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T1418 Software Discovery

Adversaries may attempt to get a listing of applications that are installed on a device. Adversaries may use the information from Software Discovery during automated discovery to shape follow-on behaviors, including whether or not to fully infect the target and/or attempts specific actions.

Adversaries may attempt to enumerate applications for a variety of reasons, such as figuring out what security measures are present or to identify the presence of target applications.

Item Value
ID T1418
Sub-techniques T1418.001
Tactics TA0032
Platforms Android, iOS
Version 2.1
Created 25 October 2017
Last Modified 20 March 2023

Procedure Examples

ID Name Description
S1061 AbstractEmu AbstractEmu can obtain a list of installed applications.33
S0440 Agent Smith Agent Smith obtains the device’s application list.32
S0525 Android/AdDisplay.Ashas Android/AdDisplay.Ashas has checked to see how many apps are installed, and specifically if Facebook or FB Messenger are installed.3
S0422 Anubis Anubis can collect a list of installed applications to compare to a list of targeted applications.26
S0529 CarbonSteal CarbonSteal has looked for specific applications, such as MiCode.5
S0480 Cerberus Cerberus can obtain a list of installed applications.17
S0479 DEFENSOR ID DEFENSOR ID can retrieve a list of installed applications.20
S0505 Desert Scorpion Desert Scorpion can obtain a list of installed applications.9
S0550 DoubleAgent DoubleAgent has accessed the list of installed apps.5
S0478 EventBot EventBot can collect a list of installed applications.21
S0405 Exodus Exodus Two can obtain a list of installed applications.31
S0509 FakeSpy FakeSpy can collect a list of installed applications.30
S0408 FlexiSpy FlexiSpy can retrieve a list of installed applications.2
S0423 Ginp Ginp can obtain a list of installed applications.34
S0535 Golden Cup Golden Cup can obtain a list of installed applications.10
S0551 GoldenEagle GoldenEagle has collected a list of installed application names.5
S0421 GolfSpy GolfSpy can obtain a list of installed applications.22
S0536 GPlayed GPlayed can collect a list of installed applications.4
S0544 HenBox HenBox can obtain a list of running apps.36
S0463 INSOMNIA INSOMNIA can obtain a list of installed non-Apple applications.23
S0485 Mandrake Mandrake can obtain a list of installed applications.16
S0407 Monokle Monokle can list applications installed on the device.25
S0399 Pallas Pallas retrieves a list of all applications installed on the device.14
S0316 Pegasus for Android Pegasus for Android accesses the list of installed applications.12
S0539 Red Alert 2.0 Red Alert 2.0 can obtain the running application.19
S0403 Riltok Riltok can retrieve a list of installed applications. Installed application names are then checked against an adversary-defined list of targeted applications.18
S0411 Rotexy Rotexy retrieves a list of installed applications and sends it to the command and control server.11
S1062 S.O.V.A. S.O.V.A. can search for installed applications that match a list of targets.7
S0328 Stealth Mango Stealth Mango uploads information about installed packages.29
S1069 TangleBot TangleBot can obtain a list of installed applications.35
S0545 TERRACOTTA TERRACOTTA can obtain a list of installed apps.6
S0558 Tiktok Pro Tiktok Pro can obtain a list of installed applications.8
S0424 Triada Triada is able to modify code within the com.android.systemui application to gain access to GET_REAL_TASKS permissions. This permission enables access to information about applications currently on the foreground and other recently used apps.15
S0427 TrickMo TrickMo can collect a list of installed applications.24
S0418 ViceLeaker ViceLeaker can obtain a list of installed applications.27
S0489 WolfRAT WolfRAT can obtain a list of installed applications.13
S0311 YiSpecter YiSpecter has collected information about installed applications.28

Mitigations

ID Mitigation Description
M1006 Use Recent OS Version Android 11 introduced privacy enhancements to package visibility, filtering results that are returned from the package manager. iOS 12 removed the private API that could previously be used to list installed applications on non-app store applications.1
M1011 User Guidance iOS users should be instructed to not download applications from unofficial sources, as applications distributed via the Apple App Store cannot list installed applications on a device.

