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File Integrity Monitoring

The File Integrity Monitoring integration reports filesystem changes in real time.

Version
1.14.1 (View all)
Compatible Kibana version(s)
8.7.1 or higher
Supported Serverless project types

Security
Observability
Subscription level
Basic
Level of support
Elastic

This integration sends events when a file is changed (created, updated, or deleted) on disk. The events contain file metadata and hashes.

The integration is implemented for Linux, macOS (Darwin), and Windows.

⚠️ This integration should not be used to monitor paths on network file systems.

How it works

This integration uses features of the operating system to monitor file changes in realtime. When the integration starts it creates a subscription with the OS to receive notifications of changes to the specified files or directories. Upon receiving notification of a change the integration will read the file’s metadata and then compute a hash of the file’s contents.

At startup this integration will perform an initial scan of the configured files and directories to generate baseline data for the monitored paths and detect changes since the last time it was run. It uses locally persisted data in order to only send events for new or modified files.

Compatibility

The operating system features that power this feature are as follows:

  • Linux - inotify is used, and therefore the kernel must have inotify support. Inotify was initially merged into the 2.6.13 Linux kernel.
  • macOS (Darwin) - Uses the FSEvents API, present since macOS 10.5. This API coalesces multiple changes to a file into a single event. Auditbeat translates this coalesced changes into a meaningful sequence of actions. However, in rare situations the reported events may have a different ordering than what actually happened.
  • Windows - ReadDirectoryChangesW is used.

An example event for event looks as following:

{
    "@timestamp": "2022-12-26T05:20:54.547Z",
    "agent": {
        "ephemeral_id": "7bc73d63-724e-4502-95c1-ff11478b89ec",
        "id": "8921fb55-4463-4944-8dea-074038035111",
        "name": "docker-fleet-agent",
        "type": "auditbeat",
        "version": "8.3.0"
    },
    "data_stream": {
        "dataset": "fim.event",
        "namespace": "ep",
        "type": "logs"
    },
    "ecs": {
        "version": "8.11.0"
    },
    "elastic_agent": {
        "id": "8921fb55-4463-4944-8dea-074038035111",
        "snapshot": false,
        "version": "8.5.0"
    },
    "event": {
        "action": [
            "created"
        ],
        "agent_id_status": "verified",
        "category": [
            "file"
        ],
        "dataset": "fim.event",
        "ingested": "2022-12-26T05:20:55Z",
        "kind": "event",
        "module": "file_integrity",
        "type": [
            "creation"
        ]
    },
    "file": {
        "ctime": "2022-12-26T05:20:54.531Z",
        "gid": "1000",
        "group": "elastic-agent",
        "hash": {
            "sha1": "22596363b3de40b06f981fb85d82312e8c0ed511"
        },
        "inode": "11794491",
        "mode": "0644",
        "mtime": "2022-12-26T05:20:54.531Z",
        "owner": "elastic-agent",
        "path": "/tmp/service_logs/hello",
        "size": 12,
        "type": "file",
        "uid": "1000"
    },
    "host": {
        "architecture": "x86_64",
        "containerized": false,
        "hostname": "docker-fleet-agent",
        "id": "66392b0697b84641af8006d87aeb89f1",
        "ip": [
            "192.168.128.7"
        ],
        "mac": [
            "02-42-C0-A8-80-07"
        ],
        "name": "docker-fleet-agent",
        "os": {
            "codename": "focal",
            "family": "debian",
            "kernel": "5.10.104-linuxkit",
            "name": "Ubuntu",
            "platform": "ubuntu",
            "type": "linux",
            "version": "20.04.5 LTS (Focal Fossa)"
        }
    },
    "service": {
        "type": "file_integrity"
    },
    "tags": [
        "fim-event"
    ]
}

