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hunting-persistence-on-linux

Hunts for Linux persistence by inspecting cron, systemd units, shell rc files, SSH authorized_keys, and common autostart locations for attacker-added entries. Activates for requests to hunt Linux persistence, audit cron/systemd for backdoors, or find unauthorized autostart and authorized_keys entries.

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Files included (4)

  • SKILL.md2.7 KB
  • LICENSE340 B
  • references/api-reference.md1.2 KB
  • scripts/analyst.py2.8 KB

SKILL.md (original)

Review the instructions the agent will receive before you install.

Hunting Persistence on Linux

When to Use

  • You have collected Linux persistence-relevant files (cron entries, systemd units, shell rc files, authorized_keys, autostart) and want to flag suspicious entries.
  • You are triaging a suspected compromised Linux host's persistence surface.

Do not use this on a live root shell as a substitute for proper IR collection — feed it collected copies. It reads files statically and executes nothing.

Prerequisites

  • Collected persistence artifacts (cron files, unit files, rc files, authorized_keys).

Safety & Handling

  • Read files statically; treat their contents as untrusted.

Workflow

Step 1: Scan persistence files

python scripts/analyst.py scan /path/to/collected

Recursively scans known persistence locations and flags entries containing download/exec patterns (curl|wget ... | sh, base64 -d | bash, reverse-shell one-liners, nc -e), suspicious paths (/tmp, /dev/shm), and unexpected authorized_keys additions.

Step 2: Categorize by mechanism

Group findings by mechanism: cron, systemd, rc/profile, SSH keys, autostart.

Step 3: Confirm

Compare against a known-good baseline of expected services/keys; investigate deviations.

Step 4: Document

Record each persistence entry, its mechanism, and the suspicious indicator.

Validation

  • Findings are grouped by persistence mechanism.
  • Reverse-shell/download-exec one-liners are flagged with the matched pattern.
  • authorized_keys additions are surfaced for review.

Pitfalls

  • Legitimate admin cron/systemd entries — baseline before alerting.
  • Persistence in less-common spots (udev, PAM, LD_PRELOAD) not covered by basic scans.
  • Encoded/obfuscated payloads hiding the true command.

References

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