MITRE ATT&CKtechnique

T1037 Boot or Logon Initialization Scripts

Published 2017-05-31 Modified 2026-05-12 Official page ↗
Domain
enterprise
Tactics
Persistence, Privilege Escalation
Platforms
ESXi, Linux, macOS, Network Devices, Windows
Version
2.4
Created
2017-05-31

Description

Adversaries may use scripts automatically executed at boot or logon initialization to establish persistence. Initialization scripts can be used to perform administrative functions, which may often execute other programs or send information to an internal logging server. These scripts can vary based on operating system and whether applied locally or remotely. Adversaries may use these scripts to maintain persistence on a single system. Depending on the access configuration of the logon scripts, either local credentials or an administrator account may be necessary. An adversary may also be able to escalate their privileges since some boot or logon initialization scripts run with higher privileges.

Related

Tactic · MITRE ATT&CK (2)

  • TA0003 Persistence tactic
  • TA0004 Privilege Escalation tactic

Referenced by MITRE ATT&CK · mitigates (2)

  • M1022 Restrict File and Directory Permissions mitigation
  • M1024 Restrict Registry Permissions mitigation

Referenced by MITRE ATT&CK · subtechnique of (5)

Referenced by MITRE ATT&CK · uses (8)

  • S9024 SPAWNCHIMERA software (malware)
  • S1217 VIRTUALPITA software (malware)
  • G1048 UNC3886 group
  • C0046 ArcaneDoor campaign
  • S1078 RotaJakiro software (malware)
  • G0106 Rocke group
  • G0096 APT41 group
  • G0016 APT29 group

Referenced by CAPEC · att&ck technique (1)

  • CAPEC-564 Run Software at Logon attack pattern

Referenced by Compliance · mitigates (10)

  • CIS-2.7 Allowlist Authorized Scripts CIS Safeguard v8.1
  • NIST-AC-17 Remote Access NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-AC-3 Access Enforcement NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-CA-7 Continuous Monitoring NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-CM-2 Baseline Configuration NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-CM-6 Configuration Settings NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-CM-7 Least Functionality NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-SI-3 Malicious Code Protection NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-SI-4 System Monitoring NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-SI-7 Software, Firmware, and Information Integrity NIST 800-53 control

References