MITRE ATT&CKsub-technique

T1563.001 SSH Hijacking

Published 2020-02-25 Modified 2025-10-24 Official page ↗
Domain
enterprise
Tactics
Lateral Movement
Platforms
Linux, macOS
Version
1.1
Created
2020-02-25

Description

Adversaries may hijack a legitimate user's SSH session to move laterally within an environment. Secure Shell (SSH) is a standard means of remote access on Linux and macOS systems. It allows a user to connect to another system via an encrypted tunnel, commonly authenticating through a password, certificate or the use of an asymmetric encryption key pair. In order to move laterally from a compromised host, adversaries may take advantage of trust relationships established with other systems via public key authentication in active SSH sessions by hijacking an existing connection to another system. This may occur through compromising the SSH agent itself or by having access to the agent's socket. If an adversary is able to obtain root access, then hijacking SSH sessions is likely trivial. SSH Hijacking differs from use of SSH because it hijacks an existing SSH session rather than creating a new session using Valid Accounts.

Related

Subtechnique of · MITRE ATT&CK (1)

  • T1563 Remote Service Session Hijacking technique

Tactic · MITRE ATT&CK (1)

  • TA0008 Lateral Movement tactic

Referenced by MITRE ATT&CK · mitigates (4)

  • M1042 Disable or Remove Feature or Program mitigation
  • M1022 Restrict File and Directory Permissions mitigation
  • M1026 Privileged Account Management mitigation
  • M1027 Password Policies mitigation

Referenced by MITRE ATT&CK · uses (1)

  • S1220 MEDUSA software (malware)

Referenced by Compliance · mitigates (21)

  • CIS-4.5 Implement and Manage a Firewall on End-User Devices CIS Safeguard v8.1
  • CIS-4.6 Securely Manage Enterprise Assets and Software CIS Safeguard v8.1
  • CIS-4.8 Uninstall or Disable Unnecessary Services on Enterprise Assets and Software CIS Safeguard v8.1
  • CIS-6.8 Define and Maintain Role-Based Access Control CIS Safeguard v8.1
  • NIST-AC-17 Remote Access NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-AC-2 Account Management NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-AC-3 Access Enforcement NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-AC-5 Separation of Duties NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-AC-6 Least Privilege NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-CA-7 Continuous Monitoring NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-CM-2 Baseline Configuration NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-CM-5 Access Restrictions for Change 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-IA-2 Identification and Authentication (Organizational Users) NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-IA-5 Authenticator Management NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-RA-5 Vulnerability Monitoring and Scanning NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-SC-12 Cryptographic Key Establishment and Management NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-SC-23 Session Authenticity NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-SI-4 System Monitoring NIST 800-53 control

References