T1036.003 - Masquerading: Rename System Utilities

Description from ATT&CK (opens in a new tab)

Adversaries may rename legitimate / system utilities to try to evade security mechanisms concerning the usage of those utilities. Security monitoring and control mechanisms may be in place for legitimate utilities adversaries are capable of abusing, including both built-in binaries and tools such as PSExec, AutoHotKey, and IronPython.(Citation: LOLBAS Main Site)(Citation: Huntress Python Malware 2025)(Citation: The DFIR Report AutoHotKey 2023)(Citation: Splunk Detect Renamed PSExec) It may be possible to bypass those security mechanisms by renaming the utility prior to utilization (ex: rename rundll32.exe).(Citation: Elastic Masquerade Ball) An alternative case occurs when a legitimate utility is copied or moved to a different directory and renamed to avoid detections based on these utilities executing from non-standard paths.(Citation: F-Secure CozyDuke)

Atomic Tests

• Atomic Test #1 - Masquerading as Windows LSASS process

• Atomic Test #2 - Masquerading as FreeBSD or Linux crond process.

• Atomic Test #3 - Masquerading - cscript.exe running as notepad.exe

• Atomic Test #4 - Masquerading - wscript.exe running as svchost.exe

• Atomic Test #5 - Masquerading - powershell.exe running as taskhostw.exe

• Atomic Test #6 - Masquerading - non-windows exe running as windows exe

• Atomic Test #7 - Masquerading - windows exe running as different windows exe

• Atomic Test #8 - Malicious process Masquerading as LSM.exe

Atomic Test #1 - Masquerading as Windows LSASS process

Copies cmd.exe, renames it, and launches it to masquerade as an instance of lsass.exe.

Upon execution, cmd will be launched by powershell. If using Invoke-AtomicTest, The test will hang until the 120 second timeout cancels the session

Supported Platforms: Windows

auto_generated_guid: 5ba5a3d1-cf3c-4499-968a-a93155d1f717

Attack Commands: Run with command_prompt!

copy %SystemRoot%\System32\cmd.exe %SystemRoot%\Temp\lsass.exe
%SystemRoot%\Temp\lsass.exe /B

Cleanup Commands:

del /Q /F %SystemRoot%\Temp\lsass.exe >nul 2>&1

Atomic Test #2 - Masquerading as FreeBSD or Linux crond process.

Copies sh process, renames it as crond, and executes it to masquerade as the cron daemon.

Upon successful execution, sh is renamed to crond and executed.

Supported Platforms: Linux

auto_generated_guid: a315bfff-7a98-403b-b442-2ea1b255e556

Attack Commands: Run with sh!

cp /bin/sh /tmp/crond;
echo 'sleep 5' | /tmp/crond

Cleanup Commands:

rm /tmp/crond

Atomic Test #3 - Masquerading - cscript.exe running as notepad.exe

Copies cscript.exe, renames it, and launches it to masquerade as an instance of notepad.exe.

Upon successful execution, cscript.exe is renamed as notepad.exe and executed from non-standard path.

Supported Platforms: Windows

auto_generated_guid: 3a2a578b-0a01-46e4-92e3-62e2859b42f0

Attack Commands: Run with command_prompt!

copy %SystemRoot%\System32\cscript.exe %APPDATA%\notepad.exe /Y
cmd.exe /c %APPDATA%\notepad.exe /B

Cleanup Commands:

del /Q /F %APPDATA%\notepad.exe >nul 2>&1

Atomic Test #4 - Masquerading - wscript.exe running as svchost.exe

Copies wscript.exe, renames it, and launches it to masquerade as an instance of svchost.exe.

Upon execution, no windows will remain open but wscript will have been renamed to svchost and ran out of the temp folder

Supported Platforms: Windows

auto_generated_guid: 24136435-c91a-4ede-9da1-8b284a1c1a23

Attack Commands: Run with command_prompt!

copy %SystemRoot%\System32\wscript.exe %APPDATA%\svchost.exe /Y
cmd.exe /c %APPDATA%\svchost.exe "PathToAtomicsFolder\..\ExternalPayloads\T1036.003\src\T1036.003_masquerading.vbs"

Cleanup Commands:

del /Q /F %APPDATA%\svchost.exe >nul 2>&1

Dependencies: Run with powershell!

