T1053.006 Systemd Timers
Adversaries may abuse systemd timers to perform task scheduling for initial or recurring execution of malicious code. Systemd timers are unit files with file extension .timer
that control services. Timers can be set to run on a calendar event or after a time span relative to a starting point. They can be used as an alternative to Cron in Linux environments.1 Systemd timers may be activated remotely via the systemctl
command line utility, which operates over SSH.2
Each .timer
file must have a corresponding .service
file with the same name, e.g., example.timer
and example.service
. .service
files are Systemd Service unit files that are managed by the systemd system and service manager.3 Privileged timers are written to /etc/systemd/system/
and /usr/lib/systemd/system
while user level are written to ~/.config/systemd/user/
.
An adversary may use systemd timers to execute malicious code at system startup or on a scheduled basis for persistence.456 Timers installed using privileged paths may be used to maintain root level persistence. Adversaries may also install user level timers to achieve user level persistence.
Item | Value |
---|---|
ID | T1053.006 |
Sub-techniques | T1053.002, T1053.003, T1053.005, T1053.006, T1053.007 |
Tactics | TA0002, TA0003, TA0004 |
Platforms | Linux |
Permissions required | User, root |
Version | 1.1 |
Created | 12 October 2020 |
Last Modified | 27 July 2021 |
Mitigations
ID | Mitigation | Description |
---|---|---|
M1026 | Privileged Account Management | Limit access to the root account and prevent users from creating and/or modifying systemd timer unit files. |
M1022 | Restrict File and Directory Permissions | Restrict read/write access to systemd .timer unit files to only select privileged users who have a legitimate need to manage system services. |
M1018 | User Account Management | Limit user access to system utilities such as ‘systemctl’ or ‘systemd-run’ to users who have a legitimate need. |
Detection
ID | Data Source | Data Component |
---|---|---|
DS0017 | Command | Command Execution |
DS0022 | File | File Modification |
DS0009 | Process | Process Creation |
DS0003 | Scheduled Job | Scheduled Job Creation |
References
-
archlinux. (2020, August 11). systemd/Timers. Retrieved October 12, 2020. ↩
-
Aaron Kili. (2018, January 16). How to Control Systemd Services on Remote Linux Server. Retrieved July 26, 2021. ↩
-
Linux man-pages. (2014, January). systemd(1) - Linux manual page. Retrieved April 23, 2019. ↩
-
Catalin Cimpanu. (2018, July 10). Malware Found in Arch Linux AUR Package Repository. Retrieved April 23, 2019. ↩
-
Catalin Cimpanu. (2018, July 10). ~x file downloaded in public Arch package compromise. Retrieved April 23, 2019. ↩
-
Eli Schwartz. (2018, June 8). acroread package compromised. Retrieved April 23, 2019. ↩