AWS SSM Session Manager Child Process Execution

Description

Identifies process start events where the parent process is the AWS Systems Manager (SSM) Session Manager worker. Session Manager provides interactive shell access to EC2 instances and hybrid nodes without bastion hosts or open inbound ports. Adversaries abuse it for remote execution and lateral movement using legitimate AWS credentials and IAM permissions. This rule surfaces endpoint execution occurring under that worker for visibility and hunting. Expect noise from authorized administrative sessions.

Query · kuery

event.category: "process" and event.action : ("exec" or "exec_event" or "start" or "ProcessRollup2" or "executed" or "process_started") and
(
 process.parent.name:("ssm-session-worker.exe" or "ssm-session-worker" or "ssm-document-worker.exe" or "ssm-document-worker") or 
 (process.name : "powershell.exe" and process.args : *awsrunPowerShellScript*) or
 (process.name : ("dash" or "sh" or "bash") and process.args : *awsrunShellScript*) or 
 (process.parent.name : "powershell.exe" and process.parent.args : *awsrunPowerShellScript*) or
 (process.parent.name : ("dash" or "sh" or "bash") and process.parent.args : *awsrunShellScript*)
 ) and 
 not (process.name : "powershell.exe" and process.args :("$str.Substring($str.length" or *Convert-GuidToCompressedGuid* or get-wmiobject* or $wmi_proc* or *win32_quickfixengineering* or Get-wmiobject* or *Get-Service* or *Get-WmiObject* or *System32\\ntoskrnl.exe* or *GET-WMIOBJECT*)) and 
 not process.executable : ("/usr/bin/lscpu" or "/usr/bin/snap" or "/usr/bin/rpm" or "/usr/bin/dpkg-query" or /snap/snapd/*/usr/bin/snap or "/usr/bin/id" or "C:\\Program Files\\Amazon\\SSM\\Plugins\\SessionManagerShell\\winpty-agent.exe" or /var/lib/amazon/ssm/update/amazon-ssm-agent-updater/*/updater or C\:\\ProgramData\\Amazon\\SSM\\Update\\amazon-ssm-agent-updater\\*\\updater.exe) and 
 not (process.name : (dash or bash or sh or _script.sh) and process.args : /var/lib/amazon/ssm/*/document/orchestration/*/_script.sh) and 
 process.command_line :(* and not (*ssm-user or */invokeInspectorSsmPluginLinux/_script.sh or */checkExclusionPreference/_script.sh or *\\createUpdateFolder\\_script.ps1 or */checkProvisioningEligibility/_script.sh or */install/_script.sh or */uninstall/_script.sh))

Known false positives

  • Legitimate operators using AWS Systems Manager Session Manager to administer instances will spawn child processes under the session worker. Tune with host, user, or command-line exclusions for known automation and break-glass workflows.
  • The SSM agent may invoke short-lived utilities (for example identity or environment probes) during session setup. Additional exclusions may be required in your environment.

Analyst notes

Investigating AWS SSM Session Manager Child Process Execution

AWS Systems Manager Session Manager starts a session worker process on the endpoint; commands and shells you run in the session appear as child processes of that worker. The same mechanism is used for authorized administration and for adversary activity when IAM credentials or instance roles allow ssm:StartSession (or related) abuse.

Possible investigation steps

  • Confirm whether the host is an EC2 instance or managed node that legitimately uses Session Manager.
  • Review process.command_line, process.executable, process.user.name, and user.name for the child process to judge intent (reconnaissance, download, credential access, persistence, etc.).
  • Correlate timing with AWS CloudTrail for StartSession, ResumeSession, or related SSM API calls and the IAM principal that initiated the session.
  • Pivot on the same host.id or instance identifier for other alerts or SSM activity in the same window.

False positive analysis

  • Routine interactive or automated administration via Session Manager is expected to match this rule by design.
  • Prefer exclusions tied to stable attributes (approved IAM roles, automation service accounts, known script paths) rather than broad process-name allowlists unless validated.

Response and remediation

  • If activity is unauthorized: revoke or rotate exposed IAM credentials, review SSM and VPC endpoints policies, and terminate suspicious sessions from the AWS console or API.
  • Isolate the instance if compromise is suspected and perform endpoint forensics following your incident response playbook.
Raw source AWS SSM Session Manager Child Process Execution · Elastic TOML
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Published by elastic/detection-rules ↗, licensed under Elastic License 2.0 ↗. Reproduced here unmodified. 
[metadata]
creation_date = "2026/04/03"
integration = ["endpoint", "auditd_manager", "crowdstrike", "sentinel_one_cloud_funnel"]
maturity = "production"
updated_date = "2026/06/01"

[rule]
author = ["Elastic"]
description = """
Identifies process start events where the parent process is the AWS Systems Manager (SSM) Session Manager worker. 
Session Manager provides interactive shell access to EC2 instances and hybrid nodes without bastion hosts or open inbound ports.
Adversaries abuse it for remote execution and lateral movement using legitimate AWS credentials and IAM permissions.
This rule surfaces endpoint execution occurring under that worker for visibility and hunting. Expect noise from authorized
administrative sessions.
"""
false_positives = [
    """
    Legitimate operators using AWS Systems Manager Session Manager to administer instances will spawn child processes
    under the session worker. Tune with host, user, or command-line exclusions for known automation and break-glass
    workflows.
    """,
    """
    The SSM agent may invoke short-lived utilities (for example identity or environment probes) during session setup.
    Additional exclusions may be required in your environment.
    """,
]
from = "now-9m"
index = [
    "logs-endpoint.events.process*",
    "auditbeat-*",
    "logs-auditd_manager.auditd-*",
    "logs-crowdstrike.fdr*",
    "logs-sentinel_one_cloud_funnel.*"
]
language = "kuery"
license = "Elastic License v2"
name = "AWS SSM Session Manager Child Process Execution"
note = """## Triage and analysis

### Investigating AWS SSM Session Manager Child Process Execution

AWS Systems Manager Session Manager starts a session worker process on the endpoint; commands and shells you run in the
session appear as child processes of that worker. The same mechanism is used for authorized administration and for
adversary activity when IAM credentials or instance roles allow `ssm:StartSession` (or related) abuse.

