Rootkit Defense Evasion [Mitre]

Adversaries may use rootkits to hide the presence of programs, files, network connections, services, drivers, and other system components. Rootkits are programs that hide the existence of malware by intercepting/hooking and modifying operating system API calls that supply system information.

Rootkits or rootkit enabling functionality may reside at the user or kernel level in the operating system or lower, to …

API Obfuscation Anti-Disassembly

API obfuscation is a technique used by malware to make it more difficult for security analysts to understand and analyze the code. This is typically done by using a technique called API hashing, which replaces the names of API functions with a hashed value. When an analyst runs the malware through a disassembler tool, the hashed values are printed instead …

Shikata Ga Nai (SGN) Data Obfuscation

Shikata Ga Nai (SGN) is a data obfuscation technique that employs a polymorphic binary encoding scheme. It was initially developed by Ege Balci and gained popularity through its implementation in Metasploit Framework's msfvenom. SGN takes a binary input and generates a self-decoding obfuscated shellcode. The algorithm utilizes a XOR feedback loop for encoding and prefixes a decoding routine to the …

Obfuscated Files or Information: Dynamic API Resolution Defense Evasion [Mitre]

Adversaries may obfuscate then dynamically resolve API functions called by their malware in order to conceal malicious functionalities and impair defensive analysis. Malware commonly uses various Native API functions provided by the OS to perform various tasks such as those involving processes, files, and other system artifacts.

API functions called by malware may leave static artifacts such as strings in …

Inserting Garbage Bytes Anti-Disassembly

Garbage bytes are random or meaningless data that is inserted into a program's code in order to make reverse engineering and analysis more difficult. This is an anti-disassembling technique, as the insertion of these random bytes can cause disassemblers to misinterpret the code and produce incorrect disassembly results.

The insertion of garbage bytes is usually used in conjunction with other …

Opcode Obfuscation Anti-Disassembly

Opcode obfuscation is an anti-disassembling technique that involves modifying the opcodes of a program's machine language instructions in order to make it more difficult for a disassembler to accurately reconstruct the original instructions. This can be done in a variety of ways, such as by using equivalent but different opcodes for the same operation, by adding additional instructions or data …

Obfuscated Files or Information: Embedded Payloads Defense Evasion [Mitre]

Adversaries may embed payloads within other files to conceal malicious content from defenses. Otherwise seemingly benign files (such as scripts and executables) may be abused to carry and obfuscate malicious payloads and content. In some cases, embedded payloads may also enable adversaries to Subvert Trust Controls by not impacting execution controls such as digital signatures and notarization tickets.

Adversaries may …

Obfuscated Files or Information: Steganography Defense Evasion [Mitre]

Adversaries may use steganography techniques in order to prevent the detection of hidden information. Steganographic techniques can be used to hide data in digital media such as images, audio tracks, video clips, or text files.

Duqu was an early example of malware that used steganography. It encrypted the gathered information from a victim's system and hid it within an image …

Obfuscated Files or Information: Stripped Payloads Defense Evasion [Mitre]

Adversaries may attempt to make a payload difficult to analyze by removing symbols, strings, and other human readable information. Scripts and executables may contain variables names and other strings that help developers document code functionality. Symbols are often created by an operating system’s linker when executable payloads are compiled. Reverse engineers use these symbols and strings to analyze code and …

Obfuscated Files or Information: Software Packing Defense Evasion [Mitre]

Adversaries may perform software packing or virtual machine software protection to conceal their code. Software packing is a method of compressing or encrypting an executable. Packing an executable changes the file signature in an attempt to avoid signature-based detection. Most decompression techniques decompress the executable code in memory. Virtual machine software protection translates an executable's original code into a special …

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