contextual information associated with a virtual machine image, such as its name, resource group, status (active or inactive), type (custom or prebuilt), size, creation date, and permissions. This metadata is critical for understanding the state and configuration of virtual machine images in cloud environments. Examples: - Azure Compute Service Image Metadata Example: - Name: MyCustomImage - Resource Group: MyResourceGroup - State: Available - Type: Managed Image - AWS EC2 AMI Metadata Example: - Image ID: ami-1234567890abcdef0 - Name: ProdImage - State: Available - Platform: Windows - Google Cloud Compute Engine Image Metadata Example: - Image Name: webserver-image - Project: my-project-id - Family: webserver - Source Disk: my-disk-id - VMware vSphere Template Metadata Example: - Name: LinuxTemplate - Disk Size: 40GB - Network Adapter: VM Network
Adversary uses renamed container images, injects files into containers with misleading names or metadata (e.g., renamed system binaries), and executes them during startup or scheduled jobs.
Direct execution of /bin/vmx or presence of rogue .vmx files not registered in vCenter inventory. Defender perspective: anomalous commands in shell history, edits to rc.local.d/local.sh for persistence.
Detects malicious containers or pods using names, labels, or namespaces that mimic legitimate workloads; also checks for image layer mismatches and unauthorized resource deployments.