Exported fields

FieldDescriptionType
@timestamp
Event timestamp.
date
cloud.account.id
The cloud account or organization id used to identify different entities in a multi-tenant environment. Examples: AWS account id, Google Cloud ORG Id, or other unique identifier.
keyword
cloud.availability_zone
Availability zone in which this host is running.
keyword
cloud.image.id
Image ID for the cloud instance.
keyword
cloud.instance.id
Instance ID of the host machine.
keyword
cloud.instance.name
Instance name of the host machine.
keyword
cloud.machine.type
Machine type of the host machine.
keyword
cloud.project.id
Name of the project in Google Cloud.
keyword
cloud.provider
Name of the cloud provider. Example values are aws, azure, gcp, or digitalocean.
keyword
cloud.region
Region in which this host is running.
keyword
container.id
Unique container id.
keyword
container.image.name
Name of the image the container was built on.
keyword
container.labels
Image labels.
object
container.name
Container name.
keyword
container.runtime
Runtime managing this container.
keyword
data_stream.dataset
Data stream dataset.
constant_keyword
data_stream.namespace
Data stream namespace.
constant_keyword
data_stream.type
Data stream type.
constant_keyword
destination.address
Some event destination addresses are defined ambiguously. The event will sometimes list an IP, a domain or a unix socket. You should always store the raw address in the .address field. Then it should be duplicated to .ip or .domain, depending on which one it is.
keyword
ecs.version
ECS version this event conforms to. ecs.version is a required field and must exist in all events. When querying across multiple indices -- which may conform to slightly different ECS versions -- this field lets integrations adjust to the schema version of the events.
keyword
error.message
Error message.
match_only_text
event.action
The action captured by the event. This describes the information in the event. It is more specific than event.category. Examples are group-add, process-started, file-created. The value is normally defined by the implementer.
keyword
event.dataset
Event dataset
constant_keyword
event.ingested
Timestamp when an event arrived in the central data store. This is different from @timestamp, which is when the event originally occurred. It's also different from event.created, which is meant to capture the first time an agent saw the event. In normal conditions, assuming no tampering, the timestamps should chronologically look like this: @timestamp < event.created < event.ingested.
date
event.module
Event module
constant_keyword
event.outcome
This is one of four ECS Categorization Fields, and indicates the lowest level in the ECS category hierarchy. event.outcome simply denotes whether the event represents a success or a failure from the perspective of the entity that produced the event. Note that when a single transaction is described in multiple events, each event may populate different values of event.outcome, according to their perspective. Also note that in the case of a compound event (a single event that contains multiple logical events), this field should be populated with the value that best captures the overall success or failure from the perspective of the event producer. Further note that not all events will have an associated outcome. For example, this field is generally not populated for metric events, events with event.type:info, or any events for which an outcome does not make logical sense.
keyword
file.ctime
Last time the file attributes or metadata changed. Note that changes to the file content will update mtime. This implies ctime will be adjusted at the same time, since mtime is an attribute of the file.
date
file.extension
File extension, excluding the leading dot. Note that when the file name has multiple extensions (example.tar.gz), only the last one should be captured ("gz", not "tar.gz").
keyword
file.gid
Primary group ID (GID) of the file.
keyword
file.group
Primary group name of the file.
keyword
file.hash.sha1
SHA1 hash.
keyword
file.inode
Inode representing the file in the filesystem.
keyword
file.mime_type
MIME type should identify the format of the file or stream of bytes using https://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/media-types.xhtml\[IANA official types], where possible. When more than one type is applicable, the most specific type should be used.
keyword
file.mode
Mode of the file in octal representation.
keyword
file.mtime
Last time the file content was modified.
date
file.origin
An array of strings describing a possible external origin for this file. For example, the URL it was downloaded from. Only supported in macOS, via the kMDItemWhereFroms attribute. Omitted if origin information is not available.
keyword
file.origin.text
Multi-field of file.origin.
text
file.owner
File owner's username.
keyword
file.path
Full path to the file, including the file name. It should include the drive letter, when appropriate.
keyword
file.path.text
Multi-field of file.path.
match_only_text
file.setgid
Set if the file has the setgid bit set. Omitted otherwise.
boolean
file.setuid
Set if the file has the setuid bit set. Omitted otherwise.
boolean
file.size
File size in bytes. Only relevant when file.type is "file".
long
file.target_path
Target path for symlinks.
keyword
file.target_path.text
Multi-field of file.target_path.
match_only_text
file.type
File type (file, dir, or symlink).
keyword
file.uid
The user ID (UID) or security identifier (SID) of the file owner.
keyword
group.id
Unique identifier for the group on the system/platform.
keyword
group.name
Name of the group.
keyword
host.architecture
Operating system architecture.
keyword
host.containerized
If the host is a container.
boolean
host.domain
Name of the domain of which the host is a member. For example, on Windows this could be the host's Active Directory domain or NetBIOS domain name. For Linux this could be the domain of the host's LDAP provider.
