Perl Outbound Network Connection

Last updated 2 days ago on 2026-02-09
Created 12 days ago on 2026-01-30

About

Detects when Perl makes an outbound network connection to a non-private IP address. Perl is a scripting language that comes pre-installed on macOS and offers extensive capabilities for adversaries. Its use for network connections on macOS systems is uncommon and potentially suspicious.
Tags
Domain: EndpointOS: macOSUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: Command and ControlTactic: ExecutionData Source: Elastic DefendLanguage: eql
Severity
medium
Risk Score
47
MITRE ATT&CK™

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

Execution (TA0002)(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.network-*logs-endpoint.events.process-*
Related Integrations

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

Query
text code block:
sequence by process.entity_id with maxspan=30s [process where host.os.type == "macos" and event.type == "start" and event.action == "exec" and process.name == "perl" and not process.args like "/usr/bin/xpath"] [network where host.os.type == "macos" and event.type == "start" and process.name == "perl" and not cidrmatch(destination.ip, "10.0.0.0/8", "127.0.0.0/8", "169.254.0.0/16", "172.16.0.0/12", "192.0.0.0/24", "192.0.2.0/24", "192.168.0.0/16", "192.88.99.0/24", "224.0.0.0/4", "240.0.0.0/4", "::1", "FE80::/10", "FF00::/8")]

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Perl Outbound Network Connection 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).