Adversaries may deploy a container into an environment to facilitate execution or evade defenses. In some cases, adversaries may deploy a new container to execute processes associated with a particular image or deployment, such as processes that execute or download malware. In others, an adversary may deploy a new container configured without network rules, user limitations, etc. to bypass existing defenses within the environment.
Containers can be deployed by various means, such as via Docker's create and start APIs or via a web application such as the Kubernetes dashboard or Kubeflow.[1][2][3] Adversaries may deploy containers based on retrieved or built malicious images or from benign images that download and execute malicious payloads at runtime.[4]
| ID | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| S0600 | Doki | |
| S0599 | Kinsing | |
| G0139 | TeamTNT |
TeamTNT has deployed different types of containers into victim environments to facilitate execution.[7][8] |
| ID | Mitigation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| M1035 | Limit Access to Resource Over Network |
Limit communications with the container service to local Unix sockets or remote access via SSH. Require secure port access to communicate with the APIs over TLS by disabling unauthenticated access to the Docker API, Kubernetes API Server, and container orchestration web applications.[9][10] |
| M1030 | Network Segmentation |
Deny direct remote access to internal systems through the use of network proxies, gateways, and firewalls. |
| M1018 | User Account Management |
Enforce the principle of least privilege by limiting container dashboard access to only the necessary users. |
| ID | Data Source | Data Component |
|---|---|---|
| DS0015 | Application Log | Application Log Content |
| DS0032 | Container | Container Creation |
| Container Start | ||
| DS0014 | Pod | Pod Creation |
| Pod Modification |
Monitor for suspicious or unknown container images and pods in your environment. Deploy logging agents on Kubernetes nodes and retrieve logs from sidecar proxies for application pods to detect malicious activity at the cluster level. In Docker, the daemon log provides insight into remote API calls, including those that deploy containers. Logs for management services or applications used to deploy containers other than the native technologies themselves should also be monitored.