MITRE ATT&CKsub-technique

T1563.002 RDP Hijacking

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

Description

Adversaries may hijack a legitimate user’s remote desktop session to move laterally within an environment. Remote desktop is a common feature in operating systems. It allows a user to log into an interactive session with a system desktop graphical user interface on a remote system. Microsoft refers to its implementation of the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) as Remote Desktop Services (RDS). Adversaries may perform RDP session hijacking which involves stealing a legitimate user's remote session. Typically, a user is notified when someone else is trying to steal their session. With System permissions and using Terminal Services Console, `c:\windows\system32\tscon.exe [session number to be stolen]`, an adversary can hijack a session without the need for credentials or prompts to the user. This can be done remotely or locally and with active or disconnected sessions. It can also lead to Remote System Discovery and Privilege Escalation by stealing a Domain Admin or higher privileged account session. All of this can be done by using native Windows commands, but it has also been added as a feature in red teaming tools.

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 (7)

  • M1035 Limit Access to Resource Over Network mitigation
  • M1042 Disable or Remove Feature or Program mitigation
  • M1047 Audit mitigation
  • M1030 Network Segmentation mitigation
  • M1018 User Account Management mitigation
  • M1026 Privileged Account Management mitigation
  • M1028 Operating System Configuration mitigation

Referenced by MITRE ATT&CK · uses (3)

  • G1059 NIMBUS MANTICORE group
  • S0366 WannaCry software (malware)
  • G0001 Axiom group

Referenced by Compliance · mitigates (25)

  • CIS-12.8 Establish and Maintain Dedicated Computing Resources for All Administrative Work CIS Safeguard v8.1
  • CIS-16.8 Separate Production and Non-Production Systems 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
  • 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-11 Device Lock NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-AC-12 Session Termination NIST 800-53 control
  • 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-4 Information Flow 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-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-RA-5 Vulnerability Monitoring and Scanning NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-SC-46 Cross Domain Policy Enforcement NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-SC-7 Boundary Protection NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-SI-4 System Monitoring NIST 800-53 control

References