Understanding Wazuh by Exploring the Open Source Projects Behind It

Wazuh is a powerful security information and event management (SIEM) platform, but its documentation can often feel complex and overwhelming—especially for newcomers. However, by exploring the open-source technologies that Wazuh is built upon, we can break it down into manageable parts and gain a much clearer understanding of how it all works.

Why Understanding the Stack Matters

Instead of diving directly into Wazuh as a monolithic black box, a better approach is to study the key open-source components that power it. This bottom-up method gives you more control and insight, allowing you to debug, customize, and extend your setup with confidence.

The Core of Wazuh: Open Source Stack Overview

At its core, Wazuh is a modern fork of OSSEC, extended with powerful integrations and built for scalability.

graph TD
  A["OSSEC Core (HIDS)"] --> B["Wazuh Manager"]
  B --> C["Elasticsearch"]
  B --> D["Filebeat / Logstash"]
  C --> E["Kibana (Wazuh Plugin)"]
  B --> F["OpenSCAP"]
  B --> G["YARA"]

Breakdown of Key Components

Layer	Project	Purpose
HIDS Core	OSSEC	Detect file changes, rootkits, log anomalies
Compliance	OpenSCAP	Check against security baselines (CIS, STIG, etc.)
Malware Detection	YARA	Pattern-based malware detection engine
Log Collection	Filebeat / Logstash	Collect and process logs from agents
Indexing & Search	Elasticsearch	Stores and queries event data
Visualization	Kibana + Wazuh Plugin	Dashboards and search interface

Learning Path to Master Wazuh

1. Start with OSSEC

Learn how agents send data to the manager
Understand rule-based alerting and decoders
Explore the original HIDS design

2. Explore OpenSCAP

Run a scan on your Linux system
Study how security compliance benchmarks work
Generate reports using oscap CLI

3. Learn YARA

Write custom rules to detect threats
Scan files and processes
Integrate YARA rules into Wazuh

4. Try Filebeat or Logstash

Send system logs to Elasticsearch
Use processors and filters to enrich data
Experiment with input/output plugins

5. Understand Elasticsearch

Learn about indices, mappings, and queries
Use Kibana Dev Tools to explore stored logs
Build alerting logic based on indexed data

6. Visualize with Kibana

Install and configure the Wazuh plugin
Build custom dashboards for your security alerts
Learn to use filters, timelines, and visual tools

Why This Matters

By understanding each open-source component, you will:

Debug problems more effectively
Customize your environment for specific needs
Contribute to or extend Wazuh itself
Build trust in your SIEM infrastructure

Conclusion

Wazuh may seem complex at first, but breaking it down into its open-source roots reveals a modular and understandable system. By mastering each component—OSSEC, OpenSCAP, YARA, Elasticsearch, and more—you become empowered to not only use Wazuh, but to innovate with it.