T1204.003 Malicious Image Mappings

Adversaries may rely on a user running a malicious image to facilitate execution. Amazon Web Services (AWS) Amazon Machine Images (AMIs), Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Images, and Azure Images as well as popular container runtimes such as Docker can be backdoored. Backdoored images may be uploaded to a public repository via Upload Malware, and users may then download and deploy an instance or container from the image without realizing the image is malicious, thus bypassing techniques that specifically achieve Initial Access. This can lead to the execution of malicious code, such as code that executes cryptocurrency mining, in the instance or container.(Citation: Summit Route Malicious AMIs)

Adversaries may also name images a certain way to increase the chance of users mistakenly deploying an instance or container from the image (ex: Match Legitimate Name or Location).(Citation: Aqua Security Cloud Native Threat Report June 2021)

View in MITRE ATT&CK®

VERIS Mappings

Capability ID Capability Description Mapping Type ATT&CK ID ATT&CK Name Notes
action.malware.variety.Downloader Downloader (pull updates or other malware) related-to T1204.003 User Execution: Malicious Image
action.malware.variety.Other Other related-to T1204.003 User Execution: Malicious Image
action.malware.variety.Trojan An application which appears legitimate but hides malicious functionality. Child of 'RAT' when combined with 'Backdoor' related-to T1204.003 User Execution: Malicious Image
action.social.variety.Phishing Any type of *ishing. Phishing always involves getting data from the victim. Phishing usually has some element of pretexting, but often it doesn’t rise to the level of an invented scenario. E.g. A fake google login page isn’t really pretexting. related-to T1204.003 User Execution: Malicious Image
action.social.variety.Pretexting Pretexting (dialogue leveraging invented scenario). Unlike 'Phishing', does not transfer data. (A fraudulent transfer or changing a bank account on a business account is not really disclosing data. related-to T1204.003 User Execution: Malicious Image
action.social.vector.Email Email related-to T1204.003 User Execution: Malicious Image
action.social.vector.Social media Social media or networking related-to T1204.003 User Execution: Malicious Image

AWS Mappings

Capability ID Capability Description Mapping Type ATT&CK ID ATT&CK Name Notes
aws_config AWS Config technique_scores T1204.003 Malicious Image
Comments
The following AWS Config managed rules can identify running instances that are not using AMIs within a specified allow list: "approved-amis-by-id" and "approved-amis-by-tag", both of which are run on configuration changes. They provide significant coverage, resulting in an overall score of Significant.
References