Web Shell Detection: Script Process Child of Common Web Processes

Last updated 22 days ago on 2025-09-11
Created 4 years ago on 2021-08-24

About

Identifies suspicious commands executed via a web server, which may suggest a vulnerability and remote shell access.
Tags
Domain: EndpointOS: WindowsUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: PersistenceTactic: Initial AccessTactic: ExecutionData Source: Elastic EndgameData Source: Elastic DefendData Source: SentinelOneData Source: Windows Security Event LogsData Source: Microsoft Defender for EndpointData Source: SysmonData Source: CrowdstrikeLanguage: kuery
Severity
high
Risk Score
73
MITRE ATT&CK™

Persistence (TA0003)(opens in a new tab or window)

Initial Access (TA0001)(opens in a new tab or window)

Execution (TA0002)(opens in a new tab or window)

False Positive Examples
Security audits, maintenance, and network administrative scripts may trigger this alert when run under web processes.
License
Elastic License v2(opens in a new tab or window)

Definition

Rule Type
New Terms Rule
Integration Pack
Prebuilt Security Detection Rules
Index Patterns
endgame-*logs-crowdstrike.fdr*logs-endpoint.events.process-*logs-m365_defender.event-*logs-sentinel_one_cloud_funnel.*logs-system.security*logs-windows.sysmon_operational-*winlogbeat-*
Related Integrations

endpoint(opens in a new tab or window)

windows(opens in a new tab or window)

system(opens in a new tab or window)

sentinel_one_cloud_funnel(opens in a new tab or window)

m365_defender(opens in a new tab or window)

crowdstrike(opens in a new tab or window)

Query
host.os.type:windows and event.category:process and event.type:start and process.args : * and
  process.parent.name:("w3wp.exe" or "httpd.exe" or "nginx.exe" or "php.exe" or "php-cgi.exe" or "tomcat.exe") and
  (
    process.name : ("cmd.exe" or "cscript.exe" or "powershell.exe" or "pwsh.exe" or "powershell_ise.exe" or "wmic.exe" or "wscript.exe") or
    process.name.caseless : ("cmd.exe" or "cscript.exe" or "powershell.exe" or "pwsh.exe" or "powershell_ise.exe" or "wmic.exe" or "wscript.exe")
  ) and
  not
  (
    process.command_line : (
      "cmd.exe /c mode CON" or
      "cmd.exe /s /c \"mode CON\"" or
      "cmd.exe /c \"mode\"" or
      "cmd.exe /s /c \"tput colors 2>&1\"" or
      "cmd.exe /s /c \"stty 2> NUL\"" or
      "cmd.exe /s /c \"stty 2>&1\"" or
      "cmd.exe /c \"stty 2>&1\"" or
      "cmd.exe /s /c \"ipconfig /all 2>&1\"" or
      "cmd.exe /s /c \"echo '%os%'\"" or
      *.\\install\\awk.exe*
    ) or
    process.args : (\(git or (*artisan* and *queue\:work*) or *rmdir* or "mode CON" or ver or ls or mode or dir)
  )

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Web Shell Detection: Script Process Child of Common Web Processes in the Elastic Security detection engine by installing this rule into your Elastic Stack.

To setup this rule, check out the installation guide for Prebuilt Security Detection Rules(opens in a new tab or window).