T1083

Description from ATT&CK

Adversaries may enumerate files and directories or may search in specific locations of a host or network share for certain information within a file system. Adversaries may use the information from File and Directory Discovery during automated discovery to shape follow-on behaviors, including whether or not the adversary fully infects the target and/or attempts specific actions.

Many command shell utilities can be used to obtain this information. Examples include dir, tree, ls, find, and locate.(Citation: Windows Commands JPCERT) Custom tools may also be used to gather file and directory information and interact with the Native API. Adversaries may also leverage a Network Device CLI on network devices to gather file and directory information (e.g. dir, show flash, and/or nvram).(Citation: US-CERT-TA18-106A)

Some files and directories may require elevated or specific user permissions to access.

Atomic Tests

Atomic Test #1 - File and Directory Discovery (cmd.exe)
Atomic Test #2 - File and Directory Discovery (PowerShell)
Atomic Test #3 - Nix File and Directory Discovery
Atomic Test #4 - Nix File and Directory Discovery 2
Atomic Test #5 - Simulating MAZE Directory Enumeration
Atomic Test #6 - Launch DirLister Executable
Atomic Test #7 - ESXi - Enumerate VMDKs available on an ESXi Host
Atomic Test #8 - Identifying Network Shares - Linux
Atomic Test #9 - Recursive Enumerate Files And Directories By Powershell

Atomic Test #1 - File and Directory Discovery (cmd.exe)

Find or discover files on the file system. Upon successful execution, this test will output the results of all the data discovery commands to a specified file.

Supported Platforms: Windows

auto_generated_guid: 0e36303b-6762-4500-b003-127743b80ba6

Inputs:

Name	Description	Type	Default Value
output_file	File to output results to	string	%temp%\T1083Test1.txt

Attack Commands: Run with `command_prompt`!

dir /s c:\ >> #{output_file}
dir /s "c:\Documents and Settings" >> #{output_file}
dir /s "c:\Program Files\" >> #{output_file}
dir "%systemdrive%\Users\*.*" >> #{output_file}
dir "%userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\*.*" >> #{output_file}
dir "%userprofile%\Desktop\*.*" >> #{output_file}
tree /F >> #{output_file}

Cleanup Commands:

del #{output_file}

Atomic Test #2 - File and Directory Discovery (PowerShell)

Find or discover files on the file system. Upon execution, file and folder information will be displayed.

Supported Platforms: Windows

auto_generated_guid: 2158908e-b7ef-4c21-8a83-3ce4dd05a924

Attack Commands: Run with `powershell`!

ls -recurse
get-childitem -recurse
gci -recurse

Atomic Test #3 - Nix File and Directory Discovery

Find or discover files on the file system

References:

http://osxdaily.com/2013/01/29/list-all-files-subdirectory-contents-recursively/

https://perishablepress.com/list-files-folders-recursively-terminal/

Supported Platforms: Linux, macOS

auto_generated_guid: ffc8b249-372a-4b74-adcd-e4c0430842de

Inputs:

Name	Description	Type	Default Value
output_file	Output file used to store the results.	path	/tmp/T1083.txt

Attack Commands: Run with `sh`!

ls -a >> #{output_file}
if [ -d /Library/Preferences/ ]; then ls -la /Library/Preferences/ > #{output_file}; fi;
file */* *>> #{output_file}
cat #{output_file} 2>/dev/null
find . -type f
ls -R | grep ":$" | sed -e 's/:$//' -e 's/[^-][^\/]*\//--/g' -e 's/^/ /' -e 's/-/|/'
locate *
which sh

Cleanup Commands:

rm #{output_file}

Atomic Test #4 - Nix File and Directory Discovery 2

Find or discover files on the file system

Supported Platforms: Linux, macOS

auto_generated_guid: 13c5e1ae-605b-46c4-a79f-db28c77ff24e

Inputs:

Name	Description	Type	Default Value
output_file	Output file used to store the results.	path	/tmp/T1083.txt

Attack Commands: Run with `sh`!