keyword
host.hostname
Hostname of the host. It normally contains what the hostname command returns on the host machine.
keyword
host.id
Unique host id. As hostname is not always unique, use values that are meaningful in your environment. Example: The current usage of beat.name.
keyword
host.ip
Host ip addresses.
ip
host.mac
Host mac addresses.
keyword
host.name
Name of the host. It can contain what hostname returns on Unix systems, the fully qualified domain name, or a name specified by the user. The sender decides which value to use.
keyword
host.os.build
OS build information.
keyword
host.os.codename
OS codename, if any.
keyword
host.os.family
OS family (such as redhat, debian, freebsd, windows).
keyword
host.os.kernel
Operating system kernel version as a raw string.
keyword
host.os.name
Operating system name, without the version.
keyword
host.os.name.text
Multi-field of host.os.name.
text
host.os.platform
Operating system platform (such centos, ubuntu, windows).
keyword
host.os.version
Operating system version as a raw string.
keyword
host.type
Type of host. For Cloud providers this can be the machine type like t2.medium. If vm, this could be the container, for example, or other information meaningful in your environment.
keyword
input.type
Input type
keyword
log.file.path
Full path to the log file this event came from, including the file name. It should include the drive letter, when appropriate. If the event wasn't read from a log file, do not populate this field.
keyword
log.offset
Log offset
long
message
For log events the message field contains the log message, optimized for viewing in a log viewer. For structured logs without an original message field, other fields can be concatenated to form a human-readable summary of the event. If multiple messages exist, they can be combined into one message.
match_only_text
network.direction
Direction of the network traffic. When mapping events from a host-based monitoring context, populate this field from the host's point of view, using the values "ingress" or "egress". When mapping events from a network or perimeter-based monitoring context, populate this field from the point of view of the network perimeter, using the values "inbound", "outbound", "internal" or "external". Note that "internal" is not crossing perimeter boundaries, and is meant to describe communication between two hosts within the perimeter. Note also that "external" is meant to describe traffic between two hosts that are external to the perimeter. This could for example be useful for ISPs or VPN service providers.
keyword
process.args
Array of process arguments, starting with the absolute path to the executable. May be filtered to protect sensitive information.
keyword
process.args_count
Length of the process.args array. This field can be useful for querying or performing bucket analysis on how many arguments were provided to start a process. More arguments may be an indication of suspicious activity.
long
process.executable
Absolute path to the process executable.
keyword
process.executable.text
Multi-field of process.executable.
match_only_text
process.exit_code
The exit code of the process, if this is a termination event. The field should be absent if there is no exit code for the event (e.g. process start).
long
process.name
Process name. Sometimes called program name or similar.
keyword
process.name.text
Multi-field of process.name.
match_only_text
process.parent.pid
Process id.
long
process.pid
Process id.
long
process.working_directory
The working directory of the process.
keyword
process.working_directory.text
Multi-field of process.working_directory.
match_only_text
service.type
The type of the service data is collected from. The type can be used to group and correlate logs and metrics from one service type. Example: If logs or metrics are collected from Elasticsearch, service.type would be elasticsearch.
keyword
source.address
Some event source addresses are defined ambiguously. The event will sometimes list an IP, a domain or a unix socket. You should always store the raw address in the .address field. Then it should be duplicated to .ip or .domain, depending on which one it is.
keyword
source.as.number
Unique number allocated to the autonomous system. The autonomous system number (ASN) uniquely identifies each network on the Internet.
long
source.as.organization.name
Organization name.
keyword
source.as.organization.name.text
Multi-field of source.as.organization.name.
match_only_text
source.geo.city_name
City name.
keyword
source.geo.continent_name
Name of the continent.
keyword
source.geo.country_iso_code
Country ISO code.
keyword
source.geo.country_name
Country name.
keyword
source.geo.location
Longitude and latitude.
geo_point
source.geo.region_iso_code
Region ISO code.
keyword
source.geo.region_name
Region name.
keyword
source.ip
IP address of the source (IPv4 or IPv6).
ip
tags
List of keywords used to tag each event.
keyword
user.effective.group.id
Unique identifier for the group on the system/platform.
keyword
user.effective.group.name
Name of the group.
keyword
user.effective.id
Unique identifier of the user.
keyword
user.effective.name
Short name or login of the user.
keyword
user.effective.name.text
Multi-field of user.effective.name.
match_only_text
user.group.id
Unique identifier for the group on the system/platform.
keyword
user.id
Unique identifier of the user.
keyword
user.name
Short name or login of the user.
keyword
user.name.text
Multi-field of user.name.
match_only_text
user.target.group.id
Unique identifier for the group on the system/platform.
keyword
user.target.group.name
Name of the group.
keyword
user.target.id
Unique identifier of the user.
keyword
user.target.name
Short name or login of the user.
keyword
user.target.name.text
Multi-field of user.target.name.
match_only_text

