MITRE ATT&CKtechnique
T1202 Indirect Command Execution
- Domain
- enterprise
- Tactics
- Stealth
- Platforms
- Windows
- Version
- 2.0
- Created
- 2018-04-18
Description
Adversaries may abuse utilities that allow for command execution to bypass security restrictions that limit the use of command-line interpreters. Various Windows utilities may be used to execute commands, possibly without invoking cmd. For example, Forfiles, the Program Compatibility Assistant (`pcalua.exe`), components of the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), `Scriptrunner.exe`, as well as other utilities may invoke the execution of programs and commands from a Command and Scripting Interpreter, Run window, or via scripts. Adversaries may also abuse the `ssh.exe` binary to execute malicious commands via the `ProxyCommand` and `LocalCommand` options, which can be invoked via the `-o` flag or by modifying the SSH config file.
Adversaries may abuse these features for Stealth, specifically to perform arbitrary execution while subverting detections and/or mitigation controls (such as Group Policy) that limit/prevent the usage of cmd or file extensions more commonly associated with malicious payloads.
Related
Tactic · MITRE ATT&CK (1)
- TA0005 Stealth tactic
References
- https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/hackers-abuse-windows-error-reporting-tool-to-deploy-malware/ Bleeping Computer - Scriptrunner.exe
- https://cyble.com/blog/threat-actor-targets-manufacturing-industry-with-malware/ Threat Actor Targets the Manufacturing industry with Lumma Stealer and Amadey Bot
- https://x.com/Evi1cg/status/935027922397573120 Evi1cg Forfiles Nov 2017
- https://secureteam.co.uk/2023/01/08/windows-error-reporting-tool-abused-to-load-malware/ Secure Team - Scriptrunner.exe
- https://ss64.com/nt/scriptrunner.html SS64
- https://x.com/vector_sec/status/896049052642533376 VectorSec ForFiles Aug 2017