MITRE ATT&CKtechnique

T1606 Forge Web Credentials

Published 2020-12-17 Modified 2025-10-24 Official page ↗
Domain
enterprise
Tactics
Credential Access
Platforms
SaaS, Windows, macOS, Linux, IaaS, Office Suite, Identity Provider
Version
1.5
Created
2020-12-17

Description

Adversaries may forge credential materials that can be used to gain access to web applications or Internet services. Web applications and services (hosted in cloud SaaS environments or on-premise servers) often use session cookies, tokens, or other materials to authenticate and authorize user access. Adversaries may generate these credential materials in order to gain access to web resources. This differs from Steal Web Session Cookie, Steal Application Access Token, and other similar behaviors in that the credentials are new and forged by the adversary, rather than stolen or intercepted from legitimate users. The generation of web credentials often requires secret values, such as passwords, Private Keys, or other cryptographic seed values. Adversaries may also forge tokens by taking advantage of features such as the `AssumeRole` and `GetFederationToken` APIs in AWS, which allow users to request temporary security credentials (i.e., Temporary Elevated Cloud Access), or the `zmprov gdpak` command in Zimbra, which generates a pre-authentication key that can be used to generate tokens for any user in the domain. Once forged, adversaries may use these web credentials to access resources (ex: Use Alternate Authentication Material), which may bypass multi-factor and other authentication protection mechanisms.

Related

Tactic · MITRE ATT&CK (1)

  • TA0006 Credential Access tactic

Referenced by MITRE ATT&CK · mitigates (4)

  • M1054 Software Configuration mitigation
  • M1047 Audit mitigation
  • M1018 User Account Management mitigation
  • M1026 Privileged Account Management mitigation

Referenced by MITRE ATT&CK · subtechnique of (2)

Referenced by CAPEC · att&ck technique (1)

  • CAPEC-196 Session Credential Falsification through Forging attack pattern

Referenced by Compliance · mitigates (9)

  • CIS-18.3 Remediate Penetration Test Findings CIS Safeguard v8.1
  • CIS-6.8 Define and Maintain Role-Based Access Control CIS Safeguard v8.1
  • 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-IA-13 Identity Providers and Authorization Servers NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-SC-17 Public Key Infrastructure Certificates NIST 800-53 control
  • NIST-SI-2 Flaw Remediation NIST 800-53 control

References