T1564.006 - Run Virtual Instance

Description from ATT&CK

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.(Citation: SingHealth Breach Jan 2019) Adversaries may utilize native support for virtualization (ex: Hyper-V) 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.(Citation: Sophos Ragnar May 2020)

Atomic Tests


Atomic Test #1 - Register Portable Virtualbox

ransomware payloads via virtual machines (VM). Maze ransomware

Supported Platforms: Windows

auto_generated_guid: c59f246a-34f8-4e4d-9276-c295ef9ba0dd

Inputs:

| Name | Description | Type | Default Value | |——|————-|——|—————| | msi_file_path | Path to the MSI file | path | PathToAtomicsFolder\T1564.006\bin\Virtualbox_52.msi| | cab_file_path | Path to the CAB file | path | PathToAtomicsFolder\T1564.006\bin\common.cab|

Attack Commands: Run with 
1

command_prompt
!

"C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxSVC.exe" /reregserver
regsvr32 /S "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VboxC.dll"
rundll32 "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxRT.dll,RTR3Init"
sc create VBoxDRV binpath= "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\drivers\VboxDrv.sys" type= kernel start= auto error= normal displayname= PortableVBoxDRV
sc start VBoxDRV

Cleanup Commands:

sc stop VBoxDRV
sc delete VBoxDRV
regsvr32 /u /S "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VboxC.dll"
msiexec /x "#{msi_file_path}" /qn

Dependencies: Run with 
1

powershell
!

Description: MSI file must exist on disk at specified location (#{msi_file_path})
Check Prereq Commands:
1

if (Test-Path "#{msi_file_path}") {exit 0} else {exit 1}
Get Prereq Commands:
1
2

New-Item -Type Directory (split-path "#{msi_file_path}") -ErrorAction ignore | Out-Null
Invoke-WebRequest "https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/raw/master/atomics/T1564.006/bin/Virtualbox_52.msi" -OutFile "#{msi_file_path}"
Description: CAB file must exist on disk at specified location (#{cab_file_path})
Check Prereq Commands:
1

if (Test-Path "#{cab_file_path}") {exit 0} else {exit 1}
Get Prereq Commands:
1
2

New-Item -Type Directory (split-path "#{cab_file_path}") -ErrorAction ignore | Out-Null
Invoke-WebRequest "https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/raw/master/atomics/T1564.006/bin/common.cab" -OutFile "#{cab_file_path}"
Description: Old version of Virtualbox must be installed
Check Prereq Commands:
1

if (Test-Path "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VboxC.dll") {exit 0} else {exit 1}
Get Prereq Commands:
1

msiexec /i "#{msi_file_path}" /qn



Atomic Test #2 - Create and start VirtualBox virtual machine

Create a simple VirtualBox VM and start up the machine Cleanup command stops and deletes the newly created VM and associated files https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch08.html#vboxmanage-startvm https://news.sophos.com/en-us/2020/05/21/ragnar-locker-ransomware-deploys-virtual-machine-to-dodge-security/ https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1564/006/

Supported Platforms: Windows

auto_generated_guid: 88b81702-a1c0-49a9-95b2-2dd53d755767

Inputs:

| Name | Description | Type | Default Value | |——|————-|——|—————| | vm_name | Name of the new virtual machine | string | Atomic VM| | virtualbox_exe | Path to the VirtualBox executable | path | C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VirtualBox.exe| | vboxmanage_exe | Path to the executable for VBoxManage, the command-line interface to VirtualBox | path | C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe| | virtualbox_download | URL for the current installer for the Windows version of VirtualBox, as of March 2022 | url | https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/6.1.32/VirtualBox-6.1.32-149290-Win.exe| | virtualbox_installer | Executable for the Virtualbox installer | string | VirtualBox-6.1.32-149290-Win.exe|

Attack Commands: Run with 
1

command_prompt
!

"#{vboxmanage_exe}" createvm --name "#{vm_name}" --register
"#{vboxmanage_exe}" modifyvm "#{vm_name}" --firmware efi
"#{vboxmanage_exe}" startvm "#{vm_name}"

Cleanup Commands:

"#{vboxmanage_exe}" controlvm "#{vm_name}" poweroff
"#{vboxmanage_exe}" unregistervm "#{vm_name}" --delete

Dependencies: Run with 
1

powershell
!

Description: VirtualBox must exist on disk at specified locations (#{virtualbox_exe})
Check Prereq Commands:
1

if (Test-Path "#{virtualbox_exe}") {exit 0} else {exit 1}
Get Prereq Commands:
1
2
3
4

New-Item -Type Directory "PathToAtomicsFolder\..\ExternalPayloads\" -ErrorAction Ignore -Force | Out-Null
$wc = New-Object System.Net.WebClient
$wc.DownloadFile("#{virtualbox_download}","PathToAtomicsFolder\..\ExternalPayloads\#{virtualbox_installer}")
start-process -FilePath "PathToAtomicsFolder\..\ExternalPayloads\#{virtualbox_installer}" -ArgumentList "--silent" -Wait
Description: VBoxManage must exist on disk at specified locations (#{vboxmanage_exe})
Check Prereq Commands:
1

if (Test-Path "#{vboxmanage_exe}") {exit 0} else {exit 1}
Get Prereq Commands:
1
2
3

$wc = New-Object System.Net.WebClient
$wc.DownloadFile("#{virtualbox_download}","PathToAtomicsFolder\..\ExternalPayloads\#{virtualbox_installer}")
start-process -FilePath "PathToAtomicsFolder\..\ExternalPayloads\#{virtualbox_installer}" -ArgumentList "--silent" -Wait



Atomic Test #3 - Create and start Hyper-V virtual machine

Create a simple Hyper-V VM (Windows native hypervisor) and start up the machine Cleanup command stops and deletes the newly created VM https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/virtualization/hyper-v-on-windows/quick-start/enable-hyper-v https://embracethered.com/blog/posts/2020/shadowbunny-virtual-machine-red-teaming-technique/ https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1564/006/

Supported Platforms: Windows

auto_generated_guid: fb8d4d7e-f5a4-481c-8867-febf13f8b6d3

Inputs:

| Name | Description | Type | Default Value | |——|————-|——|—————| | vm_name | Name of the new virtual machine | string | Atomic VM|

Attack Commands: Run with 
1

powershell
! Elevation Required (e.g. root or admin)

1
2
3
4

$VM = "#{vm_name}"
New-VM -Name $VM -Generation 2
Set-VMFirmware $VM -EnableSecureBoot Off
Start-VM $VM

Cleanup Commands:

1
2

Stop-VM $VM -Force
Remove-VM $VM -Force

Dependencies: Run with 
1

powershell
!

Description: Hyper-V must be enabled on the system

Checks whether Hyper-V is enabled. If not, enables Hyper-V and forces a required restart

Check Prereq Commands:
1

if ((Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V).State = "Enabled") {exit 0} else {exit 1}
Get Prereq Commands:
1

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V -All -Force