Elastic Security Detection Rules

Potential SSH Reverse Port Forwarding

Last updated 7 days ago on 2026-06-24
Created 7 days ago on 2026-06-24

About

Identifies the use of Windows OpenSSH or Plink to create a reverse SSH port forward or reverse dynamic SOCKS proxy. Adversaries may abuse reverse forwarding to expose an internal service or proxy listener through an external SSH server, establishing an outbound tunnel that bypasses direct inbound connectivity controls.
Tags
Domain: EndpointOS: WindowsUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: Command and ControlTactic: Lateral MovementData Source: Elastic DefendData Source: SentinelOneData Source: Microsoft Defender XDRData Source: Windows Security Event LogsData Source: CrowdstrikeData Source: SysmonData Source: Elastic EndgameLanguage: eql
Severity
low
Risk Score
21
MITRE ATT&CK™

Command and Control (TA0011)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

↳ Proxy (T1090)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

↳ Protocol Tunneling (T1572)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

Lateral Movement (TA0008)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

↳ Remote Services (T1021)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

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

Definition

Rule Type
Event Correlation 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.forwarded*logs-windows.sysmon_operational-*winlogbeat-*
Related Integrations

endpoint(external, opens in a new tab or window)

windows(external, opens in a new tab or window)

sentinel_one_cloud_funnel(external, opens in a new tab or window)

m365_defender(external, opens in a new tab or window)

system(external, opens in a new tab or window)

crowdstrike(external, opens in a new tab or window)

Query
text code block:
process where host.os.type == "windows" and event.type == "start" and
  (
    process.name : ("ssh.exe", "plink.exe") or
    ?process.pe.original_file_name : ("Plink", "plink.exe")
  ) and
  (
    process.args : "-R*" or
    process.args : "-oRemoteForward*" or
    (process.args : "-o" and process.args : "*RemoteForward*") or

    /* -R can be combined with ~20 no-arg SSH flags (e.g. -NR, -fNR) */
    process.command_line regex """.*\s-[A-Za-z]*R[^A-Za-z].*"""
  )

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Potential SSH Reverse Port Forwarding 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(external, opens in a new tab or window).