Permission Groups Discovery: Local Groups
Other sub-techniques of Permission Groups Discovery (3)
ID | Name |
---|---|
T1069.001 | Local Groups |
T1069.002 | Domain Groups |
T1069.003 | Cloud Groups |
Adversaries may attempt to find local system groups and permission settings. The knowledge of local system permission groups can help adversaries determine which groups exist and which users belong to a particular group. Adversaries may use this information to determine which users have elevated permissions, such as the users found within the local administrators group.
Commands such as net localgroup
of the Net utility, dscl . -list /Groups
on macOS, and groups
on Linux can list local groups.
Procedure Examples
Name | Description |
---|---|
admin@338 |
admin@338 actors used the following command following exploitation of a machine with LOWBALL malware to list local groups: |
BloodHound |
BloodHound can collect information about local groups and members.[2] |
Emissary |
Emissary has the capability to execute the command |
Epic | |
FlawedAmmyy |
FlawedAmmyy enumerates the privilege level of the victim during the initial infection.[5] |
Helminth | |
JPIN | |
Kazuar |
Kazuar gathers information about local groups and members.[8] |
Kwampirs |
Kwampirs collects a list of users belonging to the local users and administrators groups with the commands |
Net |
Commands such as |
OilRig |
OilRig has used |
OSInfo | |
PoshC2 |
PoshC2 contains modules, such as |
POWRUNER |
POWRUNER may collect local group information by running |
Sys10 |
Sys10 collects the group name of the logged-in user and sends it to the C2.[15] |
Turla |
Turla has used |
Mitigations
This type of attack technique cannot be easily mitigated with preventive controls since it is based on the abuse of system features.
Detection
System and network discovery techniques normally occur throughout an operation as an adversary learns the environment. Data and events should not be viewed in isolation, but as part of a chain of behavior that could lead to other activities, such as Lateral Movement, based on the information obtained.
Monitor processes and command-line arguments for actions that could be taken to gather system and network information. Remote access tools with built-in features may interact directly with the Windows API to gather information. Information may also be acquired through Windows system management tools such as Windows Management Instrumentation and PowerShell.
References
- FireEye Threat Intelligence. (2015, December 1). China-based Cyber Threat Group Uses Dropbox for Malware Communications and Targets Hong Kong Media Outlets. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
- Red Team Labs. (2018, April 24). Hidden Administrative Accounts: BloodHound to the Rescue. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
- Falcone, R. and Miller-Osborn, J.. (2016, February 3). Emissary Trojan Changelog: Did Operation Lotus Blossom Cause It to Evolve?. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
- Kaspersky Lab's Global Research & Analysis Team. (2014, August 06). The Epic Turla Operation: Solving some of the mysteries of Snake/Uroboros. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
- Proofpoint Staff. (2018, March 7). Leaked Ammyy Admin Source Code Turned into Malware. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
- Unit 42. (2017, December 15). Unit 42 Playbook Viewer. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
- Windows Defender Advanced Threat Hunting Team. (2016, April 29). PLATINUM: Targeted attacks in South and Southeast Asia. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
- Levene, B, et al. (2017, May 03). Kazuar: Multiplatform Espionage Backdoor with API Access. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
- Symantec Security Response Attack Investigation Team. (2018, April 23). New Orangeworm attack group targets the healthcare sector in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
- Savill, J. (1999, March 4). Net.exe reference. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
- Falcone, R. and Lee, B.. (2016, May 26). The OilRig Campaign: Attacks on Saudi Arabian Organizations Deliver Helminth Backdoor. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
- Symantec Security Response. (2016, September 6). Buckeye cyberespionage group shifts gaze from US to Hong Kong. Retrieved September 26, 2016.
- Nettitude. (2018, July 23). Python Server for PoshC2. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
- Sardiwal, M, et al. (2017, December 7). New Targeted Attack in the Middle East by APT34, a Suspected Iranian Threat Group, Using CVE-2017-11882 Exploit. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
- Baumgartner, K., Golovkin, M.. (2015, May). The MsnMM Campaigns: The Earliest Naikon APT Campaigns. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
- Faou, M. (2020, May). From Agent.btz to ComRAT v4: A ten-year journey. Retrieved June 15, 2020.