Adversaries may inject code into processes in order to evade process-based defenses as well as possibly elevate privileges. Process injection is a method of executing arbitrary code in the address space of a separate live process. Running code in the context of another process may allow access to the process's memory, system/network resources, and possibly elevated privileges. Execution via process injection may also evade detection from security products since the execution is masked under a legitimate process.
There are many different ways to inject code into a process, many of which abuse legitimate functionalities. These implementations exist for every major OS but are typically platform specific.
More sophisticated samples may perform multiple process injections to segment modules and further evade detection, utilizing named pipes or other inter-process communication (IPC) mechanisms as a communication channel.
View in MITRE ATT&CK®| Capability ID | Capability Description | Mapping Type | ATT&CK ID | ATT&CK Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AC-2 | Account Management | Protects | T1055 | Process Injection |
| AC-3 | Access Enforcement | Protects | T1055 | Process Injection |
| AC-5 | Separation of Duties | Protects | T1055 | Process Injection |
| AC-6 | Least Privilege | Protects | T1055 | Process Injection |
| CM-5 | Access Restrictions for Change | Protects | T1055 | Process Injection |
| CM-6 | Configuration Settings | Protects | T1055 | Process Injection |
| IA-2 | Identification and Authentication (organizational Users) | Protects | T1055 | Process Injection |
| SC-18 | Mobile Code | Protects | T1055 | Process Injection |
| SC-7 | Boundary Protection | Protects | T1055 | Process Injection |
| SI-2 | Flaw Remediation | Protects | T1055 | Process Injection |
| SI-3 | Malicious Code Protection | Protects | T1055 | Process Injection |
| SI-4 | System Monitoring | Protects | T1055 | Process Injection |
| action.malware.variety.In-memory | (malware never stored to persistent storage) | related-to | T1055 | Process Injection |
| Technique ID | Technique Name | Number of Mappings |
|---|---|---|
| T1055.011 | Extra Window Memory Injection | 7 |
| T1055.003 | Thread Execution Hijacking | 7 |
| T1055.013 | Process Doppelgänging | 7 |
| T1055.004 | Asynchronous Procedure Call | 7 |
| T1055.002 | Portable Executable Injection | 7 |
| T1055.014 | VDSO Hijacking | 7 |
| T1055.012 | Process Hollowing | 7 |
| T1055.009 | Proc Memory | 10 |
| T1055.005 | Thread Local Storage | 7 |
| T1055.008 | Ptrace System Calls | 13 |
| T1055.015 | ListPlanting | 1 |
| T1055.001 | Dynamic-link Library Injection | 7 |