Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism
- ID
- T1548
- Tactics
- TA0004 Privilege Escalation
- Platforms
- Linux, macOS, Windows, IaaS, Office Suite, Identity Provider
- Data sources
- Process Creation, Logon Session Metadata, Windows Registry Key Modification, File Metadata, Process Metadata, OS API Execution, User Account Modification
- Source
- attack.mitre.org
- MITRE last modified
- 12 May 2026
Adversaries may circumvent mechanisms designed to control privilege elevation to gain higher-level permissions. Most modern systems contain native elevation control mechanisms that are intended to limit privileges that a user can perform on a machine. Authorization has to be granted to specific users in order to perform tasks that can be considered of higher risk.[2][3] An adversary can perform several methods to take advantage of built-in control mechanisms in order to escalate privileges on a system.[4][5]
Sub-techniques (6)
- T1548.001 Setuid and Setgid
- T1548.002 Bypass User Account Control
- T1548.003 Sudo and Sudo Caching
- T1548.004 Elevated Execution with Prompt
- T1548.005 Temporary Elevated Cloud Access
- T1548.006 TCC Manipulation
Detection
- DET0345 Detection Strategy for Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism (T1548)
Data components: Process Creation, Logon Session Metadata, Windows Registry Key Modification, File Metadata, Process Metadata, OS API Execution, User Account Modification
Mitigations (8)
- M1018 User Account Management
Limit the privileges of cloud accounts to assume, create, or impersonate additional roles, policies, and permissions to only those required. Where just-in-time access is enabled, consider requiring manual approval for temporary elevation of privileges.
- M1022 Restrict File and Directory Permissions
The sudoers file should be strictly edited such that passwords are always required and that users can't spawn risky processes as users with higher privilege.
- M1026 Privileged Account Management
Remove users from the local administrator group on systems.
By requiring a password, even if an adversary can get terminal access, they must know the password to run anything in the sudoers file. Setting the timestamp_timeout to 0 will require the user to input their password every time sudo is executed.
- M1028 Operating System Configuration
Applications with known vulnerabilities or known shell escapes should not have the setuid or setgid bits set to reduce potential damage if an application is compromised. Additionally, the number of programs with setuid or setgid bits set should be minimized across a system. Ensuring that the sudo tty_tickets setting is enabled will prevent this leakage across tty sessions.
- M1038 Execution Prevention
System settings can prevent applications from running that haven't been downloaded from legitimate repositories which may help mitigate some of these issues. Not allowing unsigned applications from being run may also mitigate some risk.
- M1047 Audit
Check for common UAC bypass weaknesses on Windows systems to be aware of the risk posture and address issues where appropriate.[1]
- M1051 Update Software
Perform regular software updates to mitigate exploitation risk.
- M1052 User Account Control
Although UAC bypass techniques exist, it is still prudent to use the highest enforcement level for UAC when possible and mitigate bypass opportunities that exist with techniques such as DLL.