitive/Critical Files
id: 86157017-c2b1-4d4a-8c33-93b8e67e4af4
status: test
description: |
    Detects changes of sensitive and critical files. Monitors files that you don't expect to change without planning on Linux system.
    These files include, but are not limited to, system configuration files, authentication files, and critical application files.
    Attackers often target these files to maintain persistence, escalate privileges, or disrupt system operations.
references:
    - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/defender-for-cloud/file-integrity-monitoring-overview#which-files-should-i-monitor
author: '@d4ns4n_ (Wuerth-Phoenix)'
date: 2023-05-30
modified: 2026-03-18
tags:
    - attack.impact
    - attack.t1565.001
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: linux
detection:
    selection_img_1:
        Image|endswith:
            - '/cat'
            - '/echo'
            - '/grep'
            - '/head'
            - '/more'
            - '/tail'
        CommandLine|contains: '>'
    selection_img_2:
        Image|endswith:
            - '/emacs'
            - '/nano'
            - '/sed'
            - '/vi'
            - '/vim'
    selection_paths:
        CommandLine|contains:
            - '/bin/login'
            - '/bin/passwd'
            - '/boot/'
            - '/etc/*.conf'
            - '/etc/cron.' # Covers different cron config files "daily", "hourly", etc.
            - '/etc/crontab'
            - '/etc/hosts'
            - '/etc/init.d'
            - '/etc/sudoers'
            - '/opt/bin/'
            - '/sbin' # Covers: '/opt/sbin', '/usr/local/sbin/', '/usr/sbin/'
            - '/usr/bin/'
            - '/usr/local/bin/'
    filter_main_mdadm.conf:
        Image|endswith: '/bin/sed'
        CommandLine|startswith:
            - 'sed -i /^*'
            - 'sed -ne s/^'
        CommandLine|endswith: '/etc/mdadm/mdadm.conf'
    condition: 1 of selection_img_* and selection_paths and not 1 of filter_main_*
falsepositives:
    - Some false positives are to be expected on user or administrator machines. Apply additional filters as needed.
level: medium

• T1565.001Stored Data Manipulation

• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/defender-for-cloud/file-integrity-monitoring-overview#which-files-should-i-monitor↗