Git Hook Child Process

Last updated 2 months ago on 2025-03-20
Created a year ago on 2024-06-26

About

This rule detects child processes spawned by Git hooks. Git hooks are scripts that Git executes before or after events such as commit, push, and receive. The rule identifies child processes spawned by Git hooks that are not typically spawned by the Git process itself. This behavior may indicate an attacker attempting to hide malicious activity by leveraging the legitimate Git process to execute unauthorized commands.
Tags
Domain: EndpointOS: LinuxUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: PersistenceTactic: ExecutionTactic: Defense EvasionData Source: Elastic DefendData Source: CrowdstrikeData Source: SentinelOneData Source: Elastic EndgameLanguage: eql
Severity
low
Risk Score
21
MITRE ATT&CK™

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

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

Defense Evasion (TA0005)(opens in a new tab or window)

License
Elastic License v2(opens in a new tab or window)

Definition

Rule Type
Event Correlation Rule
Integration Pack
Prebuilt Security Detection Rules
Index Patterns
logs-endpoint.events.process*logs-crowdstrike.fdr*logs-sentinel_one_cloud_funnel.*endgame-*
Related Integrations

endpoint(opens in a new tab or window)

crowdstrike(opens in a new tab or window)

sentinel_one_cloud_funnel(opens in a new tab or window)

Query
process where host.os.type == "linux" and event.type == "start" and
  event.action in ("exec", "exec_event", "start", "ProcessRollup2") and
  process.parent.name in (
    "applypatch-msg", "commit-msg", "fsmonitor-watchman", "post-update", "post-checkout", "post-commit",
    "pre-applypatch", "pre-commit", "pre-merge-commit", "prepare-commit-msg", "pre-push", "pre-rebase", "pre-receive",
    "push-to-checkout", "update", "post-receive", "pre-auto-gc", "post-rewrite", "sendemail-validate", "p4-pre-submit",
    "post-index-change", "post-merge", "post-applypatch"
  ) and
  (
    process.name in ("nohup", "setsid", "disown", "bash", "dash", "sh", "tcsh", "csh", "zsh", "ksh", "fish") or
    process.name : ("php*", "perl*", "ruby*", "lua*") or
    process.executable : (
      "/boot/*", "/dev/shm/*", "/etc/cron.*/*", "/etc/init.d/*", "/etc/update-motd.d/*",
      "/run/*", "/srv/*", "/tmp/*", "/var/tmp/*", "/var/log/*"
    )
  ) and
  not process.name in ("git", "dirname")

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Git Hook Child Process 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).