Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges. Exploitation of a software vulnerability occurs when an adversary takes advantage of a programming error in a program, service, or within the operating system software or kernel itself to execute adversary-controlled code. Security constructs such as permission levels will often hinder access to information and use of certain techniques, so adversaries will likely need to perform privilege escalation to include use of software exploitation to circumvent those restrictions.
When initially gaining access to a system, an adversary may be operating within a lower privileged process which will prevent them from accessing certain resources on the system. Vulnerabilities may exist, usually in operating system components and software commonly running at higher permissions, that can be exploited to gain higher levels of access on the system. This could enable someone to move from unprivileged or user level permissions to SYSTEM or root permissions depending on the component that is vulnerable. This could also enable an adversary to move from a virtualized environment, such as within a virtual machine or container, onto the underlying host. This may be a necessary step for an adversary compromising an endpoint system that has been properly configured and limits other privilege escalation methods.
Adversaries may bring a signed vulnerable driver onto a compromised machine so that they can exploit the vulnerability to execute code in kernel mode. This process is sometimes referred to as Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD).(Citation: ESET InvisiMole June 2020)(Citation: Unit42 AcidBox June 2020) Adversaries may include the vulnerable driver with files delivered during Initial Access or download it to a compromised system via Ingress Tool Transfer or Lateral Tool Transfer.
View in MITRE ATT&CK®| Capability ID | Capability Description | Mapping Type | ATT&CK ID | ATT&CK Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| artifact_registry | Artifact Registry | technique_scores | T1068 | Exploitation for Privilege Escalation |
Comments
Once this control is deployed, it can detect known OS package vulnerabilities in various Linux OS packages (e.g., Debian, Ubuntu, Alpine, RHEL, CentOS, National Vulnerability Database)
References
|
| chronicle | Chronicle | technique_scores | T1068 | Exploitation for Privilege Escalation |
Comments
Chronicle is able to trigger alert based on suspicious command line behavior that could indicate remote code exploitation attempts (e.g., detect exploits using child processes spawned by Windows DNS processes).
This technique was scored as minimal based on low or uncertain detection coverage factor.
https://github.com/chronicle/detection-rules/blob/783e0e5947774785db1c55041b70176deeca6f46/soc_prime_rules/proactive_exploit_detection/process_creation/cve_2020_1350_dns_remote_code_exploit__sigred___via_cmdline.yaral
References
|
| policy_intelligence | Policy Intelligence | technique_scores | T1068 | Exploitation for Privilege Escalation |
Comments
IAM Recommender helps admins remove unwanted access to GCP resources by using machine learning to make smart access control recommendations. With Recommender, security teams can automatically detect overly permissive access and rightsize them based on similar users in the organization and their access patterns. This control may mitigate adversaries that try to perform privilege escalation via permission levels and software exploitation.
References
|
| vmmanager | VMManager | technique_scores | T1068 | Exploitation for Privilege Escalation |
Comments
VM Manager can apply on-demand and scheduled patches via automated patch deployment. This can remediate OS and software vulnerabilities that could otherwise be exploited. Since VM Manager doesn't directly prevent exploitation of active vulnerabilities (including zero day vulnerabilities) this control has resulted in a score of Partial.
References
|
| container_registry | Container Registry | technique_scores | T1068 | Exploitation for Privilege Escalation |
Comments
Container Registry scans the repository for known software vulnerabilities and various system artifacts that could potentially be used to execute adversary-controlled code. Due to the medium threat protection coverage and temporal factor, this control was scored as partial.
References
|