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T1543 Create or Modify System Process Mappings

Adversaries may create or modify system-level processes to repeatedly execute malicious payloads as part of persistence. When operating systems boot up, they can start processes that perform background system functions. On Windows and Linux, these system processes are referred to as services.(Citation: TechNet Services) On macOS, launchd processes known as Launch Daemon and Launch Agent are run to finish system initialization and load user specific parameters.(Citation: AppleDocs Launch Agent Daemons)

Adversaries may install new services, daemons, or agents that can be configured to execute at startup or a repeatable interval in order to establish persistence. Similarly, adversaries may modify existing services, daemons, or agents to achieve the same effect.

Services, daemons, or agents may be created with administrator privileges but executed under root/SYSTEM privileges. Adversaries may leverage this functionality to create or modify system processes in order to escalate privileges.(Citation: OSX Malware Detection)

View in MITRE ATT&CK®

NIST 800-53 Mappings

Capability ID Capability Description Mapping Type ATT&CK ID ATT&CK Name Notes
CA-07 Continuous Monitoring mitigates T1543 Create or Modify System Process
CM-06 Configuration Settings mitigates T1543 Create or Modify System Process
CM-05 Access Restrictions for Change mitigates T1543 Create or Modify System Process
AC-17 Remote Access mitigates T1543 Create or Modify System Process
SA-22 Unsupported System Components mitigates T1543 Create or Modify System Process
CM-11 User-installed Software mitigates T1543 Create or Modify System Process
IA-04 Identifier Management mitigates T1543 Create or Modify System Process
SI-16 Memory Protection mitigates T1543 Create or Modify System Process
RA-05 Vulnerability Monitoring and Scanning mitigates T1543 Create or Modify System Process
SI-03 Malicious Code Protection mitigates T1543 Create or Modify System Process
SI-07 Software, Firmware, and Information Integrity mitigates T1543 Create or Modify System Process
CM-02 Baseline Configuration mitigates T1543 Create or Modify System Process
CM-02 Baseline Configuration mitigates T1543 Create or Modify System Process
IA-02 Identification and Authentication (Organizational Users) mitigates T1543 Create or Modify System Process
CM-07 Least Functionality mitigates T1543 Create or Modify System Process
SI-04 System Monitoring mitigates T1543 Create or Modify System Process
AC-02 Account Management mitigates T1543 Create or Modify System Process
AC-03 Access Enforcement mitigates T1543 Create or Modify System Process
AC-05 Separation of Duties mitigates T1543 Create or Modify System Process
AC-06 Least Privilege mitigates T1543 Create or Modify System Process
CM-03 Configuration Change Control mitigates T1543 Create or Modify System Process

VERIS Mappings

Capability ID Capability Description Mapping Type ATT&CK ID ATT&CK Name Notes
action.hacking.variety.Abuse of functionality Abuse of functionality. related-to T1543 Create or Modify System Process
action.hacking.variety.Backdoor Hacking action that creates a backdoor for use. related-to T1543 Create or Modify System Process
action.hacking.vector.Backdoor Hacking actions taken through a backdoor. C2 is only used by malware. related-to T1543 Create or Modify System Process
action.malware.variety.Backdoor Malware creates a backdoor capability for hacking. Child of 'RAT' when combined with 'Trojan'. Child of 'Backdoor or C2'. related-to T1543 Create or Modify System Process
action.malware.variety.Backdoor or C2 Malware creates a remote control capability, but it's unclear if it's a backdoor for hacking or C2 for malware. Parent of 'C2' and 'Backdoor'. related-to T1543 Create or Modify System Process
action.malware.variety.Rootkit Rootkit (maintain local privileges and stealth) related-to T1543 Create or Modify System Process
attribute.integrity.variety.Software installation Software installation or code modification related-to T1543 Create or Modify System Process

GCP Mappings

Capability ID Capability Description Mapping Type ATT&CK ID ATT&CK Name Notes
google_secops Google Security Operations technique_scores T1543 Create or Modify System Process
Comments
Google Security Ops is able to trigger an alert based on creation or modification to system-level processes on Windows machines. https://github.com/chronicle/detection-rules/blob/783e0e5947774785db1c55041b70176deeca6f46/soc_prime_rules/threat_hunting/process_creation/suspicious_process_creation.yaral
References
  1. ['https://cloud.google.com/security/products/security-operations'
  2. 'https://cloud.google.com/chronicle/docs/secops/secops-overview'
  3. 'https://github.com/chronicle/detection-rules']

AWS Mappings

Capability ID Capability Description Mapping Type ATT&CK ID ATT&CK Name Notes
amazon_inspector Amazon Inspector technique_scores T1543 Create or Modify System Process
Comments
The Amazon Inspector Best Practices assessment package can assess security control "Configure permissions for system directories" that prevents privilege escalation by local users and ensures only the root account can modify/execute system configuration information and binaries. Amazon Inspector does not directly protect against system modifications rather it just checks to see if security controls are in place which can inform decisions around hardening the system. Furthermore, Amazon Inspector only supports a subset of the sub-techniques for this technique. Due to these things and the fact the security control is only supported for Linux platforms, the score is Minimal.
References
  1. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/inspector/latest/userguide/inspector_introduction.html

ATT&CK Subtechniques

Technique ID Technique Name Number of Mappings
T1543.003 Windows Service 12
T1543.004 Launch Daemon 11
T1543.005 Container Service 9
T1543.001 Launch Agent 11
T1543.002 Systemd Service 19