Remote Service Session Hijacking
- ID
- T1563
- Tactics
- TA0008 Lateral Movement
- Platforms
- Linux, macOS, Windows
- Data sources
- Logon Session Creation, Process Creation, Network Connection Creation, Command Execution, Network Traffic Flow, Network Traffic Content
- Source
- attack.mitre.org
- MITRE last modified
- 25 Oct 2025
Adversaries may take control of preexisting sessions with remote services to move laterally in an environment. Users may use valid credentials to log into a service specifically designed to accept remote connections, such as telnet, SSH, and RDP. When a user logs into a service, a session will be established that will allow them to maintain a continuous interaction with that service.
Adversaries may commandeer these sessions to carry out actions on remote systems. Remote Service Session Hijacking differs from use of Remote Services because it hijacks an existing session rather than creating a new session using Valid Accounts.[1][2]
Sub-techniques (2)
Detection
- DET0079 Detection of Remote Service Session Hijacking
Data components: Logon Session Creation, Process Creation, Network Connection Creation, Command Execution, Network Traffic Flow, Network Traffic Content
Mitigations (5)
- M1018 User Account Management
Limit remote user permissions if remote access is necessary.
- M1026 Privileged Account Management
Do not allow remote access to services as a privileged account unless necessary.
- M1027 Password Policies
Set and enforce secure password policies for accounts.
- M1030 Network Segmentation
Enable firewall rules to block unnecessary traffic between network security zones within a network.
- M1042 Disable or Remove Feature or Program
Disable the remote service (ex: SSH, RDP, etc.) if it is unnecessary.