Persistence via KDE AutoStart Script or Desktop File Modification

Last updated 9 months ago on 2025-03-20

Created 5 years ago on 2021-01-06

About

Identifies the creation or modification of a K Desktop Environment (KDE) AutoStart script or desktop file that will execute upon each user logon. Adversaries may abuse this method for persistence.

Tags

Domain: EndpointOS: LinuxUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: PersistenceData Source: Elastic EndgameData Source: Elastic DefendData Source: SentinelOneLanguage: eql

Severity

medium

Risk Score

MITRE ATT&CK™

Persistence (TA0003)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

↳ Boot or Logon Autostart Execution (T1547)(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

auditbeat-*endgame-*logs-endpoint.events.file*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

✄𐘗text code block:
✄𐘗file where host.os.type == "linux" and event.type != "deletion" and
  file.extension in ("sh", "desktop") and
  file.path :
    (
      "/home/*/.config/autostart/*", "/root/.config/autostart/*",
      "/home/*/.kde/Autostart/*", "/root/.kde/Autostart/*",
      "/home/*/.kde4/Autostart/*", "/root/.kde4/Autostart/*",
      "/home/*/.kde/share/autostart/*", "/root/.kde/share/autostart/*",
      "/home/*/.kde4/share/autostart/*", "/root/.kde4/share/autostart/*",
      "/home/*/.local/share/autostart/*", "/root/.local/share/autostart/*",
      "/home/*/.config/autostart-scripts/*", "/root/.config/autostart-scripts/*",
      "/etc/xdg/autostart/*", "/usr/share/autostart/*"
    ) and
    not process.name in (
      "yum", "dpkg", "install", "dnf", "teams", "yum-cron", "dnf-automatic", "docker", "dockerd", "rpm", "pacman",
      "podman", "nautilus", "remmina", "cinnamon-settings.py", "executor", "xfce4-clipman", "jetbrains-toolbox",
      "ansible-admin", "apk"
    )

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Persistence via KDE AutoStart Script or Desktop File Modification 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).