System Binary Proxy Execution: Odbcconf
- ID
- T1218.008
- Tactics
- TA0005 Stealth
- Sub-technique of
- T1218 System Binary Proxy Execution
- Platforms
- Windows
- Data sources
- Process Creation, Module Load, Network Connection Creation
- Source
- attack.mitre.org
- MITRE last modified
- 12 May 2026
Adversaries may abuse odbcconf.exe to proxy execution of malicious payloads. Odbcconf.exe is a Windows utility that allows you to configure Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) drivers and data source names.[1] The Odbcconf.exe binary may be digitally signed by Microsoft.
Adversaries may abuse odbcconf.exe to bypass application control solutions that do not account for its potential abuse. Similar to Regsvr32, odbcconf.exe has a REGSVR flag that can be misused to execute DLLs (ex: odbcconf.exe /S /A {REGSVR "C:\Users\Public\file.dll"}). [2][3][4]
Detection
- DET0486 Detecting Odbcconf Proxy Execution of Malicious DLLs
Data components: Process Creation, Module Load, Network Connection Creation
Mitigations (2)
- M1038 Execution Prevention
Use application control configured to block execution of Odbcconf.exe if it is not required for a given system or network to prevent potential misuse by adversaries.
- M1042 Disable or Remove Feature or Program
Odbcconf.exe may not be necessary within a given environment.