MITRE ATT&CKsub-technique

T1218.012 Verclsid

Published 2020-08-10 Modified 2026-05-12 Official page ↗
Domain
enterprise
Tactics
Stealth
Platforms
Windows
Version
3.0
Created
2020-08-10

Description

Adversaries may abuse verclsid.exe to proxy execution of malicious code. Verclsid.exe is known as the Extension CLSID Verification Host and is responsible for verifying each shell extension before they are used by Windows Explorer or the Windows Shell. Adversaries may abuse verclsid.exe to execute malicious payloads. This may be achieved by running verclsid.exe /S /C {CLSID}, where the file is referenced by a Class ID (CLSID), a unique identification number used to identify COM objects. COM payloads executed by verclsid.exe may be able to perform various malicious actions, such as loading and executing COM scriptlets (SCT) from remote servers (similar to Regsvr32). Since the binary may be signed and/or native on Windows systems, proxying execution via verclsid.exe may bypass application control solutions that do not account for its potential abuse.

Related

Subtechnique of · MITRE ATT&CK (1)

  • T1218 System Binary Proxy Execution technique

Tactic · MITRE ATT&CK (1)

Referenced by MITRE ATT&CK · mitigates (3)

  • M1037 Filter Network Traffic mitigation
  • M1038 Execution Prevention mitigation
  • M1042 Disable or Remove Feature or Program mitigation

Referenced by MITRE ATT&CK · uses (1)

  • S0499 Hancitor software (malware)

Referenced by Compliance · mitigates (20)

  • CIS-13.4 Perform Traffic Filtering Between Network Segments CIS Safeguard v8.1
  • CIS-2.5 Allowlist Authorized Software CIS Safeguard v8.1
  • CIS-4.4 Implement and Manage a Firewall on Servers CIS Safeguard v8.1
  • CIS-4.5 Implement and Manage a Firewall on End-User Devices CIS Safeguard v8.1
  • NIST-AC-3 Access Enforcement NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-AC-4 Information Flow Enforcement NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-CA-7 Continuous Monitoring NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-CM-11 User-installed Software 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-CM-8 System Component Inventory NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-RA-5 Vulnerability Monitoring and Scanning NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-SC-7 Boundary Protection NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-SI-10 Information Input Validation NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-SI-15 Information Output Filtering NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-SI-16 Memory Protection 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