/deploying-osquery-for-endpoint-monitoring

name: deploying-osquery-for-endpoint-monitoring
description: 'Deploys and configures osquery for real-time endpoint monitoring using SQL-based queries to inspect running
  processes, open ports, installed software, and system configuration. Use when building visibility into endpoint state, threat
  hunting across fleet, or implementing compliance monitoring. Activates for requests involving osquery deployment, endpoint
  visibility, fleet management, or SQL-based endpoint querying.

  '
domain: cybersecurity
subdomain: endpoint-security
tags:
- endpoint
- osquery
- endpoint-monitoring
- threat-hunting
- fleet-management
mitre_attack:
- T1547
- T1049
- T1620
- T1053.003
- T1548.001
- T1552
version: 1.0.0
author: mahipal
license: Apache-2.0
nist_csf:
- PR.PS-01
- PR.PS-02
- DE.CM-01
- PR.IR-01

Deploying Osquery for Endpoint Monitoring

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• Deploying osquery across Windows, macOS, and Linux endpoints for fleet-wide visibility
• Building threat hunting queries using osquery's SQL interface
• Monitoring endpoint compliance (installed software, open ports, running services)
• Integrating osquery data with SIEM or Kolide/Fleet for centralized management

**Do not use** for real-time alerting (osquery is periodic/on-demand; use EDR for real-time).

Prerequisites

• Osquery package for target OS (https://osquery.io/downloads)
• Fleet management server (Kolide Fleet or FleetDM) for enterprise deployment
• TLS certificates for secure agent-to-server communication
• Log aggregation pipeline (Filebeat, Fluentd) for osquery result logs

Workflow

Step 1: Install Osquery

# Ubuntu/Debian
export OSQUERY_KEY=1484120AC4E9F8A1A577AEEE97A80C63C9D8B80B
apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 --recv-keys $OSQUERY_KEY
add-apt-repository 'deb [arch=amd64] https://pkg.osquery.io/deb deb main'
apt-get update && apt-get install osquery -y

# Windows (MSI)
# Download from https://osquery.io/downloads/official
msiexec /i osquery-5.12.1.msi /quiet

# macOS
brew install osquery

Step 2: Configure Osquery

// /etc/osquery/osquery.conf (Linux/macOS) or C:\ProgramData\osquery\osquery.conf
{
  "options": {
    "config_plugin": "filesystem",
    "logger_plugin": "filesystem",
    "logger_path": "/var/log/osquery",
    "disable_logging": "false",
    "schedule_splay_percent": "10",
    "events_expiry": "3600",
    "verbose": "false",
    "worker_threads": "2",
    "enable_monitor": "true",
    "disable_events": "false",
    "disable_audit": "false",
    "audit_allow_config": "true",
    "host_identifier": "hostname",
    "enable_syslog": "true"
  },
  "schedule": {
    "process_monitor": {
      "query": "SELECT pid, name, path, cmdline, uid, parent FROM processes WHERE on_disk = 0;",
      "interval": 300,
      "description": "Detect processes running without on-disk binary (fileless)"
    },
    "listening_ports": {
      "query": "SELECT DISTINCT p.name, p.path, lp.port, lp.protocol, lp.address FROM listening_ports lp JOIN processes p ON lp.pid = p.pid WHERE lp.port != 0;",
      "interval": 600,
      "description": "Monitor listening network ports"
    },
    "persistence_check": {
      "query": "SELECT name, path, source FROM startup_items;",
      "interval": 3600,
      "description": "Monitor persistence mechanisms"
    },
    "installed_packages": {
      "query": "SELECT name, version, source FROM deb_packages;",
      "interval": 86400,
      "description": "Daily software inventory"
    },
    "users_and_groups": {
      "query": "SELECT u.username, u.uid, u.gid, u.shell, u.directory FROM users u WHERE u.uid >= 1000;",
      "interval": 3600
    },
    "crontab_monitor": {
      "query": "SELECT * FROM crontab;",
      "interval": 3600,
      "description": "Monitor scheduled tasks"
    },
    "suid_binaries": {
      "query": "SELECT path, username, permissions FROM suid_bin;",
      "interval": 86400,
      "description": "Detect SUID binaries"
    }
  },
  "packs": {
    "incident-response": "/usr/share/osquery/packs/incident-response.conf",
    "ossec-rootkit": "/usr/share/osquery/packs/ossec-rootkit.conf",
    "vuln-management": "/usr/share/osquery/packs/vuln-management.conf"
  }
}

Step 3: Threat Hunting Queries

-- Detect processes with no on-disk binary (potential fileless malware)
SELECT pid, name, path, cmdline FROM processes WHERE on_disk = 0;

-- Find listening ports not associated with known services
SELECT lp.port, lp.protocol, p.name, p.path
FROM listening_ports lp JOIN processes p ON lp.pid = p.pid
WHERE lp.port NOT IN (22, 80, 443, 3306, 5432);

-- Detect unauthorized SSH keys
SELECT * FROM authorized_keys WHERE NOT key LIKE '%admin-team%';

-- Find recently modified system binaries
SELECT path, mtime, size FROM file
WHERE path LIKE '/usr/bin/%' AND mtime > (strftime('%s', 'now') - 86400);

-- Detect processes connecting to external IPs
SELECT DISTINCT p.name, p.path, pn.remote_address, pn.remote_port
FROM process_open_sockets pn JOIN processes p ON pn.pid = p.pid
WHERE pn.remote_address NOT LIKE '10.%'
  AND pn.remote_address NOT LIKE '172.16.%'
  AND pn.remote_address NOT LIKE '192.168.%'
  AND pn.remote_address != '127.0.0.1'
  AND pn.remote_address != '0.0.0.0';

-- Windows: Detect unsigned running executables
SELECT p.name, p.path, a.result AS signature_status
FROM processes p JOIN authenticode a ON p.path = a.path
WHERE a.result != 'trusted';

Step 4: Deploy FleetDM for Centralized Management

# FleetDM provides centralized osquery management
# Deploy FleetDM server, configure agents to report to it
# Agents use TLS enrollment and config from Fleet

# Agent configuration for Fleet:
# --tls_hostname=fleet.corp.com
# --tls_server_certs=/etc/osquery/fleet.pem
# --enroll_secret_path=/etc/osquery/enroll_secret

Key Concepts

| Term | Definition | |------|-----------| | **Osquery** | Open-source endpoint agent that exposes OS state as SQL tables for querying | | *