cd $HOME && find . -print | sed -e 's;[^/]*/;|__;g;s;__|; |;g' > #{output_file}
if [ -f /etc/mtab ]; then cat /etc/mtab >> #{output_file}; fi;
find . -type f -iname *.pdf >> #{output_file}
cat #{output_file}
find . -type f -name ".*"

Cleanup Commands:

rm #{output_file}

Atomic Test #5 - Simulating MAZE Directory Enumeration

This test emulates MAZE ransomware's ability to enumerate directories using Powershell. Upon successful execution, this test will output the directory enumeration results to a specified file, as well as display them in the active window. See https://www.mandiant.com/resources/tactics-techniques-procedures-associated-with-maze-ransomware-incidents

Supported Platforms: Windows

auto_generated_guid: c6c34f61-1c3e-40fb-8a58-d017d88286d8

Inputs:

Name	Description	Type	Default Value
File_to_output	File to output results to	string	$env:temp\T1083Test5.txt

Attack Commands: Run with `powershell`!

$folderarray = @("Desktop", "Downloads", "Documents", "AppData/Local", "AppData/Roaming")
Get-ChildItem -Path $env:homedrive -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Out-File -append #{File_to_output}
Get-ChildItem -Path $env:programfiles -erroraction silentlycontinue | Out-File -append #{File_to_output}
Get-ChildItem -Path "${env:ProgramFiles(x86)}" -erroraction silentlycontinue | Out-File -append #{File_to_output}
$UsersFolder = "$env:homedrive\Users\"
foreach ($directory in Get-ChildItem -Path $UsersFolder -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)
{
foreach ($secondarydirectory in $folderarray)
 {Get-ChildItem -Path "$UsersFolder/$directory/$secondarydirectory" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Out-File -append #{File_to_output}}
}
cat #{File_to_output}

Cleanup Commands:

remove-item #{File_to_output} -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Atomic Test #6 - Launch DirLister Executable

Launches the DirLister executable for a short period of time and then exits.

Recently seen used by BlackCat ransomware to create a list of accessible directories and files.

Supported Platforms: Windows

auto_generated_guid: c5bec457-43c9-4a18-9a24-fe151d8971b7

Inputs:

Name	Description	Type	Default Value
dirlister_path	Path to the DirLister executable	string	PathToAtomicsFolder\..\ExternalPayloads\DirLister.exe

Attack Commands: Run with `powershell`!

Start-Process "#{dirlister_path}"
Start-Sleep -Second 4
Stop-Process -Name "DirLister"

Dependencies: Run with `powershell`!

Description: DirLister.exe must exist in the specified path #{dirlister_path}

Check Prereq Commands:

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

Get Prereq Commands:

$parentpath = Split-Path "#{dirlister_path}"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path $parentpath | Out-Null
Invoke-WebRequest https://github.com/SanderSade/DirLister/releases/download/v2.beta4/DirLister.v2.beta4.zip -OutFile "PathToAtomicsFolder\..\ExternalPayloads\TDirLister.v2.beta4.zip"
Expand-Archive -Path "PathToAtomicsFolder\..\ExternalPayloads\TDirLister.v2.beta4.zip" -DestinationPath "PathToAtomicsFolder\..\ExternalPayloads\TDirLister.v2.beta4" -Force
Copy-Item "PathToAtomicsFolder\..\ExternalPayloads\TDirLister.v2.beta4\*" "$parentpath" -Recurse
Remove-Item "PathToAtomicsFolder\..\ExternalPayloads\TDirLister.v2.beta4.zip","PathToAtomicsFolder\..\ExternalPayloads\TDirLister.v2.beta4" -Recurse -ErrorAction Ignore

Atomic Test #7 - ESXi - Enumerate VMDKs available on an ESXi Host

An adversary uses the find command to enumerate vmdks on an ESXi host. Reference

Supported Platforms: Windows

auto_generated_guid: 4a233a40-caf7-4cf1-890a-c6331bbc72cf

Inputs:

Name	Description	Type	Default Value
vm_host	Specify the host name of the ESXi Server	string	atomic.local
vm_user	Specify the privilege user account on ESXi Server	string	root
vm_pass	Specify the privilege user password on ESXi Server	string	pass
plink_file	Path to Plink	path	PathToAtomicsFolder\..\ExternalPayloads\plink.exe
cli_script	Path to script with file discovery commands	path	PathToAtomicsFolder\T1083\src\esxi_file_discovery.txt

Attack Commands: Run with `command_prompt`!

echo "" | "#{plink_file}" "#{vm_host}" -ssh  -l "#{vm_user}" -pw "#{vm_pass}" -m "#{cli_script}"

Dependencies: Run with `powershell`!

