Adversaries may leverage Microsoft Office-based applications for persistence between startups. Microsoft Office is a fairly common application suite on Windows-based operating systems within an enterprise network. There are multiple mechanisms that can be used with Office for persistence when an Office-based application is started; this can include the use of Office Template Macros and add-ins.
A variety of features have been discovered in Outlook that can be abused to obtain persistence, such as Outlook rules, forms, and Home Page.(Citation: SensePost Ruler GitHub) These persistence mechanisms can work within Outlook or be used through Office 365.(Citation: TechNet O365 Outlook Rules)
View in MITRE ATT&CK®Technique ID | Technique Name | Number of Mappings |
---|---|---|
T1137.006 | Add-ins | 6 |
T1137.005 | Outlook Rules | 7 |
T1137.001 | Office Template Macros | 10 |
T1137.003 | Outlook Forms | 7 |
T1137.004 | Outlook Home Page | 7 |
T1137.002 | Office Test | 10 |