| ID | Name |
|---|---|
| T1204.001 | Malicious Link |
| T1204.002 | Malicious File |
| T1204.003 | Malicious Image |
| T1204.004 | Malicious Copy and Paste |
| T1204.005 | Malicious Library |
Adversaries may rely on a user running a malicious image to facilitate execution. Amazon Web Services (AWS) Amazon Machine Images (AMIs), Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Images, and Azure Images as well as popular container runtimes such as Docker can be backdoored. Backdoored images may be uploaded to a public repository via Upload Malware, and users may then download and deploy an instance or container from the image without realizing the image is malicious, thus bypassing techniques that specifically achieve Initial Access. This can lead to the execution of malicious code, such as code that executes cryptocurrency mining, in the instance or container.[1]
Adversaries may also name images a certain way to increase the chance of users mistakenly deploying an instance or container from the image (ex: Match Legitimate Resource Name or Location).[2]
| ID | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| G0139 | TeamTNT |
TeamTNT has relied on users to download and execute malicious Docker images.[3] |
| ID | Mitigation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| M1047 | Audit |
Audit images deployed within the environment to ensure they do not contain any malicious components. |
| M1045 | Code Signing |
Utilize a trust model such as Docker Content Trust with digital signatures to ensure runtime verification of the integrity and publisher of specific image tags.[4][5] |
| M1031 | Network Intrusion Prevention |
Network prevention intrusion systems and systems designed to scan and remove malicious downloads can be used to block activity. |
| M1017 | User Training |
Train users to be aware of the existence of malicious images and how to avoid deploying instances and containers from them. |
| ID | Name | Analytic ID | Analytic Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| DET0248 | User Execution – Malicious Image (containers & IaaS) – pull/run → start → anomalous behavior (T1204.003) | AN0691 |
CONTAINERS (Docker/K8s/containerd): A user pulls an untrusted image from a public/unknown registry and then creates/starts a container from that image. Shortly after start, the container spawns unexpected utilities (e.g., curl/wget/bash/python), or makes outbound network connections atypical for the namespace/workload. The analytic correlates Image Creation/Download → Container Creation → Container Start → Command Execution/Network activity within a short window and with a consistent image digest. |
| AN0692 |
IAAS (Cloud images/VMs): A new VM/instance is launched from a non-approved or newly-seen image (AMI/GCP Image/Azure Image). On first boot, cloud-init/user-data or embedded agents download code, spawn system utilities, or open outbound C2/mining traffic. The analytic correlates Instance/Image Creation → Instance Start → in-guest Process/Command Execution and/or anomalous network traffic. |