Elastic Security Detection Rules

GKE Pod Created With HostPID

Last updated 8 days ago on 2026-06-30
Created 8 days ago on 2026-06-30

About

Detects GKE pod create, update, or patch events that enable host PID namespace sharing. HostPID exposes host processes and can support privilege escalation, especially with ptrace or privileged containers. System identities and controller-owned workloads are excluded.
Tags
Domain: CloudDomain: KubernetesData Source: GCPData Source: Google Cloud PlatformUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: Privilege EscalationTactic: ExecutionLanguage: kuery
Severity
medium
Risk Score
47
MITRE ATT&CK™

Privilege Escalation (TA0004)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

↳ Escape to Host (T1611)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

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

↳ Deploy Container (T1610)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

False Positive Examples
Debug pods may legitimately use hostPID. Exclude trusted admin workflows after baselining.
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
text code block:
data_stream.dataset:gcp.audit and
event.action:("io.k8s.core.v1.pods.create" or "io.k8s.core.v1.pods.update" or "io.k8s.core.v1.pods.patch") and
gcp.audit.request.spec.hostPID:true and not user.email:system\:* and
not gcp.audit.request.metadata.ownerReferences.kind:("ReplicaSet" or "DaemonSet" or "StatefulSet")

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect GKE Pod Created With HostPID 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).