Hijack Execution Flow

Adversaries may execute their own malicious payloads by hijacking the way operating systems run applications. Hijacking execution flow can be for the purposes of persistence since this hijacked execution may reoccur over time.

There are many ways an adversary may hijack the flow of execution. A primary way is by manipulating how the operating system locates programs to be executed. How the operating system locates libraries to be used by a program can also be intercepted. Locations where the operating system looks for programs or resources, such as file directories, could also be poisoned to include malicious payloads.

ID: T1625
Sub-techniques:  T1625.001
Tactic Type: Post-Adversary Device Access
Tactic: Persistence
Platforms: Android
MTC ID: APP-27
Version: 1.1
Created: 30 March 2022
Last Modified: 20 March 2023

Procedure Examples

ID Name Description
S0311 YiSpecter

YiSpecter has hijacked normal application’s launch routines to display ads.[1]

Mitigations

ID Mitigation Description
M1002 Attestation

Device attestation could detect unauthorized operating system modifications.

M1004 System Partition Integrity

Android Verified Boot can detect unauthorized modifications made to the system partition, which could lead to execution flow hijacking.[2]

Detection

ID Data Source Data Component Detects
DS0013 Sensor Health Host Status

Mobile threat defense agents could detect unauthorized operating system modifications by using attestation.

References