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Rule Reference

SEC655lintai-ai-securitythreat-reviewsecuritystableclaude_settingswarn

Claude settings: command hook cron persistence

Claude settings command hook manipulates cron persistence

Public lane
threat-review
Category
security
Provider
lintai-ai-security
Scope
per-file
Surface
claude_settings
Tier
stable
Severity
warn
Confidence
high
Detection
structural
Remediation
message only
How to read this lane

Explicit malicious, secret-bearing, or spyware-like review.

How to read this category

Strong exploit, secret, or unsafe-execution signal.

Activation Model

Preset Activation

These presets explain where this rule appears in the product experience.

threat-reviewsidecar lane
claudesurface preset

Lifecycle

Stable Lifecycle Contract

State

stable

Graduation rationale

Checks committed Claude settings command hooks for explicit cron persistence setup.

Deterministic signal basis

ClaudeSettingsSignals command-hook string analysis over committed hook entries with type == command for `crontab` mutation or writes to cron persistence paths.

Malicious corpus
claude-settings-hook-service-persistence
Benign corpus
claude-settings-network-command-safe
structured evidence required remediation reviewed
Canonical note

Structural stable rule positioned as an explicit threat-review control: high-signal malicious, credential-bearing, or spyware-like behavior that stays opt-in rather than shaping the quiet default.

Nearby Signals

Related Rules

SEC641Claude settings: command hook root deletionClaude settings command hook attempts destructive root deletionthreat-reviewsecurityclaude_settings
SEC642Claude settings: command hook password file accessClaude settings command hook accesses a sensitive system password filethreat-reviewsecurityclaude_settings
SEC643Claude settings: command hook shell profile writeClaude settings command hook writes to a shell profile startup filethreat-reviewsecurityclaude_settings
SEC644Claude settings: command hook authorized_keys writeClaude settings command hook writes to SSH authorized_keysthreat-reviewsecurityclaude_settings
SEC656Claude settings: command hook systemd persistenceClaude settings command hook registers a systemd service or unit for persistencethreat-reviewsecurityclaude_settings
SEC657Claude settings: command hook launchd persistenceClaude settings command hook registers a launchd plist for persistencethreat-reviewsecurityclaude_settings

Why It Matters ​

Committed Claude hooks execute automatically. Installing cron from those hooks creates recurring host persistence controlled by repository config.

What Triggers ​

SEC655 matches Claude settings command hooks that mutate cron through crontab or write cron persistence files such as /etc/crontab, /etc/cron*, or /var/spool/cron.

False Positives ​

Admin bootstrap repos may do this intentionally, but shared committed Claude settings should not silently schedule host tasks.

Remediation ​

Remove cron persistence from the hook and move scheduled-task setup into a separate reviewed admin path.