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Resource Hijacking

Adversaries may leverage the resources of co-opted systems in order to solve resource intensive problems which may impact system and/or hosted service availability.

One common purpose for Resource Hijacking is to validate transactions of cryptocurrency networks and earn virtual currency. Adversaries may consume enough system resources to negatively impact and/or cause affected machines to become unresponsive.[1] Servers and cloud-based[2] systems are common targets because of the high potential for available resources, but user endpoint systems may also be compromised and used for Resource Hijacking and cryptocurrency mining. Containerized environments may also be targeted due to the ease of deployment via exposed APIs and the potential for scaling mining activities by deploying or compromising multiple containers within an environment or cluster.[3][4]

Additionally, some cryptocurrency mining malware kills off processes for competing malware to ensure it’s not competing for resources.[5]

ID: T1496
Sub-techniques:  No sub-techniques
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Tactic: Impact
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Platforms: Containers, IaaS, Linux, Windows, macOS
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Permissions Required: Administrator, User
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Impact Type: Availability
Contributors: Alfredo Oliveira, Trend Micro; David Fiser, @anu4is, Trend Micro; Jay Chen, Palo Alto Networks; Magno Logan, @magnologan, Trend Micro; Vishwas Manral, McAfee; Yossi Weizman, Azure Defender Research Team
Version: 1.2
Created: 17 April 2019
Last Modified: 14 April 2021
Provided by LAYER 8

Procedure Examples

ID Name Description
G0096 APT41

APT41 deployed a Monero cryptocurrency mining tool in a victim’s environment.[6]
G0108 Blue Mockingbird

Blue Mockingbird has used XMRIG to mine cryptocurrency on victim systems.[7]
S0486 Bonadan

Bonadan can download an additional module which has a cryptocurrency mining extension.[8]
S0492 CookieMiner

CookieMiner has loaded coinmining software onto systems to mine for Koto cryptocurrency. [9]
S0601 Hildegard

Hildegard has used xmrig to mine cryptocurrency.[3]
S0434 Imminent Monitor

Imminent Monitor has the capability to run a cryptocurrency miner on the victim machine.[10]
S0599 Kinsing

Kinsing has created and run a Bitcoin cryptocurrency miner.[11][12]
S0451 LoudMiner

LoudMiner harvested system resources to mine cryptocurrency, using XMRig to mine Monero.[13]

S0532 Lucifer

Lucifer can use system resources to mine cryptocurrency, dropping XMRig to mine Monero.[14]
G0106 Rocke

Rocke has distributed cryptomining malware.[15][16]
S0468 Skidmap

Skidmap is a kernel-mode rootkit used for cryptocurrency mining.[17]
G0139 TeamTNT

TeamTNT has deployed XMRig Docker images to mine cryptocurrency.[18][19]

Mitigations

This type of attack technique cannot be easily mitigated with preventive controls since it is based on the abuse of system features.

Detection

ID Data Source Data Component
DS0017 Command Command Execution
DS0022 File File Creation
DS0029 Network Traffic Network Connection Creation
Network Traffic Flow
DS0009 Process Process Creation
DS0013 Sensor Health Host Status

Consider monitoring process resource usage to determine anomalous activity associated with malicious hijacking of computer resources such as CPU, memory, and graphics processing resources. Monitor for suspicious use of network resources associated with cryptocurrency mining software. Monitor for common cryptomining software process names and files on local systems that may indicate compromise and resource usage.

References

  1. GReAT. (2017, April 3). Lazarus Under the Hood. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  2. CloudSploit. (2019, June 8). The Danger of Unused AWS Regions. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  3. Chen, J. et al. (2021, February 3). Hildegard: New TeamTNT Cryptojacking Malware Targeting Kubernetes. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  4. Oliveira, A. (2019, May 30). Infected Containers Target Docker via Exposed APIs. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  5. Oliveira, A., Fiser, D. (2020, September 10). War of Linux Cryptocurrency Miners: A Battle for Resources. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  6. Fraser, N., et al. (2019, August 7). Double DragonAPT41, a dual espionage and cyber crime operation APT41. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  7. Lambert, T. (2020, May 7). Introducing Blue Mockingbird. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  8. Dumont, R., M.Léveillé, M., Porcher, H. (2018, December 1). THE DARK SIDE OF THE FORSSHE A landscape of OpenSSH backdoors. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  9. Chen, y., et al. (2019, January 31). Mac Malware Steals Cryptocurrency Exchanges’ Cookies. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  10. Unit 42. (2019, December 2). Imminent Monitor – a RAT Down Under. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  1. Singer, G. (2020, April 3). Threat Alert: Kinsing Malware Attacks Targeting Container Environments. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  2. Huang, K. (2020, November 23). Zoom into Kinsing. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  3. Malik, M. (2019, June 20). LoudMiner: Cross-platform mining in cracked VST software. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
  4. Hsu, K. et al. (2020, June 24). Lucifer: New Cryptojacking and DDoS Hybrid Malware Exploiting High and Critical Vulnerabilities to Infect Windows Devices. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  5. Liebenberg, D.. (2018, August 30). Rocke: The Champion of Monero Miners. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  6. Xingyu, J.. (2019, January 17). Malware Used by Rocke Group Evolves to Evade Detection by Cloud Security Products. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  7. Remillano, A., Urbanec, J. (2019, September 19). Skidmap Linux Malware Uses Rootkit Capabilities to Hide Cryptocurrency-Mining Payload. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  8. Stroud, J. (2021, May 25). Taking TeamTNT's Docker Images Offline. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  9. Cado Security. (2020, August 16). Team TNT – The First Crypto-Mining Worm to Steal AWS Credentials. Retrieved September 22, 2021.