First Time Python Spawned a Shell on Host

Last updated 23 days ago on 2026-02-23

Created 23 days ago on 2026-02-23

About

Detects the first time a Python process spawns a shell on a given host. Malicious Python scripts, compromised dependencies, or model file deserialization can result in shell spawns that would not occur during normal workflows. Since legitimate Python processes rarely shell out to interactive shells, a first occurrence of this behavior on a host is a strong signal of potential compromise.

Tags

Domain: EndpointOS: macOSUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: ExecutionData Source: Elastic DefendDomain: LLMLanguage: kuery

Severity

medium

Risk Score

MITRE ATT&CK™

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

↳ Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

License

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

Definition

Rule Type: New Terms Rule
Integration Pack: Prebuilt Security Detection Rules
Index Patterns: logs-endpoint.events.process-*
Related Integrations: endpoint(external, opens in a new tab or window)
Query

✄𐘗text code block:
✄𐘗event.category:process and host.os.type:macos and event.type:start and event.action:exec and
process.parent.name:python* and
process.name:(bash or dash or sh or tcsh or csh or zsh or ksh or fish) and process.args:"-c" and
not process.command_line:(*pip* or *conda* or *brew* or *jupyter*)

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect First Time Python Spawned a Shell on Host 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).