MITRE ATT&CKtechnique

T1202 Indirect Command Execution

Published 2018-04-18 Modified 2026-05-12 Official page ↗
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)

Referenced by MITRE ATT&CK · uses (4)

  • G1039 RedCurl group
  • S0379 Revenge RAT software (malware)
  • S0193 Forfiles software (tool)
  • G0032 Lazarus Group group

References