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osquery

Query your endpoints with SQL

Exposes the operating system as a relational database so processes, users, packages and configuration can be queried with SQL on Linux, macOS and Windows.

Open sourceApache-2.0 OR GPL-2.0-only
Alternative toCrowdStrike Falcon
Homepage of osquery
Official website (osquery.io), captured by ThreatWire.

What osquery does

osquery turns system state into SQL tables: running processes, loaded kernel modules, open network connections, installed packages, browser extensions and hundreds more. Queries can be run interactively (osqueryi) or on a schedule by the daemon (osqueryd), which logs differences over time.

It is used for fleet visibility, intrusion detection and compliance, typically with a fleet manager such as Fleet or a SIEM. The project, created at Facebook, is now hosted by the Linux Foundation.

Key features

  • Hundreds of SQL tables describing the OS
  • Interactive shell and scheduled daemon
  • Linux, macOS and Windows support
  • Event-based tables for process and file events
  • Extensions and remote management APIs

Licence

Apache-2.0 OR GPL-2.0-only · Apache License 2.0 or GNU GPL v2 (your choice) · Open source

GitHub does not detect the licence; the LICENSE file offers a choice between Apache-2.0 and GPL-2.0.

Checked by ThreatWire against the repository's licence file on 2026-10-20. GitHub detects: NOASSERTION.

Security of osquery itself

9 published advisories for osquery in GitHub repository advisories. Keep the tool updated: security tools often run with broad access.

  • GHSA-4r78-6hg6-33ggCVE-2026-54000high2026-07-01

    Heap buffer overflow via `processes` table (Windows)

  • GHSA-hr28-jvpx-68cxCVE-2026-54001high2026-07-01

    Heap buffer overflow via `authenticode` table (Windows)

  • GHSA-fg78-9q98-62hhCVE-2026-46388medium2026-07-01

    Unprivileged users can temporarily read file carve contents

  • GHSA-4g56-2482-x7q8CVE-2020-26273medium2020-12-15

    sqlite ATTACH allows some filesystem access

  • GHSA-29q7-6g57-5vc6CVE-2017-15028low2020-07-10

    known_hosts should drop privileges

  • GHSA-hx5j-mvj5-rq2mCVE-2017-15027low2020-07-10

    safari_extensions table should not use parent paths for privilege dropping

  • GHSA-3227-mxf9-vw74CVE-2017-15026low2020-07-10

    ie_extensions table susceptible to SQL injection

  • GHSA-pjmv-4494-jx3fCVE-2020-1887low2020-07-10

    osquery does not validate TLS SNI hostname

  • GHSA-2xwp-8fv7-c5pmCVE-2020-11081low2020-07-10

    osquery susceptible to DLL search order hijacking of zlib1.dll

Sources: GitHub repository advisories · checked 2026-10-20.

Categories and tags

Endpoint visibility and responseDigital forensics and incident response#endpoint#sql#linux-foundation#fleet#security#monitoring#intrusion-detection#hacktoberfest

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