T1546: Event Triggered Execution
| View on MITRE ATT&CK | T1546 |
|---|---|
| Tactic(s) | Persistence, Privilege Escalation |
Data from MITRE ATT&CK®:
Adversaries may establish persistence and/or elevate privileges using system mechanisms that trigger execution based on specific events. Various operating systems have means to monitor and subscribe to events such as logons or other user activity such as running specific applications/binaries. Cloud environments may also support various functions and services that monitor and can be invoked in response to specific cloud events.(Citation: Backdooring an AWS account)(Citation: Varonis Power Automate Data Exfiltration)(Citation: Microsoft DART Case Report 001)
Adversaries may abuse these mechanisms as a means of maintaining persistent access to a victim via repeatedly executing malicious code. After gaining access to a victim system, adversaries may create/modify event triggers to point to malicious content that will be executed whenever the event trigger is invoked.(Citation: FireEye WMI 2015)(Citation: Malware Persistence on OS X)(Citation: amnesia malware)
Since the execution can be proxied by an account with higher permissions, such as SYSTEM or service accounts, an adversary may be able to abuse these triggered execution mechanisms to escalate their privileges.
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Cyber Threat Graph Context
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Reporting on this Technique
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How to detect this technique
MITRE ATT&CK Data Components
Module Load (Module)
Attaching a module into the memory of a process/program, typically to access shared resources/features provided by the module (ex: Sysmon EID 7)File Modification (File)
Changes made to a file, or its access permissions and attributes, typically to alter the contents of the targeted file (ex: Windows EID 4670 or Sysmon EID 2)Cloud Service Modification (Cloud Service)
Changes made to a cloud service, including its settings and/or data (ex: AWS CloudTrail DeleteTrail or DeleteConfigRule)Windows Registry Key Modification (Windows Registry)
Changes made to a Registry Key and/or Key value (ex: Windows EID 4657 or Sysmon EID 13|14)File Metadata (File)
Contextual data about a file, which may include information such as name, the content (ex: signature, headers, or data/media), user/owner, permissions, etc.Process Creation (Process)
The initial construction of an executable managed by the OS, that may involve one or more tasks or threads. (e.g. Win EID 4688, Sysmon EID 1, cmd.exe > net use, etc.)Command Execution (Command)
The execution of a line of text, potentially with arguments, created from program code (e.g. a cmdlet executed via powershell.exe, interactive commands like >dir, shell executions, etc. )WMI Creation (WMI)
Initial construction of a WMI object, such as a filter, consumer, subscription, binding, or provider (ex: Sysmon EIDs 19-21)File Creation (File)
Initial construction of a new file (ex: Sysmon EID 11)Control Validation Tests for this Technique
Use Atomic Red Team tests to test your defenses against this technique.
Sigma Detections for this Technique
Outlook Macro Execution Without Warning Setting Enabled
Suspicious Outlook Macro Created
COM Hijack via Sdclt
New Outlook Macro Created
Potential Persistence Via Outlook LoadMacroProviderOnBoot Setting
Suspicious Get-Variable.exe Creation
Control Panel Items
SP800-53 Controls
See which controls can help protect against this MITRE ATT&CK technique. This is based on mappings to associated SP800-53 controls produced by the MITRE Engenuity Center for Threat-Informed Defense.