Hosts File Modified
editHosts File Modified
editThe hosts file on endpoints is used to control manual IP address to hostname resolutions. The hosts file is the first point of lookup for DNS hostname resolution so if adversaries can modify the endpoint hosts file, they can route traffic to malicious infrastructure. This rule detects modifications to the hosts file on Microsoft Windows, Linux (Ubuntu or RHEL) and macOS systems.
Rule type: eql
Rule indices:
- auditbeat-*
- winlogbeat-*
- logs-endpoint.events.*
- logs-windows.*
Severity: medium
Risk score: 47
Runs every: 5 minutes
Searches indices from: now-9m (Date Math format, see also Additional look-back time)
Maximum alerts per execution: 100
References:
Tags:
- Elastic
- Host
- Linux
- Windows
- macOS
- Threat Detection
- Impact
Version: 5 (version history)
Added (Elastic Stack release): 7.10.0
Last modified (Elastic Stack release): 7.13.0
Rule authors: Elastic
Rule license: Elastic License v2
Investigation guide
editConfig
For Windows systems using Auditbeat, this rule requires adding C:/Windows/System32/drivers/etc as an additional path in the file_integrity module of auditbeat.yml.
Rule query
editfile where event.type in ("change", "creation") and file.path :
("/private/etc/hosts", "/etc/hosts",
"?:\\Windows\\System32\\drivers\\etc\\hosts")
Threat mapping
editFramework: MITRE ATT&CKTM
-
Tactic:
- Name: Impact
- ID: TA0040
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0040/
-
Technique:
- Name: Data Manipulation
- ID: T1565
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1565/
Rule version history
edit- Version 5 (7.13.0 release)
-
-
Updated query, changed from:
event.category:file and event.type:(change or creation) and file.path:("/private/etc/hosts" or "/etc/hosts" or "C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts")
-
- Version 4 (7.12.0 release)
-
- Formatting only
- Version 3 (7.11.2 release)
-
- Formatting only
- Version 2 (7.11.0 release)
-
- Formatting only