Boot or Logon Initialization Scripts (T1037)

Tactics: Persistence, Privilege Escalation · Platforms: ESXi, Linux, macOS, Network Devices, Windows

The interactive view maps 1 detection strategy, 2 mitigations, 4 threat groups, 3 software entries, 1 campaign to this technique, alongside D3FEND countermeasures and data-component coverage.

Overview

Adversaries may use scripts automatically executed at boot or logon initialization to establish persistence. Initialization scripts can be used to perform administrative functions, which may often execute other programs or send information to an internal logging server. These scripts can vary based on operating system and whether applied locally or remotely.

Adversaries may use these scripts to maintain persistence on a single system. Depending on the access configuration of the logon scripts, either local credentials or an administrator account may be necessary.

An adversary may also be able to escalate their privileges since some boot or logon initialization scripts run with higher privileges.

Sub-techniques

• Logon Script (Windows) (T1037.001)
• Login Hook (T1037.002)
• Network Logon Script (T1037.003)
• RC Scripts (T1037.004)
• Startup Items (T1037.005)

Explore

• Open T1037 in the interactive ATT&CK matrix
• ATT&CK Intelligence View guide
• Official MITRE ATT&CK entry for T1037
• Sigma detection rules for MITRE ATT&CK
• Built by Shahrukh Khan