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T1553 Subvert Trust Controls

Adversaries may undermine security controls that will either warn users of untrusted activity or prevent execution of untrusted programs. Operating systems and security products may contain mechanisms to identify programs or websites as possessing some level of trust. Examples of such features would include a program being allowed to run because it is signed by a valid code signing certificate, a program prompting the user with a warning because it has an attribute set from being downloaded from the Internet, or getting an indication that you are about to connect to an untrusted site.

Adversaries may attempt to subvert these trust mechanisms. The method adversaries use will depend on the specific mechanism they seek to subvert. Adversaries may conduct File and Directory Permissions Modification or Modify Registry in support of subverting these controls.(Citation: SpectorOps Subverting Trust Sept 2017) Adversaries may also create or steal code signing certificates to acquire trust on target systems.(Citation: Securelist Digital Certificates)(Citation: Symantec Digital Certificates)

View in MITRE ATT&CK®

NIST 800-53 Mappings

Capability ID Capability Description Mapping Type ATT&CK ID ATT&CK Name Notes
CM-06 Configuration Settings mitigates T1553 Subvert Trust Controls
CM-05 Access Restrictions for Change mitigates T1553 Subvert Trust Controls
IA-09 Service Identification and Authentication mitigates T1553 Subvert Trust Controls
SA-10 Developer Configuration Management mitigates T1553 Subvert Trust Controls
IA-07 Cryptographic Module Authentication mitigates T1553 Subvert Trust Controls
CM-10 Software Usage Restrictions mitigates T1553 Subvert Trust Controls
RA-09 Criticality Analysis mitigates T1553 Subvert Trust Controls
SC-34 Non-modifiable Executable Programs mitigates T1553 Subvert Trust Controls
SI-02 Flaw Remediation mitigates T1553 Subvert Trust Controls
CM-08 System Component Inventory mitigates T1553 Subvert Trust Controls
SI-10 Information Input Validation mitigates T1553 Subvert Trust Controls
SI-07 Software, Firmware, and Information Integrity mitigates T1553 Subvert Trust Controls
CM-02 Baseline Configuration mitigates T1553 Subvert Trust Controls
CM-02 Baseline Configuration mitigates T1553 Subvert Trust Controls
SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation mitigates T1553 Subvert Trust Controls
CM-07 Least Functionality mitigates T1553 Subvert Trust Controls
SI-04 System Monitoring mitigates T1553 Subvert Trust Controls
AC-06 Least Privilege mitigates T1553 Subvert Trust Controls
AC-03 Access Enforcement mitigates T1553 Subvert Trust Controls
AC-02 Account Management mitigates T1553 Subvert Trust Controls
CM-03 Configuration Change Control mitigates T1553 Subvert Trust Controls

VERIS Mappings

Capability ID Capability Description Mapping Type ATT&CK ID ATT&CK Name Notes
action.hacking.variety.Evade Defenses Modification of the action (rather than the system, as in 'Disable controls') to avoid detection. related-to T1553 Subvert Trust Controls
action.malware.variety.Disable controls Disable or interfere with security controls related-to T1553 Subvert Trust Controls
action.malware.variety.Evade Defenses Modification of the action (rather than the system, as in 'Disable controls') to avoid detection. related-to T1553 Subvert Trust Controls
action.social.variety.Evade Defenses Modification of the action (rather than the system, as in 'Disable controls') to avoid detection. related-to T1553 Subvert Trust Controls

Azure Mappings

Capability ID Capability Description Mapping Type ATT&CK ID ATT&CK Name Notes
file_integrity_monitoring Microsoft Defender for Cloud: File Integrity Monitoring technique_scores T1553 Subvert Trust Controls
Comments
This control can be used to detect a subset of this technique's sub-techniques while minimizing the false positive rate.
References
  1. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/defender-for-cloud/file-integrity-monitoring-overview
azure_dedicated_hsm Azure Dedicated HSM technique_scores T1553 Subvert Trust Controls
Comments
Provides protection against sub-techniques involved with stealing credentials / certificates / keys from the organization.
References
  1. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/dedicated-hsm/overview
  2. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/key-vault/managed-hsm/

GCP Mappings

Capability ID Capability Description Mapping Type ATT&CK ID ATT&CK Name Notes
cloud_hsm Cloud Hardware Security Module (HSM) technique_scores T1553 Subvert Trust Controls
Comments
Google Cloud's HSM may protect against adversary's attempts to undermine trusted controls and conduct nefarious activity or execute malicious programs. Variations of this technique are difficult to mitigate, so a partial score was granted for this control's medium to high coverage factor.
References
  1. ['https://cloud.google.com/kms/docs/hsm']
cloud_key_management Cloud Key Management technique_scores T1553 Subvert Trust Controls
Comments
Protects against trust mechanisms and stealing of code signing certificates
References
  1. ['https://cloud.google.com/security-key-management']

AWS Mappings

Capability ID Capability Description Mapping Type ATT&CK ID ATT&CK Name Notes
aws_cloudhsm AWS CloudHSM technique_scores T1553 Subvert Trust Controls
Comments
This service provides protection against sub-techniques involved with stealing credentials, certificates, and keys from the organization.
References
  1. https://aws.amazon.com/cloudhsm/
  2. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cloudhsm/latest/userguide/use-cases.html
  3. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cloudhsm/latest/userguide/introduction.html

ATT&CK Subtechniques

Technique ID Technique Name Number of Mappings
T1553.001 Gatekeeper Bypass 7
T1553.002 Code Signing 3
T1553.003 SIP and Trust Provider Hijacking 12
T1553.006 Code Signing Policy Modification 15
T1553.005 Mark-of-the-Web Bypass 7
T1553.004 Install Root Certificate 10