File Download Detected via Defend for Containers

Last updated 11 days ago on 2026-03-24

Created 2 months ago on 2026-02-06

About

This rule detects the download of files from inside a container. The files are downloaded using the "curl" or "wget" command-line tools. Adversaries may use these tools to download files from the internet to gain access to sensitive data or communicate with C2 servers.

Tags

Data Source: Elastic Defend for ContainersDomain: ContainerOS: LinuxUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: Command and ControlTactic: ExecutionLanguage: eql

Severity

medium

Risk Score

MITRE ATT&CK™

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

↳ Application Layer Protocol (T1071)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

↳ Ingress Tool Transfer (T1105)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

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

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

False Positive Examples

There is a potential for false positives if the files are downloaded for legitimate purposes, such as debugging or troubleshooting, or if the files are downloaded from a known benign source. It is important to investigate any alerts generated by this rule to determine if they are indicative of malicious activity or part of legitimate container activity.

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-cloud_defend.process*
Related Integrations: cloud_defend(external, opens in a new tab or window)
Query

✄𐘗text code block:
✄𐘗process where host.os.type == "linux" and event.type == "start" and event.action == "exec" and process.interactive == true and (
  (
    (process.name == "curl" or process.args in ("curl", "/bin/curl", "/usr/bin/curl", "/usr/local/bin/curl")) and
    process.args in ("-o", "-O", "--output", "--remote-name", "--remote-name-all", "--output-dir")
  ) or
  (
    (process.name == "wget" or process.args in ("wget", "/bin/wget", "/usr/bin/wget", "/usr/local/bin/wget")) and
    process.args like ("-*O*", "--output-document=*", "--output-file=*")
  )
) and (
 process.args like~ "*http*" or
 process.args regex~ ".*[0-9]{1,3}\\.[0-9]{1,3}\\.[0-9]{1,3}\\.[0-9]{1,3}[:/]{1}.*"
) and container.id like "?*"

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect File Download Detected via Defend for Containers 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).