Description: Wscript file to execute must exist on disk

Check Prereq Commands:

if (Test-Path "PathToAtomicsFolder\..\ExternalPayloads\T1036.003\src\T1036.003_masquerading.vbs") {exit 0} else {exit 1}

Get Prereq Commands:

New-Item -Type Directory (split-path "PathToAtomicsFolder\..\ExternalPayloads\T1036.003\src\T1036.003_masquerading.vbs") -ErrorAction ignore | Out-Null
Invoke-WebRequest "https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/raw/master/atomics/T1036.003/src/T1036.003_masquerading.vbs" -OutFile "PathToAtomicsFolder\..\ExternalPayloads\T1036.003\src\T1036.003_masquerading.vbs"

Atomic Test #5 - Masquerading - powershell.exe running as taskhostw.exe

Copies powershell.exe, renames it, and launches it to masquerade as an instance of taskhostw.exe.

Upon successful execution, powershell.exe is renamed as taskhostw.exe and executed from non-standard path.

Supported Platforms: Windows

auto_generated_guid: ac9d0fc3-8aa8-4ab5-b11f-682cd63b40aa

Attack Commands: Run with command_prompt!

copy %windir%\System32\windowspowershell\v1.0\powershell.exe %APPDATA%\taskhostw.exe /Y
cmd.exe /K %APPDATA%\taskhostw.exe

Cleanup Commands:

del /Q /F %APPDATA%\taskhostw.exe >nul 2>&1

Atomic Test #6 - Masquerading - non-windows exe running as windows exe

Copies an exe, renames it as a windows exe, and launches it to masquerade as a real windows exe

Upon successful execution, powershell will execute T1036.003.exe as svchost.exe from on a non-standard path.

Supported Platforms: Windows

auto_generated_guid: bc15c13f-d121-4b1f-8c7d-28d95854d086

Inputs:

Attack Commands: Run with powershell!

copy "#{inputfile}" #{outputfile}
try { $myT1036_003 = (Start-Process -PassThru -FilePath #{outputfile}).Id }
catch { $_; exit $_.Exception.HResult}
Stop-Process -ID $myT1036_003

Cleanup Commands:

Remove-Item #{outputfile} -Force -ErrorAction Ignore

Dependencies: Run with powershell!

Description: Exe file to copy must exist on disk at specified location (#{inputfile})

Check Prereq Commands:

if (Test-Path "#{inputfile}") {exit 0} else {exit 1}

Get Prereq Commands:

New-Item -Type Directory (split-path "#{inputfile}") -ErrorAction ignore | Out-Null
Invoke-WebRequest "https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/raw/master/atomics/T1036.003/bin/T1036.003.exe" -OutFile "#{inputfile}"

Atomic Test #7 - Masquerading - windows exe running as different windows exe

Copies a windows exe, renames it as another windows exe, and launches it to masquerade as second windows exe

Supported Platforms: Windows

auto_generated_guid: c3d24a39-2bfe-4c6a-b064-90cd73896cb0

Inputs:

Attack Commands: Run with powershell!

copy "#{inputfile}" #{outputfile}
$myT1036_003 = (Start-Process -PassThru -FilePath #{outputfile}).Id
Stop-Process -ID $myT1036_003

Cleanup Commands:

Remove-Item #{outputfile} -Force -ErrorAction Ignore

Atomic Test #8 - Malicious process Masquerading as LSM.exe

Detect LSM running from an incorrect directory and an incorrect service account This works by copying cmd.exe to a file, naming it lsm.exe, then copying a file to the C:\ folder.

Upon successful execution, cmd.exe will be renamed as lsm.exe and executed from non-standard path.

Supported Platforms: Windows

auto_generated_guid: 83810c46-f45e-4485-9ab6-8ed0e9e6ed7f

Attack Commands: Run with command_prompt! Elevation Required (e.g. root or admin)

copy C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe C:\lsm.exe
C:\lsm.exe /c echo T1036.003 > C:\T1036.003.txt

Cleanup Commands:

del C:\T1036.003.txt >nul 2>&1
del C:\lsm.exe >nul 2>&1