GKE Pod Exec Potential Reverse Shell

Last updated 7 days ago on 2026-07-15

Created 7 days ago on 2026-07-15

About

Detects successful GKE pod exec sessions whose command resembles reverse-shell or bind-shell one-liner patterns, including /dev/tcp and /dev/udp redirection, netcat/ncat exec-style flags, socat shell handoff, mkfifo pipelines, and common language socket idioms. Legitimate debug sessions sometimes use similar building blocks, but together these patterns align with post-exploitation interactive access and command-and-control. Common localhost /dev/tcp health-check ports are excluded. GKE records the command in gcp.audit.labels.command.gke.io/command when an explicit command is passed to exec.

Tags

Domain: CloudDomain: KubernetesData Source: GCPData Source: GCP Audit LogsData Source: Google Cloud PlatformUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: ExecutionTactic: Command and ControlLanguage: kuery

Severity

high

Risk Score

MITRE ATT&CK™

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

↳ Container Administration Command (T1609)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

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

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

↳ Non-Application Layer Protocol (T1095)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

False Positive Examples

Security training, CTF-style images, or vendor diagnostics may include bash redirection or /dev/tcp examples. Baseline approved images then expand exclusions as needed.

License

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

Definition

Rule Type: Query (Kibana Query Language)
Integration Pack: Prebuilt Security Detection Rules
Index Patterns: logs-gcp.audit-*
Related Integrations: gcp(external, opens in a new tab or window)
Query

✄𐘗text code block:
✄𐘗data_stream.dataset:gcp.audit and service.name:"k8s.io" and event.outcome:success and
event.type:start and
event.action:("io.k8s.core.v1.pods.exec.create" or "io.k8s.core.v1.pods.exec.get") and
gcp.audit.labels.command.gke.io/command:(
  (
    */dev/tcp/* or */dev/udp/* or */inet/tcp/* or
    *0\\\>&1* or
    *IO*Socket*INET* or *TCPSocket.new* or *bash*-i* or *fsockopen* or
    *import*pty* or *import*socket* or *mkfifo* or
    *nc*-c* or *nc*-e* or *netcat*-e* or
    *socat*exec* or *socat*pty* or *socket.socket* or
    *zsh/net/tcp* or *zsh/net/udp*
  ) and not (
    *127.0.0.1* or *localhost*
  )
)

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect GKE Pod Exec Potential Reverse Shell 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).