T1564.006

Description from ATT&CK

Adversaries may carry out malicious operations using a virtual instance to avoid detection. A wide variety of virtualization technologies exist that allow for the emulation of a computer or computing environment. By running malicious code inside of a virtual instance, adversaries can hide artifacts associated with their behavior from security tools that are unable to monitor activity inside the virtual instance.(Citation: CyberCX Akira Ransomware) Additionally, depending on the virtual networking implementation (ex: bridged adapter), network traffic generated by the virtual instance can be difficult to trace back to the compromised host as the IP address and hostname might not match known values.(Citation: SingHealth Breach Jan 2019)

Adversaries may utilize native support for virtualization (ex: Hyper-V), deploy lightweight emulators (ex: QEMU), or drop the necessary files to run a virtual instance (ex: VirtualBox binaries).(Citation: Securonix CronTrap 2024) After running a virtual instance, adversaries may create a shared folder between the guest and host with permissions that enable the virtual instance to interact with the host file system.(Citation: Sophos Ragnar May 2020)

Threat actors may also leverage temporary virtualized environments such as the Windows Sandbox, which supports the use of .wsb configuration files for defining execution parameters. For example, the <MappedFolder> property supports the creation of a shared folder, while the <LogonCommand> property allows the specification of a payload.(Citation: ESET MirrorFace 2025)

In VMWare environments, adversaries may leverage the vCenter console to create new virtual machines. However, they may also create virtual machines directly on ESXi servers by running a valid .vmx file with the /bin/vmx utility. Adding this command to /etc/rc.local.d/local.sh (i.e., RC Scripts) will cause the VM to persistently restart.(Citation: vNinja Rogue VMs 2024) Creating a VM this way prevents it from appearing in the vCenter console or in the output to the vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms command on the ESXi server, thereby hiding it from typical administrative activities.(Citation: MITRE VMware Abuse 2024)

Atomic Tests

• Atomic Test #1 - Register Portable Virtualbox

• Atomic Test #2 - Create and start VirtualBox virtual machine

• Atomic Test #3 - Create and start Hyper-V virtual machine

Atomic Test #1 - Register Portable Virtualbox

ransomware payloads via virtual machines (VM). Maze ransomware

Supported Platforms: Windows

auto_generated_guid: c59f246a-34f8-4e4d-9276-c295ef9ba0dd

Inputs:

Attack Commands: Run with command_prompt!

"C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxSVC.exe" /reregserver
regsvr32 /S "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VboxC.dll"
rundll32 "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxRT.dll,RTR3Init"
sc create VBoxDRV binpath= "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\drivers\VboxDrv.sys" type= kernel start= auto error= normal displayname= PortableVBoxDRV
sc start VBoxDRV

Cleanup Commands:

sc stop VBoxDRV
sc delete VBoxDRV
regsvr32 /u /S "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VboxC.dll"
msiexec /x "#{msi_file_path}" /qn

Dependencies: Run with powershell!

Description: MSI file must exist on disk at specified location (#{msi_file_path})

Check Prereq Commands:

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

Get Prereq Commands:

New-Item -Type Directory (split-path "#{msi_file_path}") -ErrorAction ignore | Out-Null
Invoke-WebRequest "https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/raw/master/atomics/T1564.006/bin/Virtualbox_52.msi" -OutFile "#{msi_file_path}"

Description: CAB file must exist on disk at specified location (#{cab_file_path})

Check Prereq Commands:

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

Get Prereq Commands:

New-Item -Type Directory (split-path "#{cab_file_path}") -ErrorAction ignore | Out-Null
Invoke-WebRequest "https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/raw/master/atomics/T1564.006/bin/common.cab" -OutFile "#{cab_file_path}"

Description: Old version of Virtualbox must be installed

Check Prereq Commands:

if (Test-Path "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VboxC.dll") {exit 0} else {exit 1}

Get Prereq Commands:

msiexec /i "#{msi_file_path}" /qn

Atomic Test #2 - Create and start VirtualBox virtual machine

Create a simple VirtualBox VM and start up the machine Cleanup command stops and deletes the newly created VM and associated files https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch08.html#vboxmanage-startvm https://news.sophos.com/en-us/2020/05/21/ragnar-locker-ransomware-deploys-virtual-machine-to-dodge-security/ https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1564/006/

Supported Platforms: Windows

auto_generated_guid: 88b81702-a1c0-49a9-95b2-2dd53d755767

Inputs:

Attack Commands: Run with command_prompt!

"#{vboxmanage_exe}" createvm --name "#{vm_name}" --register
"#{vboxmanage_exe}" modifyvm "#{vm_name}" --firmware efi
"#{vboxmanage_exe}" startvm "#{vm_name}"

Cleanup Commands:

"#{vboxmanage_exe}" controlvm "#{vm_name}" poweroff
"#{vboxmanage_exe}" unregistervm "#{vm_name}" --delete

Dependencies: Run with powershell!

Description: VirtualBox must exist on disk at specified locations (#{virtualbox_exe})

Check Prereq Commands:

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

Get Prereq Commands:

New-Item -Type Directory "PathToAtomicsFolder\..\ExternalPayloads\" -ErrorAction Ignore -Force | Out-Null
$wc = New-Object System.Net.WebClient
$wc.DownloadFile("#{virtualbox_download}","PathToAtomicsFolder\..\ExternalPayloads\#{virtualbox_installer}")
start-process -FilePath "PathToAtomicsFolder\..\ExternalPayloads\#{virtualbox_installer}" -ArgumentList "--silent" -Wait

Description: VBoxManage must exist on disk at specified locations (#{vboxmanage_exe})

Check Prereq Commands:

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

Get Prereq Commands:

$wc = New-Object System.Net.WebClient
$wc.DownloadFile("#{virtualbox_download}","PathToAtomicsFolder\..\ExternalPayloads\#{virtualbox_installer}")
start-process -FilePath "PathToAtomicsFolder\..\ExternalPayloads\#{virtualbox_installer}" -ArgumentList "--silent" -Wait

Atomic Test #3 - Create and start Hyper-V virtual machine

Create a simple Hyper-V VM (Windows native hypervisor) and start up the machine Cleanup command stops and deletes the newly created VM https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/virtualization/hyper-v-on-windows/quick-start/enable-hyper-v https://embracethered.com/blog/posts/2020/shadowbunny-virtual-machine-red-teaming-technique/ https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1564/006/

Supported Platforms: Windows

auto_generated_guid: fb8d4d7e-f5a4-481c-8867-febf13f8b6d3

Inputs:

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

$VM = "#{vm_name}"
New-VM -Name $VM -Generation 2
Set-VMFirmware $VM -EnableSecureBoot Off
Start-VM $VM

Cleanup Commands:

Stop-VM $VM -Force
Remove-VM $VM -Force

Dependencies: Run with powershell!

Description: Hyper-V must be enabled on the system

Checks whether Hyper-V is enabled. If not, enables Hyper-V and forces a required restart

Check Prereq Commands:

if ((Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V).State = "Enabled") {exit 0} else {exit 1}

Get Prereq Commands:

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V -All -Force