OSSEC is an Open Source Host-based Intrusion Detection System.
It performs log analysis, integrity checking, monitoring, rootkit detection, real-time alerting and active response.
In addition to being deployed as an HIDS, it is commonly used strictly as a log analysis tool, monitoring and analyzing firewalls, IDSs, web servers and authentication logs.
Key Features
- Unix-only:
- Unix PAM.
- sshd (OpenSSH).
- Solaris telnetd.
- Samba.
- Su.
- Sudo.
- FTP servers:
- ProFTPd.
- Pure-FTPd.
- vsftpd.
- Microsoft FTP Server.
- Solaris ftpd.
- Mail servers:
- Imapd and pop3d.
- Postfix.
- Sendmail.
- vpopmail.
- Microsoft Exchange Server.
- Databases:
- PostgreSQL.
- MySQL.
- Web servers:
- Apache HTTP Server (access log and error log).
- IIS web server (NSCA and W3C extended).
- Zeus Web Server errors log.
- Web applications:
- Horde IMP.
- Modsecurity.
- Firewalls:
- Iptables firewall.
- Solaris IPFilter firewall.
- AIX ipsec/firewall.
- Netscreen firewall.
- Windows Firewall.
- Cisco PIX.
- Cisco FWSM.
- Cisco ASA.
- NIDS:
- Cisco IOS IDS/IPS module.
- Snort IDS (snort full, snort fast and snort syslog).
- Security tools:
- Symantec AntiVirus.
- Nmap.
- Arpwatch.
- Cisco VPN Concentrator.
- Others:
- Named (BIND).
- Squid proxy.
- Zeus eXtensible Traffic Manager.
- Generic unix authentication (adduser, logins, etc).
Website: www.ossec.net
Support: Documentation, GitHub Code Repository
Developer: Daniel B. Cid
License: GNU General Public License v2.0
OSSEC is written in C. Learn C with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| Host-Based Intrusion Detection Systems | |
|---|---|
| Wazuh | Platform used for threat prevention, detection, and response |
| OSSEC | Full platform to monitor and control your systems. |
| Falco | Cloud native runtime security tool |
| Tracee | Runtime security and observability tool |
| AIDE | Advanced Intrusion Detection Environment |
| Logwatch | Powerful and versatile log parser and analyzer |
| Samhain | File integrity checking and log file monitoring/analysis and more |
| Sagan | Multi-threads, high performance log analysis engine |
| Hades | Uses eBPF and the netlink process connector to monitor activity |
| rkhunter | Scans for rootkits, backdoors and possible local exploits |
| Tripwire | Security and data integrity tool |
| chkrootkit | Locally checks for signs of a rootkit |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
| Vulnerability Detection Tools | |
|---|---|
| sqlmap | Automates testing and exploitation of SQL injection flaws |
| Nuclei | Fast and customisable vulnerability scanner |
| OpenVAS | Full-featured vulnerability scanner |
| Nikto | Web server scanner |
| OWASP ZAP | Popular web application security scanner and penetration testing proxy |
| Vuls | Agentless security scanner for Linux, FreeBSD and network environments |
| Tsunami | Extensible network security scanner for identifying exposed services |
| OSV-Scanner | Scans projects and dependencies against the OSV database |
| grype | Vulnerability scanner for container images and filesystems |
| Dalfox | Fast command-line tool for analysing and exploiting XSS flaws |
| Wapiti | Black-box web application scanner with broad attack coverage |
| testssl.sh | Tests TLS/SSL services, protocols, ciphers and cryptographic weaknesses |
| jSQL Injection | Java tool for automatically testing and exploiting SQL injection flaws |
| sif | Penetration testing suite combining reconnaissance and exploitation tools |
| XSSer | Automates testing, exploitation and reporting of cross-site scripting flaws |
| Terrapin | Terrapin Vulnerability Scanner for the Terrapin attack |
| Trivy | Comprehensive and versatile security scanner |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
 Explore our carefully curated directory of recommended free and open source software, covering every major software category.The directory forms part of our extensive collection of articles for Linux enthusiasts. It includes hundreds of detailed reviews, together with free and open source alternatives to proprietary software from companies such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. LinuxLinks also covers interesting projects worth exploring, Linux-compatible hardware, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. Know a useful free and open source Linux application that we haven’t covered? Tell us about it using our submission form. |
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.