Detection Strategy for Container and Resource Discovery

ID: DET0490
Domains: Enterprise
Analytics: AN1352
Version: 1.0
Created: 21 October 2025
Last Modified: 21 October 2025

Analytics

AN1352

Detection of adversary attempts to enumerate containers, pods, nodes, and related resources within containerized environments. Defenders may observe anomalous API calls to Docker or Kubernetes (e.g., 'docker ps', 'kubectl get pods', 'kubectl get nodes'), unusual account activity against the Kubernetes dashboard, or unexpected queries against container metadata endpoints. These events should be correlated with user context and network activity to reveal resource discovery attempts.

Log Sources
Data Component Name Channel
Pod Enumeration (DC0037) kubernetes:apiserver list or get requests against pods, deployments, or nodes
Container Enumeration (DC0091) docker:daemon docker ps, docker inspect, or docker images commands
Mutable Elements
Field Description
UserAllowList Defines which service accounts and admin roles are expected to perform discovery actions. Activity by non-allowlisted identities may indicate adversary discovery.
TimeWindow Specifies correlation period (e.g., 10m) for linking multiple discovery attempts across API and daemon logs.
PodQueryThreshold Defines threshold for number of pod/node enumeration requests by a single user. Excessive queries may indicate scanning activity.