Uncommon access to /etc/passwd

Cortex XDR Analytics Alert Reference by Alert name

Product
Cortex XDR
Last date published
2026-05-10
Category
Analytics Alert Reference
Index by
Alert name

Synopsis

Activation Period

14 Days

Training Period

30 Days

Test Period

N/A (single event)

Deduplication Period

1 Day

Required Data

  • Requires:
    • XDR Agent with eXtended Threat Hunting (XTH)

Detection Modules

Detector Tags

EDR Discovery Analytics, Credentials Grabbing Analytics

ATT&CK Tactic

ATT&CK Technique

Severity

Informational

Description

A process made an uncommon attempt to access /etc/passwd.

Attacker's Goals

  • Attackers may attempt to access sensitive files to steal credentials, perform reconnaissance on system configurations and users, and find pathways for lateral movement.

Investigative actions

  • Review the event's context - examine the process, its command line, and its origin to gain a comprehensive understanding of the anomalous access.
  • Assess the behavior's legitimacy: Given that this is an uncommon event, determine if this file access is an expected and authorized behavior for the actor process.

Variations

Uncommon access to /etc/passwd by a security testing tool

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic

ATT&CK Technique

Severity

Medium

Description

A process made an uncommon attempt to access /etc/passwd.

Attacker's Goals

  • Attackers may attempt to access sensitive files to steal credentials, perform reconnaissance on system configurations and users, and find pathways for lateral movement.

Investigative actions

  • Review the event's context - examine the process, its command line, and its origin to gain a comprehensive understanding of the anomalous access.
  • Assess the behavior's legitimacy: Given that this is an uncommon event, determine if this file access is an expected and authorized behavior for the actor process.


Uncommon access to /etc/passwd by a potentially known credential dumper or enumeration script

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic

ATT&CK Technique

Severity

Medium

Description

A process made an uncommon attempt to access /etc/passwd.

Attacker's Goals

  • Attackers may attempt to access sensitive files to steal credentials, perform reconnaissance on system configurations and users, and find pathways for lateral movement.

Investigative actions

  • Review the event's context - examine the process, its command line, and its origin to gain a comprehensive understanding of the anomalous access.
  • Assess the behavior's legitimacy: Given that this is an uncommon event, determine if this file access is an expected and authorized behavior for the actor process.


Uncommon access to /etc/passwd by a potential Webshell

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic

ATT&CK Technique

Severity

Medium

Description

A process made an uncommon attempt to access /etc/passwd.

Attacker's Goals

  • Attackers may attempt to access sensitive files to steal credentials, perform reconnaissance on system configurations and users, and find pathways for lateral movement.

Investigative actions

  • Review the event's context - examine the process, its command line, and its origin to gain a comprehensive understanding of the anomalous access.
  • Assess the behavior's legitimacy: Given that this is an uncommon event, determine if this file access is an expected and authorized behavior for the actor process.


Uncommon link creation to /etc/passwd

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic

ATT&CK Technique

Severity

Low

Description

A process made an uncommon attempt to access /etc/passwd.

Attacker's Goals

  • Attackers may attempt to access sensitive files to steal credentials, perform reconnaissance on system configurations and users, and find pathways for lateral movement.

Investigative actions

  • Review the event's context - examine the process, its command line, and its origin to gain a comprehensive understanding of the anomalous access.
  • Assess the behavior's legitimacy: Given that this is an uncommon event, determine if this file access is an expected and authorized behavior for the actor process.


Uncommon access to /etc/passwd with both /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow in the command line

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic

ATT&CK Technique

Severity

Low

Description

A process made an uncommon attempt to access /etc/passwd.

Attacker's Goals

  • Attackers may attempt to access sensitive files to steal credentials, perform reconnaissance on system configurations and users, and find pathways for lateral movement.

Investigative actions

  • Review the event's context - examine the process, its command line, and its origin to gain a comprehensive understanding of the anomalous access.
  • Assess the behavior's legitimacy: Given that this is an uncommon event, determine if this file access is an expected and authorized behavior for the actor process.


Uncommon access to /etc/passwd, involving a network utility

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic

ATT&CK Technique

Severity

Low

Description

A process made an uncommon attempt to access /etc/passwd.

Attacker's Goals

  • Attackers may attempt to access sensitive files to steal credentials, perform reconnaissance on system configurations and users, and find pathways for lateral movement.

Investigative actions

  • Review the event's context - examine the process, its command line, and its origin to gain a comprehensive understanding of the anomalous access.
  • Assess the behavior's legitimacy: Given that this is an uncommon event, determine if this file access is an expected and authorized behavior for the actor process.


Uncommon access to /etc/passwd from temporary or world writable directories

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic

ATT&CK Technique

Severity

Low

Description

A process made an uncommon attempt to access /etc/passwd.

Attacker's Goals

  • Attackers may attempt to access sensitive files to steal credentials, perform reconnaissance on system configurations and users, and find pathways for lateral movement.

Investigative actions

  • Review the event's context - examine the process, its command line, and its origin to gain a comprehensive understanding of the anomalous access.
  • Assess the behavior's legitimacy: Given that this is an uncommon event, determine if this file access is an expected and authorized behavior for the actor process.


Uncommon access to /etc/passwd with additional sensitive files in the command line

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic

ATT&CK Technique

Severity

Low

Description

A process made an uncommon attempt to access /etc/passwd.

Attacker's Goals

  • Attackers may attempt to access sensitive files to steal credentials, perform reconnaissance on system configurations and users, and find pathways for lateral movement.

Investigative actions

  • Review the event's context - examine the process, its command line, and its origin to gain a comprehensive understanding of the anomalous access.
  • Assess the behavior's legitimacy: Given that this is an uncommon event, determine if this file access is an expected and authorized behavior for the actor process.


Uncommon access to /etc/passwd via a new inline bash script

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic

ATT&CK Technique

Severity

Low

Description

A process made an uncommon attempt to access /etc/passwd.

Attacker's Goals

  • Attackers may attempt to access sensitive files to steal credentials, perform reconnaissance on system configurations and users, and find pathways for lateral movement.

Investigative actions

  • Review the event's context - examine the process, its command line, and its origin to gain a comprehensive understanding of the anomalous access.
  • Assess the behavior's legitimacy: Given that this is an uncommon event, determine if this file access is an expected and authorized behavior for the actor process.


Uncommon access to /etc/passwd using an interactive binary

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic

ATT&CK Technique

Severity

Low

Description

A process made an uncommon attempt to access /etc/passwd.

Attacker's Goals

  • Attackers may attempt to access sensitive files to steal credentials, perform reconnaissance on system configurations and users, and find pathways for lateral movement.

Investigative actions

  • Review the event's context - examine the process, its command line, and its origin to gain a comprehensive understanding of the anomalous access.
  • Assess the behavior's legitimacy: Given that this is an uncommon event, determine if this file access is an expected and authorized behavior for the actor process.


Uncommon access to /etc/passwd using an interactive shell

Synopsis

ATT&CK Tactic

ATT&CK Technique

Severity

Low

Description

A process made an uncommon attempt to access /etc/passwd.

Attacker's Goals

  • Attackers may attempt to access sensitive files to steal credentials, perform reconnaissance on system configurations and users, and find pathways for lateral movement.

Investigative actions

  • Review the event's context - examine the process, its command line, and its origin to gain a comprehensive understanding of the anomalous access.
  • Assess the behavior's legitimacy: Given that this is an uncommon event, determine if this file access is an expected and authorized behavior for the actor process.