T1480: Execution Guardrails

View on MITRE ATT&CK T1480
Tactic(s) Defense Evasion

Data from MITRE ATT&CK®:

Adversaries may use execution guardrails to constrain execution or actions based on adversary supplied and environment specific conditions that are expected to be present on the target. Guardrails ensure that a payload only executes against an intended target and reduces collateral damage from an adversary’s campaign.(Citation: FireEye Kevin Mandia Guardrails) Values an adversary can provide about a target system or environment to use as guardrails may include specific network share names, attached physical devices, files, joined Active Directory (AD) domains, and local/external IP addresses.(Citation: FireEye Outlook Dec 2019)

Guardrails can be used to prevent exposure of capabilities in environments that are not intended to be compromised or operated within. This use of guardrails is distinct from typical Virtualization/Sandbox Evasion. While use of Virtualization/Sandbox Evasion may involve checking for known sandbox values and continuing with execution only if there is no match, the use of guardrails will involve checking for an expected target-specific value and only continuing with execution if there is such a match.

© 2024 The MITRE Corporation. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of The MITRE Corporation.

Cyber Threat Graph Context

Explore how this ATT&CK Technique relates to the wider threat graph

Reporting on this Technique

Report

Cyberespionage Group Earth Hundun's Continuous Refinement of Waterbear and Deuterbear

This blog post from researchers at Trend Micro discusses the cyberespionage group Earth Hundun and its malware, Waterbear and Deuterbear, which ...

Mitigations for this technique

MITRE ATT&CK Mitigations

How to detect this technique

MITRE ATT&CK Data Components