Timestomping using Touch Command

Last updated 7 months ago on 2025-01-15

Created 5 years ago on 2020-11-03

About

Timestomping is an anti-forensics technique which is used to modify the timestamps of a file, often to mimic files that are in the same folder.

Tags

Domain: EndpointOS: LinuxOS: macOSUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: Defense EvasionData Source: Elastic DefendLanguage: eql

Severity

medium

Risk Score

MITRE ATT&CK™

Defense Evasion (TA0005)(opens in a new tab or window)

↳ Indicator Removal (T1070)(opens in a new tab or window)

License

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

Definition

Rule Type: Event Correlation Rule
Integration Pack: Prebuilt Security Detection Rules
Index Patterns: auditbeat-*logs-endpoint.events.*
Related Integrations: endpoint(opens in a new tab or window)
Query

process where event.type == "start" and
 process.name : "touch" and user.id != "0" and
 process.args : ("-r", "-t", "-a*","-m*") and
 not process.args : (
   "/usr/lib/go-*/bin/go", "/usr/lib/dracut/dracut-functions.sh", "/tmp/KSInstallAction.*/m/.patch/*"
) and not process.parent.name in ("pmlogger_daily", "pmlogger_janitor", "systemd")

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Timestomping using Touch Command 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(opens in a new tab or window).