Potential Kubeletctl Execution

Last updated 14 days ago on 2026-04-28

Created 14 days ago on 2026-04-28

About

Detects the execution of kubeletctl on Linux hosts. Kubeletctl is a command-line tool that can be used to interact with the Kubelet API directly, simplifying access to Kubelet endpoints that can be used for discovery and, in some cases, lateral movement within Kubernetes environments.

Tags

Domain: EndpointDomain: ContainerDomain: KubernetesOS: LinuxUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: ExecutionTactic: DiscoveryData Source: Elastic DefendData Source: Auditd ManagerLanguage: eql

Severity

medium

Risk Score

MITRE ATT&CK™

Discovery (TA0007)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

↳ Container and Resource Discovery (T1613)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

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

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

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

False Positive Examples

Administrators or developers may execute kubeletctl during legitimate troubleshooting or incident response to validate Kubelet API connectivity or enumerate pods. Confirm the user/session and change window before escalating.

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-*logs-auditd_manager.auditd-*logs-endpoint.events.process*

Related Integrations

endpoint(external, opens in a new tab or window)

auditd_manager(external, opens in a new tab or window)

Query

✄𐘗text code block:
✄𐘗process where host.os.type == "linux" and event.type == "start" and event.action in ("exec", "executed") and 
(
  process.name == "kubeletctl" or
  (process.args in ("run", "exec", "scan", "pods", "runningpods", "attach", "portForward", "cri", "pid2pod") and process.args:("*:10250*", "*:10255*"))
)

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Potential Kubeletctl Execution 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).