1200KM / sigma-rule
Mask System Power Settings Via Systemctl — Sigma Rule
Sigma rule c172b7b5-f3a1-4af2-90b7-822c63df86cb. Mask System Power Settings Via Systemctl — Sigma Rule. Detects the use of systemctl mask to disable system power management targets such as suspend, hibernate, or hybrid sleep. Adversaries may mask these targets to prevent a system from entering sleep or shutdown states, ensuring their malicious processes remain active and uninterrupted. This behavior can be associated with persistence or defense evasion, as it impairs normal system power operations to maintain long-term access or avoid termination of malicious activity.
Rule metadata and linked tags
Author: Milad Cheraghi, Nasreddine Bencherchali. Source status: experimental; severity: high. Source dates: 2025-10-17 / not supplied.
{
"category": "process_creation",
"product": "linux"
}Pinned original Sigma rule · Detection Rule License 1.1
Source SHA-256: aec63f66cbd94bcd4ec70447c5f915e1f8df028accf9a750599dc1e4028a8223
Detection logic
Original source YAML. Source-tag agreement is not proof of complete semantic coverage. This rule has not been compiled for a SIEM backend or validated against live telemetry here.
title: Mask System Power Settings Via Systemctl
id: c172b7b5-f3a1-4af2-90b7-822c63df86cb
status: experimental
description: |
Detects the use of systemctl mask to disable system power management targets such as suspend, hibernate, or hybrid sleep.
Adversaries may mask these targets to prevent a system from entering sleep or shutdown states, ensuring their malicious processes remain active and uninterrupted.
This behavior can be associated with persistence or defense evasion, as it impairs normal system power operations to maintain long-term access or avoid termination of malicious activity.
author: Milad Cheraghi, Nasreddine Bencherchali
date: 2025-10-17
references:
- https://www.man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/systemctl.1.html
- https://linux-audit.com/systemd/faq/what-is-the-difference-between-systemctl-disable-and-systemctl-mask/
tags:
- attack.persistence
- attack.impact
- attack.t1653
logsource:
category: process_creation
product: linux
detection:
selection_systemctl:
Image|endswith: '/systemctl'
CommandLine|contains: ' mask'
selection_power_options:
CommandLine|contains:
- 'suspend.target'
- 'hibernate.target'
- 'hybrid-sleep.target'
condition: all of selection_*
falsepositives:
- Unlikely
level: high
False positives
- Unlikely
Source references
Connected ecosystem references
Exact source-tagged techniques
Telemetry review
Read the original logsource above, then inspect the linked detection workspaces for technique-level sensor context. No per-rule telemetry equivalence is inferred.
Pinned research references. No browser attack runner, live simulation result or validated detector is asserted. Source mappings and validation limits are preserved. ATT&CK / Atomic provenance · Detection provenance.