### Possible investigation steps

- Confirm whether the host is an EC2 instance or managed node that legitimately uses Session Manager.
- Review `process.command_line`, `process.executable`, `process.user.name`, and `user.name` for the child process to
  judge intent (reconnaissance, download, credential access, persistence, etc.).
- Correlate timing with AWS CloudTrail for `StartSession`, `ResumeSession`, or related SSM API calls and the IAM
  principal that initiated the session.
- Pivot on the same `host.id` or instance identifier for other alerts or SSM activity in the same window.

### False positive analysis

- Routine interactive or automated administration via Session Manager is expected to match this rule by design.
- Prefer exclusions tied to stable attributes (approved IAM roles, automation service accounts, known script paths)
  rather than broad process-name allowlists unless validated.

### Response and remediation

- If activity is unauthorized: revoke or rotate exposed IAM credentials, review SSM and VPC endpoints policies, and
  terminate suspicious sessions from the AWS console or API.
- Isolate the instance if compromise is suspected and perform endpoint forensics following your incident response
  playbook.
"""
references = [
    "https://www.mitiga.io/blog/abusing-the-amazon-web-services-ssm-agent-as-a-remote-access-trojan",
    "https://hackingthe.cloud/aws/post_exploitation/run_shell_commands_on_ec2/",
    "https://docs.aws.amazon.com/systems-manager/latest/userguide/session-manager.html",
]
risk_score = 47
rule_id = "cf2b8cf5-3364-4396-b551-42aae9b6d37e"
severity = "medium"
tags = [
    "Domain: Endpoint",
    "Domain: Cloud",
    "OS: Linux",
    "OS: Windows",
    "OS: macOS",
    "Use Case: Threat Detection",
    "Tactic: Execution",
    "Data Source: Elastic Defend",
    "Data Source: Auditd Manager",
    "Data Source: Crowdstrike",
    "Data Source: SentinelOne",
    "Resources: Investigation Guide",
]
timestamp_override = "event.ingested"
type = "query"

query = '''
event.category: "process" and event.action : ("exec" or "exec_event" or "start" or "ProcessRollup2" or "executed" or "process_started") and
(
 process.parent.name:("ssm-session-worker.exe" or "ssm-session-worker" or "ssm-document-worker.exe" or "ssm-document-worker") or 
 (process.name : "powershell.exe" and process.args : *awsrunPowerShellScript*) or
 (process.name : ("dash" or "sh" or "bash") and process.args : *awsrunShellScript*) or 
 (process.parent.name : "powershell.exe" and process.parent.args : *awsrunPowerShellScript*) or
 (process.parent.name : ("dash" or "sh" or "bash") and process.parent.args : *awsrunShellScript*)
 ) and 
 not (process.name : "powershell.exe" and process.args :("$str.Substring($str.length" or *Convert-GuidToCompressedGuid* or get-wmiobject* or $wmi_proc* or *win32_quickfixengineering* or Get-wmiobject* or *Get-Service* or *Get-WmiObject* or *System32\\ntoskrnl.exe* or *GET-WMIOBJECT*)) and 
 not process.executable : ("/usr/bin/lscpu" or "/usr/bin/snap" or "/usr/bin/rpm" or "/usr/bin/dpkg-query" or /snap/snapd/*/usr/bin/snap or "/usr/bin/id" or "C:\\Program Files\\Amazon\\SSM\\Plugins\\SessionManagerShell\\winpty-agent.exe" or /var/lib/amazon/ssm/update/amazon-ssm-agent-updater/*/updater or C\:\\ProgramData\\Amazon\\SSM\\Update\\amazon-ssm-agent-updater\\*\\updater.exe) and 
 not (process.name : (dash or bash or sh or _script.sh) and process.args : /var/lib/amazon/ssm/*/document/orchestration/*/_script.sh) and 
 process.command_line :(* and not (*ssm-user or */invokeInspectorSsmPluginLinux/_script.sh or */checkExclusionPreference/_script.sh or *\\createUpdateFolder\\_script.ps1 or */checkProvisioningEligibility/_script.sh or */install/_script.sh or */uninstall/_script.sh))
'''

[[rule.threat]]
framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"
[[rule.threat.technique]]
id = "T1059"
name = "Command and Scripting Interpreter"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1059/"

[[rule.threat.technique.subtechnique]]
name = "Unix Shell"
id = "T1059.004"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1059/004/"

[[rule.threat.technique.subtechnique]]
id = "T1059.001"
name = "PowerShell"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1059/001/"
    
[[rule.threat.technique]]
id = "T1651"
name = "Cloud Administration Command"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1651/"

[rule.threat.tactic]
id = "TA0002"
name = "Execution"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0002/"

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