Proxy

ID: T1090
Tactics: TA0011 Command and Control
Platforms: ESXi, Linux, macOS, Network Devices, Windows
Data sources: Network Connection Creation, Process Creation, Network Traffic Flow, Command Execution, Firewall Rule Modification
Source: attack.mitre.org
MITRE last modified: 9 Sep 2026

Adversaries may use a connection proxy to direct network traffic between systems or act as an intermediary for network communications to a command and control server to avoid direct connections to their infrastructure. Many tools exist that enable traffic redirection through proxies or port redirection, including HTRAN, ZXProxy, and ZXPortMap.^[2] Adversaries use these types of proxies to manage command and control communications, reduce the number of simultaneous outbound network connections, provide resiliency in the face of connection loss, or to ride over existing trusted communications paths between victims to avoid suspicion. Adversaries may chain together multiple proxies to further disguise the source of malicious traffic.

Adversaries can also take advantage of routing schemes in Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) to proxy command and control traffic.

Sub-techniques (4)

Detection

DET0445 Detection of Proxy Infrastructure Setup and Traffic Bridging
Data components: Network Connection Creation, Process Creation, Network Traffic Flow, Command Execution, Firewall Rule Modification

Mitigations (3)

M1020 SSL/TLS Inspection: If it is possible to inspect HTTPS traffic, the captures can be analyzed for connections that appear to be domain fronting.
M1031 Network Intrusion Prevention: Network intrusion detection and prevention systems that use network signatures to identify traffic for specific adversary malware can be used to mitigate activity at the network level. Signatures are often for unique indicators within protocols and may be based on the specific C2 protocol used by a particular adversary or tool, and will likely be different across various malware families and versions. Adversaries will likely change tool C2 signatures over time or construct protocols in such a way as to avoid detection by common defensive tools. ^[1]
M1037 Filter Network Traffic: Traffic to known anonymity networks and C2 infrastructure can be blocked through the use of network allow and block lists. It should be noted that this kind of blocking may be circumvented by other techniques like Domain Fronting.

Groups (20)

Software (48)

References

University of Birmingham C2
Trend Micro APT Attack Tools