Adversaries may inject portable executables (PE) into processes in order to evade process-based defenses as well as possibly elevate privileges. PE injection is a method of executing arbitrary code in the address space of a separate live process.
PE injection is commonly performed by copying code (perhaps without a file on disk) into the virtual address space of the target process before invoking it via a new thread. The write can be performed with native Windows API calls such as <code>VirtualAllocEx</code> and <code>WriteProcessMemory</code>, then invoked with <code>CreateRemoteThread</code> or additional code (ex: shellcode). The displacement of the injected code does introduce the additional requirement for functionality to remap memory references. (Citation: Elastic Process Injection July 2017)
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 PE injection may also evade detection from security products since the execution is masked under a legitimate process.
View in MITRE ATT&CK®| Capability ID | Capability Description | Mapping Type | ATT&CK ID | ATT&CK Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AC-6 | Least Privilege | Protects | T1055.002 | Portable Executable Injection |
| SC-18 | Mobile Code | Protects | T1055.002 | Portable Executable Injection |
| SC-7 | Boundary Protection | Protects | T1055.002 | Portable Executable Injection |
| SI-2 | Flaw Remediation | Protects | T1055.002 | Portable Executable Injection |
| SI-3 | Malicious Code Protection | Protects | T1055.002 | Portable Executable Injection |
| SI-4 | System Monitoring | Protects | T1055.002 | Portable Executable Injection |
| action.malware.variety.In-memory | (malware never stored to persistent storage) | related-to | T1055.002 | Process Injection: Portable Executable Injection |