Remote Services: Remote Desktop Protocol

Agrius tunnels RDP traffic through deployed web shells to access victim environments via compromised accounts.^[3] Agrius used the Plink tool to tunnel RDP connections for remote access and lateral movement in victim environments.^[4]

The APT1 group is known to have used RDP during operations.^[5]

APT3 enables the Remote Desktop Protocol for persistence.^[6] APT3 has also interacted with compromised systems to browse and copy files through RDP sessions.^[7]

APT39 has been seen using RDP for lateral movement and persistence, in some cases employing the rdpwinst tool for mangement of multiple sessions.^[8][9]

APT41 used RDP for lateral movement.^[10][11] APT41 used NATBypass to expose local RDP ports on compromised systems to the Internet.^[12]

APT5 has moved laterally throughout victim environments using RDP.^[13]

Aquatic Panda leveraged stolen credentials to move laterally via RDP in victim environments.^[14]

Axiom has used RDP during operations.^[15]

Blue Mockingbird has used Remote Desktop to log on to servers interactively and manually copy files to remote hosts.^[16]

During C0015, the threat actors used RDP to access specific network hosts of interest.^[17]

During C0018, the threat actors opened a variety of ports to establish RDP connections, including ports 28035, 32467, 41578, and 46892.^[18]

During the C0032 campaign, TEMP.Veles utilized RDP throughout an operation.^[19]

Carbanak enables concurrent Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) sessions.^[20]

Chimera has used RDP to access targeted systems.^[21]

Cobalt Group has used Remote Desktop Protocol to conduct lateral movement.^[22]

Cobalt Strike can start a VNC-based remote desktop server and tunnel the connection through the already established C2 channel.^[23][24]

During Cutting Edge, threat actors used RDP with compromised credentials for lateral movement.^[25]

DarkComet can open an active screen of the victim’s machine and take control of the mouse and keyboard.^[26]

Dragonfly has moved laterally via RDP.^[27]

FIN10 has used RDP to move laterally to systems in the victim environment.^[28]

FIN13 has remotely accessed compromised environments via Remote Desktop Services (RDS) for lateral movement.^[29]

FIN6 used RDP to move laterally in victim networks.^[30][31]

FIN7 has used RDP to move laterally in victim environments.^[32]

FIN8 has used RDP for lateral movement.^[33]

Fox Kitten has used RDP to log in and move laterally in the target environment.^[34][35]

HEXANE has used remote desktop sessions for lateral movement.^[36]

During HomeLand Justice, threat actors primarily used RDP for lateral movement in the victim environment.^[37][38]

Imminent Monitor has a module for performing remote desktop access.^[39]

INC Ransom has used RDP to move laterally.^{[40][41][42][43]}

Indrik Spider has used RDP for lateral movement.^[44]

jRAT can support RDP control.^[45]

Kimsuky has used RDP for direct remote point-and-click access.^[46]

Koadic can enable remote desktop on the victim's machine.^[47]

Lazarus Group malware SierraCharlie uses RDP for propagation.^[48][49]

Leviathan has targeted RDP credentials and used it to move through the victim environment.^[50]

Magic Hound has used Remote Desktop Services to copy tools on targeted systems.^[51][52]

menuPass has used RDP connections to move across the victim network.^[53][54]

njRAT has a module for performing remote desktop access.^[55]

OilRig has used Remote Desktop Protocol for lateral movement. The group has also used tunneling tools to tunnel RDP into the environment.^[56][57][11]

Patchwork attempted to use RDP to move laterally.^[58]

Pupy can enable/disable RDP connection and can start a remote desktop session using a browser web socket client.^[59]

Pysa has laterally moved using RDP connections.^[60]

QuasarRAT has a module for performing remote desktop access.^[61][62]

Revenge RAT has a plugin to perform RDP access.^[63]

SDBbot has the ability to use RDP to connect to victim's machines.^[64]

ServHelper has commands for adding a remote desktop user and sending RDP traffic to the attacker through a reverse SSH tunnel.^[65]

Silence has used RDP for lateral movement.^[66]

During the SolarWinds Compromise, APT29 used RDP sessions from public-facing systems to internal servers.^[67]

Volt Typhoon has moved laterally to the Domain Controller via RDP using a compromised account with domain administrator privileges.^[68]

WarzoneRAT has the ability to control an infected PC using RDP.^[69]

Wizard Spider has used RDP for lateral movement and to deploy ransomware interactively.^{[70][71][72][73]}

zwShell has used RDP for lateral movement.^[74]

ZxShell has remote desktop functionality.^[75]

Audit the Remote Desktop Users group membership regularly. Remove unnecessary accounts and groups from Remote Desktop Users groups.

Disable the RDP service if it is unnecessary.

Use remote desktop gateways.

Use multi-factor authentication for remote logins.^[76]

Do not leave RDP accessible from the internet. Enable firewall rules to block RDP traffic between network security zones within a network.

Change GPOs to define shorter timeouts sessions and maximum amount of time any single session can be active. Change GPOs to specify the maximum amount of time that a disconnected session stays active on the RD session host server.^[77]

Consider removing the local Administrators group from the list of groups allowed to log in through RDP.

Limit remote user permissions if remote access is necessary.