Elastic Security Detection Rules

Unusual Remote File Creation

Last updated 25 days ago on 2025-09-29
Created 8 months ago on 2025-02-20

About

This rule leverages the new_terms rule type to detect file creation via a commonly used file transfer service while excluding typical remote file creation activity. This behavior is often linked to lateral movement, potentially indicating an attacker attempting to move within a network.
Tags
Domain: EndpointOS: LinuxUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: Lateral MovementData Source: Elastic DefendLanguage: kuery
Severity
low
Risk Score
21
MITRE ATT&CK™

Lateral Movement (TA0008)(opens in a new tab or window)

↳ Remote Services (T1021)(opens in a new tab or window)

↳ Lateral Tool Transfer (T1570)(opens in a new tab or window)

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

Definition

Rule Type
New Terms Rule
Integration Pack
Prebuilt Security Detection Rules
Index Patterns
logs-endpoint.events.file*auditbeat-*
Related Integrations

endpoint(opens in a new tab or window)

Query
event.category:file and host.os.type:linux and event.action:creation and
process.name:(scp or ftp or sftp or vsftpd or sftp-server or sync) and
not (
  file.path:(
    /dev/ptmx or /run/* or /var/run/* or /home/*/.ansible/*AnsiballZ_*.py or /home/*/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp* or
    /root/.ansible/*AnsiballZ_*.py or /tmp/ansible-chief/ansible-tmp*AnsiballZ_*.py or
    /tmp/newroot/home/*/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp*AnsiballZ_*.py or /tmp/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp*AnsiballZ_*.py or
    /tmp/ansible-tmp-*/AnsiballZ_*.py or /tmp/.ansible/ansible-tmp-*AnsiballZ_*.py
  ) or
  file.extension:(filepart or yaml or new or rpm or deb)
)

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Unusual Remote File Creation 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).