T1124 - System Time Discovery

Description from ATT&CK

An adversary may gather the system time and/or time zone settings from a local or remote system. The system time is set and stored by services, such as the Windows Time Service on Windows or systemsetup on macOS.(Citation: MSDN System Time)(Citation: Technet Windows Time Service)(Citation: systemsetup mac time) These time settings may also be synchronized between systems and services in an enterprise network, typically accomplished with a network time server within a domain.(Citation: Mac Time Sync)(Citation: linux system time) System time information may be gathered in a number of ways, such as with [Net](https://attack.mitre.org/software/S0039) on Windows by performing net time \\hostname to gather the system time on a remote system. The victim's time zone may also be inferred from the current system time or gathered by using w32tm /tz.(Citation: Technet Windows Time Service) In addition, adversaries can discover device uptime through functions such as GetTickCount() to determine how long it has been since the system booted up.(Citation: Virtualization/Sandbox Evasion) On network devices, [Network Device CLI](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1059/008) commands such as `show clock detail` can be used to see the current time configuration.(Citation: show_clock_detail_cisco_cmd) In addition, system calls – such as time() – have been used to collect the current time on Linux devices.(Citation: MAGNET GOBLIN) On macOS systems, adversaries may use commands such as systemsetup -gettimezone or timeIntervalSinceNow to gather current time zone information or current date and time.(Citation: System Information Discovery Technique)(Citation: ESET DazzleSpy Jan 2022) This information could be useful for performing other techniques, such as executing a file with a [Scheduled Task/Job](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1053)(Citation: RSA EU12 They're Inside), or to discover locality information based on time zone to assist in victim targeting (i.e. [System Location Discovery](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1614)). Adversaries may also use knowledge of system time as part of a time bomb, or delaying execution until a specified date/time.(Citation: AnyRun TimeBomb)

Atomic Tests


Atomic Test #1 - System Time Discovery

Identify the system time. Upon execution, the local computer system time and timezone will be displayed.

Supported Platforms: Windows

auto_generated_guid: 20aba24b-e61f-4b26-b4ce-4784f763ca20

Inputs:

| Name | Description | Type | Default Value | |——|————-|——|—————| | computer_name | computer name to query | string | localhost|

Attack Commands: Run with 
1

command_prompt
!

net time \\#{computer_name}
w32tm /tz



Atomic Test #2 - System Time Discovery - PowerShell

Identify the system time via PowerShell. Upon execution, the system time will be displayed.

Supported Platforms: Windows

auto_generated_guid: 1d5711d6-655c-4a47-ae9c-6503c74fa877

Attack Commands: Run with 
1

powershell
!

1

Get-Date



Atomic Test #3 - System Time Discovery in FreeBSD/macOS

Identify system time. Upon execution, the local computer system time and timezone will be displayed.

Supported Platforms: Linux, macOS

auto_generated_guid: f449c933-0891-407f-821e-7916a21a1a6f

Attack Commands: Run with 
1

sh
!

1

date



Atomic Test #4 - System Time Discovery W32tm as a Delay

identifies DCRat delay time tactics using w32tm. https://research.splunk.com/endpoint/b2cc69e7-11ba-42dc-a269-59c069a48870/ https://blogs.blackberry.com/en/2022/05/dirty-deeds-done-dirt-cheap-russian-rat-offers-backdoor-bargains

Supported Platforms: Windows

auto_generated_guid: d5d5a6b0-0f92-42d8-985d-47aafa2dd4db

Attack Commands: Run with 
1

command_prompt
!

W32tm /stripchart /computer:localhost /period:5 /dataonly /samples:2



Atomic Test #5 - System Time with Windows time Command

Displays the current system time via the Windows builtin time command: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/time Recently observed in use in the wild during an incident involving Ursnif malware: https://github.com/The-DFIR-Report/Sigma-Rules/blob/dc72f0b557fc63347379be0a33439788256761c8/rules/windows/process_creation/proc_creation_win_system_time_lookup.yml https://thedfirreport.com/2023/01/09/unwrapping-ursnifs-gifts/

Supported Platforms: Windows

auto_generated_guid: 53ead5db-7098-4111-bb3f-563be390e72e

Attack Commands: Run with 
1

command_prompt
!

time