Detection: Linux Possible Privilege Escalation via PYTHONPATH

Updated Date: 2026-07-08 ID: 5edda575-409a-4820-a048-5780796a181e Author: Raven Tait, Splunk Type: TTP Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

The following analytic detects the creation of a malicious shared object at a Python importlib path outside the standard system library directories, a technique used to abuse PYTHONPATH for local privilege escalation. Attackers exploiting vulnerabilities such as the 2024 NeedRestart flaw (CVE-2024-48990) plant a crafted importlib/init.so in an attacker-controlled directory, then manipulate the PYTHONPATH environment variable so that a privileged process, such as NeedRestart running as root, loads the rogue module instead of the legitimate one, achieving code execution with elevated privileges. The detection monitors for file writes matching the importlib/init.so pattern that do not originate from expected system library paths.

Search

 1
 2| tstats `security_content_summariesonly`
 3  count min(_time) as firstTime
 4        max(_time) as lastTime
 5
 6from datamodel=Endpoint.Filesystem where
 7
 8Filesystem.file_path="*/importlib/__init__.so*"
 9NOT Filesystem.file_path IN (
10    "/lib/*",
11    "/lib64/*",
12    "/usr/lib/*",
13    "/usr/lib64/*",
14    "/usr/local/lib/*",
15    "/usr/local/lib64/*"
16)
17
18by Filesystem.file_path Filesystem.file_name Filesystem.user Filesystem.dest
19   Filesystem.process_guid Filesystem.process_id
20
21
22| `drop_dm_object_name(Filesystem)`
23
24| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
25
26| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
27
28| `linux_possible_privilege_escalation_via_pythonpath_filter`

Data Source

Name	Platform	Sourcetype	Source
Sysmon for Linux EventID 11	Linux	`'sysmon:linux'`	`'Syslog:Linux-Sysmon/Operational'`

Macros Used

Name	Value
security_content_ctime	`convert timeformat="%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S" ctime($field$)`
linux_possible_privilege_escalation_via_pythonpath_filter	`search *`

linux_possible_privilege_escalation_via_pythonpath_filter is an empty macro by default. It allows the user to filter out any results (false positives) without editing the SPL.

Annotations

- MITRE ATT&CK

+ Kill Chain Phases

+ NIST

+ CIS

- Threat Actors

ID	Technique	Tactic
T1068	Exploitation for Privilege Escalation	Privilege Escalation
T1574.007	Path Interception by PATH Environment Variable	Execution

Exploitation

Installation

DE.CM

CIS 10

CVE

CVE-2024-48990

Default Configuration

This detection is configured by default in Splunk Enterprise Security to run with the following settings:

Setting	Value
Disabled	true
Cron Schedule	`0 * * * *`
Earliest Time	`-70m@m`
Latest Time	`-10m@m`
Schedule Window	`auto`
Creates Finding (Notable)	Yes
Rule Title	`%name%`
Rule Description	`%description%`
Notable Event Fields	user, dest
Creates Intermediate Finding (Risk Event)	No

TTP detections generate a Finding (Notable) and may generate Intermediate Findings (Risk Events) for associated entities.

Implementation

The detection is based on data that originates from Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents. These agents are designed to provide security-related telemetry from the endpoints where the agent is installed. To implement this search, you must ingest logs that contain file creation events including the file path and user context. These logs must be processed using the appropriate Splunk Technology Add-ons that are specific to the EDR product. The logs must also be mapped to the Filesystem node of the Endpoint data model. Use the Splunk Common Information Model (CIM) to normalize the field names and speed up the data modeling process.

Known False Positives

Legitimate Python developers or system administrators may modify PYTHONPATH for testing or application configuration purposes. Filter based on known development environments and trusted user activity.

Associated Analytic Story

Finding

Title	Entity Field	Entity Type	Risk Score
Possible Privilege Escalation via PYTHONPATH via [$file_name$] on [$dest$]	dest	system	50

Threat Objects

Field	Type
file_name	file_name

References

Detection Testing

Test Type	Status	Dataset	Source	Sourcetype
Validation	✅ Passing	N/A	N/A	N/A
Unit	✅ Passing	Dataset	`Syslog:Linux-Sysmon/Operational`	`sysmon:linux`
Integration	✅ Passing	Dataset	`Syslog:Linux-Sysmon/Operational`	`sysmon:linux`

Replay any dataset to Splunk Enterprise by using our replay.py tool or the UI. Alternatively you can replay a dataset into a Splunk Attack Range

Source: GitHub |

Version: 1