Description: Check if plink is available.

Check Prereq Commands:

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

Get Prereq Commands:

New-Item -Type Directory "PathToAtomicsFolder\..\ExternalPayloads\" -ErrorAction Ignore -Force | Out-Null
Invoke-WebRequest "https://the.earth.li/~sgtatham/putty/latest/w64/plink.exe" -OutFile "#{plink_file}"

Atomic Test #8 - Identifying Network Shares - Linux

If the system uses network file systems (e.g., NFS, CIFS), findmnt can help locate paths to remote shares. Attackers may then attempt to access these shares for lateral movement or data exfiltration.

Supported Platforms: Linux

auto_generated_guid: 361fe49d-0c19-46ec-a483-ccb92d38e88e

Attack Commands: Run with `sh`!

findmnt -t nfs

Atomic Test #9 - Recursive Enumerate Files And Directories By Powershell

Adversary attempting to discover and collect sensitive documents and archives from a user’s system. The test recursively enumerates common user folders (Documents, Downloads, Desktop, OneDrive) for file types of interest such as .pdf, .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .txt, .zip, .rar, and .7z. This behavior is similar to malware like LOSTKEYS used by COLDRIVER in January 2025, where attackers perform targeted file discovery to support strategic intelligence collection https://www.zscaler.com/blogs/security-research/coldriver-updates-arsenal-baitswitch-and-simplefix.

Supported Platforms: Windows

auto_generated_guid: 95a21323-770d-434c-80cd-6f6fbf7af432

Inputs:

Name	Description	Type	Default Value
output_file	File to output results.	string	$env:TEMP\T1083-Enumerate-net.txt

Attack Commands: Run with `powershell`!

$out = "#{output_file}"
$dirsFilter = @('Documents','Downloads','Desktop','OneDrive')
$exts = @('.pdf','.doc','.docx','.xls','.xlsx','.txt','.zip','.rar','.7z')
$userProfile = [Environment]::GetFolderPath('UserProfile')
$tr = [System.Collections.Generic.List[string]]::new()

function MatchesExtension($path) {
  try {
    $e = [System.IO.Path]::GetExtension($path).ToLower()
    return $exts -contains $e
  } catch { return $false }
}

function Scan-Dir($root) {
  try {
    $match = $false
    foreach ($f in $dirsFilter) { if ($root -like "*$f*") { $match = $true; break } }
    if (-not $match) { return }

    [System.IO.Directory]::EnumerateFiles($root) | ForEach-Object {
      if (MatchesExtension $_) {
        $fi = [System.IO.FileInfo]::new($_)
        $tr.Add("[File] $_ Size:$($fi.Length) LastWrite:$($fi.LastWriteTime)")
      }
    }

    [System.IO.Directory]::EnumerateDirectories($root) | ForEach-Object {
      Scan-Dir $_
    }
  } catch [System.UnauthorizedAccessException] {
    $tr.Add("[AccessDenied] $root")
  } catch {
    $tr.Add("[Error] $root => $($_.Exception.Message)")
  }
}

[System.IO.Directory]::EnumerateDirectories($userProfile) | ForEach-Object { Scan-Dir $_ }

# Ensure output dir exists
$outDir = [System.IO.Path]::GetDirectoryName($out)
if (-not [string]::IsNullOrEmpty($outDir) -and -not (Test-Path $outDir)) {
  New-Item -Path $outDir -ItemType Directory -Force | Out-Null
}

# Write results
$tr | Out-File -FilePath $out -Encoding UTF8
Write-Output "Enumeration complete. Results written to: $out"

Cleanup Commands:

Remove-Item -Path "#{output_file}" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

T1083

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