Changelog

VersionDetailsKibana version(s)

1.14.1

Enhancement View pull request
Changed owners

8.7.1 or higher

1.14.0

Enhancement View pull request
ECS version updated to 8.11.0.

8.7.1 or higher

1.13.0

Enhancement View pull request
ECS version updated to 8.10.0.

8.7.1 or higher

1.12.0

Enhancement View pull request
The format_version in the package manifest changed from 2.11.0 to 3.0.0. Removed dotted YAML keys from package manifest. Added 'owner.type: elastic' to package manifest.

8.7.1 or higher

1.11.0

Enhancement View pull request
Add tags.yml file so that integration's dashboards and saved searches are tagged with "Security Solution" and displayed in the Security Solution UI.

8.7.1 or higher

1.10.1

Bug fix View pull request
Exclude files that are regularly updated.

8.7.1 or higher

1.10.0

Enhancement View pull request
Added dashboard for FIM events overview.

8.7.1 or higher

1.9.0

Enhancement View pull request
Update package to ECS 8.9.0.

8.2.0 or higher

1.8.0

Enhancement View pull request
Ensure event.kind is correctly set for pipeline errors.

8.2.0 or higher

1.7.0

Enhancement View pull request
Update package to ECS 8.8.0.

8.2.0 or higher

1.6.0

Enhancement View pull request
Update package-spec version to 2.7.0.

8.2.0 or higher

1.5.0

Enhancement View pull request
Update package to ECS 8.7.0.

8.2.0 or higher

1.4.3

Enhancement View pull request
Added categories and/or subcategories.

8.2.0 or higher

1.4.2

Bug fix View pull request
fixed duplicate key issue in processors.

8.2.0 or higher

1.4.1

Enhancement View pull request
Add host metadata

8.2.0 or higher

1.4.0

Enhancement View pull request
Update package to ECS 8.6.0.

8.2.0 or higher

1.3.0

Enhancement View pull request
Update package to ECS 8.5.0.

8.2.0 or higher

1.2.3

Bug fix View pull request
Fix path configuration documentation.

8.2.0 or higher

1.2.2

Bug fix View pull request
Remove duplicate fields.

8.2.0 or higher

1.2.1

Enhancement View pull request
Use ECS geo.location definition.

8.2.0 or higher

1.2.0

Enhancement View pull request
Update package to ECS 8.4.0

8.2.0 or higher

1.1.0

Enhancement View pull request
Update package to ECS 8.3.0.

8.2.0 or higher

1.0.0

Enhancement View pull request
Make GA and compatible with 8.2

8.2.0 or higher

0.1.0

Enhancement View pull request
Initial version

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