Process Injection: ListPlanting Defense Evasion [Mitre]

Adversaries may abuse list-view controls to inject malicious code into hijacked processes in order to evade process-based defenses as well as possibly elevate privileges. ListPlanting is a method of executing arbitrary code in the address space of a separate live process. Code executed via ListPlanting may also evade detection from security products since the execution is masked under a legitimate …

System Binary Proxy Execution: Control Panel Defense Evasion [Mitre]

Adversaries may abuse control.exe to proxy execution of malicious payloads. The Windows Control Panel process binary (control.exe) handles execution of Control Panel items, which are utilities that allow users to view and adjust computer settings.

Control Panel items are registered executable (.exe) or Control Panel (.cpl) files, the latter are actually renamed dynamic-link library (.dll) files that export a CPlApplet …

Obscuring Control Flow Anti-Disassembly

Obscuring control flow is an anti-disassembling technique that involves using methods of flow control that are difficult or impossible for disassemblers and debuggers to follow. This can make it more difficult for analysts to understand the program's behavior and can also make it more difficult for other tools, such as debuggers, to accurately interpret the program.

One example of this …

Control Flow Graph Flattening Anti-Disassembly

Control flow flattening is a technique used to obfuscate the control flow of a program, in order to make it more difficult for a disassembler to accurately interpret the program's behavior. This technique involves breaking up the nesting of loops and if-statements in a program, and then hiding each of them in a case of a large switch statement. This …

Bypass User Account Control Defense Evasion [Mitre]

Adversaries may bypass UAC mechanisms to elevate process privileges on system. Windows User Account Control (UAC) allows a program to elevate its privileges (tracked as integrity levels ranging from low to high) to perform a task under administrator-level permissions, possibly by prompting the user for confirmation.

The impact to the user ranges from denying the operation under high enforcement to …

C2 via Social Networks Network Evasion

Malware often relies on a communication channel with its operator in order to receive instructions and updates. This channel is known as a command and control (C&C or C2) channel. C&C channels can take various forms, such as internet relay chat (IRC), peer-to-peer protocols, and even social media. The use of C&C channels allows the operator to remotely control the …