Adversaries may attempt to position themselves between two or more networked devices using an adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) technique to support follow-on behaviors such as Network Sniffing, Transmitted Data Manipulation, or replay attacks (Exploitation for Credential Access). By abusing features of common networking protocols that can determine the flow of network traffic (e.g. ARP, DNS, LLMNR, etc.), adversaries may force a device to communicate through an adversary controlled system so they can collect information or perform additional actions.1 For example, adversaries may manipulate victim DNS settings to enable other malicious activities such as preventing/redirecting users from accessing legitimate sites and/or pushing additional malware.234 Adversaries may also manipulate DNS and leverage their position in order to intercept user credentials, including access tokens (Steal Application Access Token) and session cookies (Steal Web Session Cookie).56 Downgrade Attacks can also be used to establish an AiTM position, such as by negotiating a less secure, deprecated, or weaker version of communication protocol (SSL/TLS) or encryption algorithm.789 Adversaries may also leverage the AiTM position to attempt to monitor and/or modify traffic, such as in Transmitted Data Manipulation. Adversaries can set up a position similar to AiTM to prevent traffic from flowing to the appropriate destination, potentially to impair defenses and/or in support of a Network Denial of Service.
- Rapid7 MiTM Basics
- ttint_rat
- dns_changer_trojans
- ad_blocker_with_miner
- volexity_0day_sophos_FW
- Token tactics
- mitm_tls_downgrade_att
- taxonomy_downgrade_att_tls
- tlseminar_downgrade_att
Groups using this technique
| Group | Name | Country |
|---|---|---|
| grp_g0129 | Mustang Panda | China |
| grp_g1041 | Sea Turtle | — |
| grp_g0094 | Kimsuky | DPRK |
Claims
No public claim points at this technique yet.
Auto-ingested and not human-reviewed; confidence and validity read by citation.