CyberStack

MITRE ATT&CK / Techniques / T1068

Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

ID
T1068
Tactics
TA0004 Privilege Escalation
Platforms
Containers, Linux, macOS, Windows
Data sources
Driver Load, Process Creation, Logon Session Metadata, Process Access, Module Load, Logon Session Creation, Container Enumeration
Source
attack.mitre.org
MITRE last modified
25 Oct 2025

Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges. Exploitation of a software vulnerability occurs when an adversary takes advantage of a programming error in a program, service, or within the operating system software or kernel itself to execute adversary-controlled code. Security constructs such as permission levels will often hinder access to information and use of certain techniques, so adversaries will likely need to perform privilege escalation to include use of software exploitation to circumvent those restrictions.

When initially gaining access to a system, an adversary may be operating within a lower privileged process which will prevent them from accessing certain resources on the system. Vulnerabilities may exist, usually in operating system components and software commonly running at higher permissions, that can be exploited to gain higher levels of access on the system. This could enable someone to move from unprivileged or user level permissions to SYSTEM or root permissions depending on the component that is vulnerable. This could also enable an adversary to move from a virtualized environment, such as within a virtual machine or container, onto the underlying host. This may be a necessary step for an adversary compromising an endpoint system that has been properly configured and limits other privilege escalation methods.

Adversaries may bring a signed vulnerable driver onto a compromised machine so that they can exploit the vulnerability to execute code in kernel mode. This process is sometimes referred to as Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD).[5][6] Adversaries may include the vulnerable driver with files delivered during Initial Access or download it to a compromised system via Ingress Tool Transfer or Lateral Tool Transfer.

Detection

Mitigations (5)

M1019 Threat Intelligence Program

Develop a robust cyber threat intelligence capability to determine what types and levels of threat may use software exploits and 0-days against a particular organization.

M1038 Execution Prevention

Consider blocking the execution of known vulnerable drivers that adversaries may exploit to execute code in kernel mode. Validate driver block rules in audit mode to ensure stability prior to production deployment.[1]

M1048 Application Isolation and Sandboxing

Make it difficult for adversaries to advance their operation through exploitation of undiscovered or unpatched vulnerabilities by using sandboxing. Other types of virtualization and application microsegmentation may also mitigate the impact of some types of exploitation. Risks of additional exploits and weaknesses in these systems may still exist. [2]

M1050 Exploit Protection

Security applications that look for behavior used during exploitation such as Windows Defender Exploit Guard (WDEG) and the Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET) can be used to mitigate some exploitation behavior. [3] Control flow integrity checking is another way to potentially identify and stop a software exploit from occurring. [4] Many of these protections depend on the architecture and target application binary for compatibility and may not work for software components targeted for privilege escalation.

M1051 Update Software

Update software regularly by employing patch management for internal enterprise endpoints and servers.

Groups (23)

Software (19)

References

  1. Microsoft Driver Block Rules
  2. Ars Technica Pwn2Own 2017 VM Escape
  3. TechNet Moving Beyond EMET
  4. Wikipedia Control Flow Integrity
  5. ESET InvisiMole June 2020
  6. Unit42 AcidBox June 2020