File and Directory Discovery

On Android, command line tools or the Java file APIs can be used to enumerate file system contents. However, Linux file permissions and SELinux policies generally strongly restrict what can be accessed by apps (without taking advantage of a privilege escalation exploit). The contents of the external storage directory are generally visible, which could present concern if sensitive data is inappropriately stored there.

iOS's security architecture generally restricts the ability to perform file and directory discovery without use of escalated privileges.

ID: T1420
Sub-techniques:  No sub-techniques
Tactic Type: Post-Adversary Device Access
Tactic: Discovery
Platforms: Android
Version: 1.0
Created: 25 October 2017
Last Modified: 17 October 2018
Provided by LAYER 8

Procedure Examples

ID Name Description
S0529 CarbonSteal

CarbonSteal has searched device storage for various files, including .amr files (audio recordings) and superuser binaries.[1]

S0505 Desert Scorpion

Desert Scorpion can list files stored on external storage.[2]

S0550 DoubleAgent

DoubleAgent has searched for specific existing data directories, including the Gmail app, Dropbox app, Pictures, and thumbnails.[1]

S0577 FrozenCell

FrozenCell has searched for pdf, doc, docx, ppt, pptx, xls, and xlsx file types for exfiltration.[3]

S0535 Golden Cup

Golden Cup can collect a directory listing of external storage.[4]

S0551 GoldenEagle

GoldenEagle has looked for .doc, .txt, .gif, .apk, .jpg, .png, .mp3, and .db files on external storage.[1]

S0549 SilkBean

SilkBean can get file lists on the SD card.[1]

S0558 Tiktok Pro

Tiktok Pro can list all hidden files in the /DCIM/.dat/ directory.[5]

G0112 Windshift

Windshift has included file enumeration in the malicious apps deployed as part of Operation BULL and Operation ROCK.[6]

Mitigations

ID Mitigation Description
M1006 Use Recent OS Version

Increase difficulty of escalating privileges, as security architecture improvements in each new version of Android and iOS make it more difficult to escalate privileges. Additionally, newer versions of Android have strengthened the sandboxing applied to applications, restricting their ability to enumerate file system contents.

References