Detection: Linux Suspicious GCC Invocation Building Init Shared Object

Updated Date: 2026-07-08 ID: 9dbf4a61-0493-43bd-932c-532ba7671a7a Author: Raven Tait, Splunk Type: TTP Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

The following analytic detects compiler usage with flags commonly used to create shared libraries that auto-run initialization functions, which are often associated with local privilege escalation exploits.

Search

 1
 2| tstats `security_content_summariesonly`
 3  count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime
 4
 5FROM datamodel=Endpoint.Processes WHERE
 6
 7Processes.process_name IN (
 8    "*x86_64-linux-gnu-gcc*",
 9    "cc",
10    "g++",
11    "gcc-*",
12    "gcc"
13)
14Processes.process="*-shared*"
15Processes.process="*-Wl,-init,*"
16Processes.process="*.so*"
17
18BY Processes.action Processes.dest Processes.original_file_name
19   Processes.parent_process Processes.parent_process_exec Processes.parent_process_guid
20   Processes.parent_process_id Processes.parent_process_name Processes.parent_process_path
21   Processes.process Processes.process_current_directory Processes.process_exec
22   Processes.process_guid Processes.process_hash Processes.process_id
23   Processes.process_integrity_level Processes.process_name Processes.process_path
24   Processes.user Processes.user_id Processes.vendor_product
25
26
27| `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)`
28
29| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
30
31| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
32
33| `linux_suspicious_gcc_invocation_building_init_shared_object_filter`

Data Source

Name	Platform	Sourcetype	Source
Sysmon for Linux EventID 1	Linux	`'sysmon:linux'`	`'Syslog:Linux-Sysmon/Operational'`

Macros Used

Name	Value
security_content_summariesonly	`summariesonly=`summariesonly_config `allow_old_summaries=`oldsummaries_config `fillnull_value=`fillnull_config``
linux_suspicious_gcc_invocation_building_init_shared_object_filter	`search *`

linux_suspicious_gcc_invocation_building_init_shared_object_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
T1027.004	Compile After Delivery	Stealth
T1068	Exploitation for Privilege Escalation	Privilege Escalation
T1129	Shared Modules	Execution
T1608	Stage Capabilities	Resource Development

Weaponization

Exploitation

Installation

DE.CM

CIS 10

CVE

CVE-2025-32463

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 the process GUID, process name, and parent process. Additionally, you must ingest complete command-line executions. 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 Processes 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 developers may use these GCC flags when building shared libraries that require initialization functions. Filter based on known development environments and trusted users.

Associated Analytic Story

Finding

Title	Entity Field	Entity Type	Risk Score
Suspicious GCC Invocation Building Init Shared Object identified on [$dest$] via [$process_name$] with the Command Line [$process$]	dest	system	50

Threat Objects

Field	Type
process	process
process_name	process_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