T1564.006 Run Virtual Instance

T1564.006 Run Virtual Instance

Sub-technique of: T1564

High-Level Description

Adversaries may carry out malicious operations using a virtual instance to avoid detection. A wide variety of virtualization technologies exist that allow for the emulation of a computer or computing environment. By running malicious code inside of a virtual instance, adversaries can hide artifacts associated with their behavior from security tools that are unable to monitor activity inside the virtual instance. Additionally, depending on the virtual networking implementation (ex: bridged adapter), network traffic generated by the virtual instance can be difficult to trace back to the compromised host as the IP address and hostname might not match known values.

Adversaries may utilize native support for virtualization (ex: Hyper-V), deploy lightweight emulators (ex: QEMU), or drop the necessary files to run a virtual instance (ex: VirtualBox binaries). After running a virtual instance, adversaries may create a shared folder between the guest and host with permissions that enable the virtual instance to interact with the host file system.

Threat actors may also leverage temporary virtualized environments such as the Windows Sandbox, which supports the use of .wsb configuration files for defining execution parameters. For example, the <MappedFolder> property supports the creation of a shared folder, while the <LogonCommand> property allows the specification of a payload.

In VMWare environments, adversaries may leverage the vCenter console to create new virtual machines. However, they may also create virtual machines directly on ESXi servers by running a valid .vmx file with the /bin/vmx utility. Adding this command to /etc/rc.local.d/local.sh (i.e., RC Scripts) will cause the VM to persistently restart. Creating a VM this way prevents it from appearing in the vCenter console or in the output to the vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms command on the ESXi server, thereby hiding it from typical administrative activities.

Kill Chain Phase

• Defense Evasion (TA0005)

Platforms: Linux, macOS, Windows, ESXi

What to Check

• Identify if Run Virtual Instance technique is applicable to target environment
• Check Linux systems for indicators of Run Virtual Instance
• Check macOS systems for indicators of Run Virtual Instance
• Check Windows systems for indicators of Run Virtual Instance
• Verify mitigations are bypassed or absent (3 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: Register Portable Virtualbox

ransomware payloads via virtual machines (VM). Maze ransomware