Linux External IP Address Discovery via Curl

Last updated 3 days ago on 2026-07-02
Created 3 days ago on 2026-07-02

About

Detects applications making a curl request to a known public IP address lookup web service. Malware tends to perform this action to assess potential targets.
Tags
Domain: EndpointOS: LinuxUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: DiscoveryData Source: Elastic DefendData Source: SentinelOneLanguage: eql
Severity
low
Risk Score
21
MITRE ATT&CK™

Discovery (TA0007)(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
logs-endpoint.events.process*logs-sentinel_one_cloud_funnel.*
Related Integrations

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

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

Query
text code block:
process where host.os.type == "linux" and event.type == "start" and event.action in ("exec", "start") and process.name == "curl" and ( process.parent.name like ".*" or process.parent.executable like ( "/tmp/*", "/var/tmp/*", "/dev/shm/*", "/opt/*", "/etc/*", "./*", "/run/user/*", "/var/run/user/*", "/usr/bin/*", "/bin/*", "/usr/local/bin/*", "/sbin/*", "/usr/sbin/*", "/usr/local/sbin/*", "/usr/lib/*", "/usr/local/lib/*", "/lib/*", "/lib64/*", "/usr/lib64/*", "/usr/local/lib64/*" ) ) and process.command_line like~ ( "*ip-api.com*", "*checkip.dyndns.org*", "*api.ipify.org*", "*whatismyip.akamai.com*", "*bot.whatismyipaddress.com*", "*ifcfg.me*", "*ifconfig.me*", "*ident.me*", "*ipof.in*", "*ip.tyk.nu*", "*icanhazip.com*", "*curlmyip.com*", "*wgetip.com*", "*eth0.me*", "*ipecho.net*", "*ip.appspot.com*", "*api.myip.com*", "*geoiptool.com*", "*api.2ip.ua*", "*api.ip.sb*", "*ipinfo.io*", "*checkip.amazonaws.com*", "*wtfismyip.com*", "*iplogger.*", "*freegeoip.net*", "*freegeoip.app*", "*geoplugin.net*", "*myip.dnsomatic.com*", "*www.geoplugin.net*", "*api64.ipify.org*", "*ip4.seeip.org*", "*.geojs.io*", "*portmap.io*", "*api.db-ip.com*", "*geolocation-db.com*", "*httpbin.org*", "*myip.opendns.com*", "*ipv4.icanhazip.com*", "*ipv6.icanhazip.com*" ) and not ( process.parent.name in ("jamf", "make") or process.parent.name in (".", "./alert_api_call.sh", "nvim", "teleport") or process.parent.executable like ( "/usr/local/bin/teleport", "/usr/local/bin/current_ip", "/tmp/go-build*", "/usr/bin/neofetch", "/usr/bin/show-location-info", "/opt/tpot/bin/myip.sh", "/usr/sbin/sshd", "/tmp/newroot/var/quest/kace/scripts/*", "./Linux_Inventory_Sheets.sh", "/opt/qvm/bin/update_info_qsuite", "/usr/lib/check_mk_agent/local/public_ip_check", "/opt/teleport/system/bin/teleport", "/opt/Elastic/Endpoint/elastic-endpoint", "/etc/update-motd.d/motd.sh", "/opt/coe/cadence/IC231/tools.lnx86/cda/bin/64bit/cda.exe", "/etc/update-motd.d/10-armbian-header", "/opt/saltstack/salt/bin/python*", "/usr/bin/python*", "/usr/local/bin/detect-external-ip" ) or process.parent.args in ("/var/www/html/admin/modules/leucoalarm/scripts/system.php", "/etc/cont-init.d/50-ddns") or ( process.parent.executable == "/usr/bin/java" and process.args like "/opt/streamsets-datacollector/libexec/bootstrap-libs/*" ) or process.parent.command_line == "runc init" or ( process.parent.executable == "/usr/bin/busybox" and (process.parent.command_line == "sh /etc/cont-init.d/50-ddns" or process.working_directory == "/opt/outline-server") ) )

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Linux External IP Address Discovery via Curl 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).