Detection

ID Data Source Data Component
DS0041 Application Vetting API Calls

References

  1. Google. (n.d.). Package visibility filtering on Android. Retrieved April 11, 2022. ↩

  2. FlexiSpy. (n.d.). FlexiSpy Monitoring Features. Retrieved September 4, 2019. ↩

  3. L. Stefanko. (2019, October 24). Tracking down the developer of Android adware affecting millions of users. Retrieved October 29, 2020. ↩

  4. V. Ventura. (2018, October 11). GPlayed Trojan - .Net playing with Google Market . Retrieved November 24, 2020. ↩

  5. A. Kumar, K. Del Rosso, J. Albrecht, C. Hebeisen. (2020, June 1). Mobile APT Surveillance Campaigns Targeting Uyghurs - A collection of long-running Android tooling connected to a Chinese mAPT actor. Retrieved November 10, 2020. ↩↩↩

  6. Satori Threat Intelligence and Research Team. (2020, August). TERRACOTTA Android Malware: A Technical Study. Retrieved December 18, 2020. ↩

  7. Francesco Lubatti, Federico Valentini. (2022, November 8). SOVA malware is back and is evolving rapidly. Retrieved March 30, 2023. ↩

  8. S. Desai. (2020, September 8). TikTok Spyware. Retrieved January 5, 2021. ↩

  9. A. Blaich, M. Flossman. (2018, April 16). Lookout finds new surveillanceware in Google Play with ties to known threat actor targeting the Middle East. Retrieved September 11, 2020. ↩

  10. R. Iarchy, E. Rynkowski. (2018, July 5). GoldenCup: New Cyber Threat Targeting World Cup Fans. Retrieved October 29, 2020. ↩

  11. T. Shishkova, L. Pikman. (2018, November 22). The Rotexy mobile Trojan – banker and ransomware. Retrieved September 23, 2019. ↩

  12. Mike Murray. (2017, April 3). Pegasus for Android: the other side of the story emerges. Retrieved April 16, 2017. ↩

  13. W. Mercer, P. Rascagneres, V. Ventura. (2020, May 19). The wolf is back… . Retrieved July 20, 2020. ↩

  14. Blaich, A., et al. (2018, January 18). Dark Caracal: Cyber-espionage at a Global Scale. Retrieved April 11, 2018. ↩

  15. Lukasz Siewierski. (2019, June 6). PHA Family Highlights: Triada. Retrieved July 16, 2019. ↩

  16. R. Gevers, M. Tivadar, R. Bleotu, A. M. Barbatei, et al.. (2020, May 14). Uprooting Mandrake: The Story of an Advanced Android Spyware Framework That Went Undetected for 4 Years. Retrieved July 15, 2020. ↩

  17. Threat Fabric. (2019, August). Cerberus - A new banking Trojan from the underworld. Retrieved June 26, 2020. ↩

  18. Tatyana Shishkova. (2019, June 25). Riltok mobile Trojan: A banker with global reach. Retrieved August 7, 2019. ↩

  19. J. Chandraiah. (2018, July 23). Red Alert 2.0: Android Trojan targets security-seekers. Retrieved December 14, 2020. ↩

  20. L. Stefanko. (2020, May 22). Insidious Android malware gives up all malicious features but one to gain stealth. Retrieved June 26, 2020. ↩

  21. D. Frank, L. Rochberger, Y. Rimmer, A. Dahan. (2020, April 30). EventBot: A New Mobile Banking Trojan is Born. Retrieved June 26, 2020. ↩

  22. E. Xu, G. Guo. (2019, June 28). Mobile Cyberespionage Campaign ‘Bouncing Golf’ Affects Middle East. Retrieved January 27, 2020. ↩

  23. I. Beer. (2019, August 29). Implant Teardown. Retrieved June 2, 2020. ↩

  24. P. Asinovsky. (2020, March 24). TrickBot Pushing a 2FA Bypass App to Bank Customers in Germany. Retrieved April 24, 2020. ↩

  25. Bauer A., Kumar A., Hebeisen C., et al. (2019, July). Monokle: The Mobile Surveillance Tooling of the Special Technology Center. Retrieved September 4, 2019. ↩

  26. M. Feller. (2020, February 5). Infostealer, Keylogger, and Ransomware in One: Anubis Targets More than 250 Android Applications. Retrieved April 8, 2020. ↩

  27. GReAT. (2019, June 26). ViceLeaker Operation: mobile espionage targeting Middle East. Retrieved November 21, 2019. ↩

  28. Claud Xiao. (2015, October 4). YiSpecter: First iOS Malware That Attacks Non-jailbroken Apple iOS Devices by Abusing Private APIs. Retrieved March 3, 2023. ↩

  29. Lookout. (n.d.). Stealth Mango & Tangelo. Retrieved September 27, 2018. ↩

  30. O. Almkias. (2020, July 1). FakeSpy Masquerades as Postal Service Apps Around the World. Retrieved September 15, 2020. ↩

  31. Security Without Borders. (2019, March 29). Exodus: New Android Spyware Made in Italy. Retrieved September 3, 2019. ↩

  32. A. Hazum, F. He, I. Marom, B. Melnykov, A. Polkovnichenko. (2019, July 10). Agent Smith: A New Species of Mobile Malware. Retrieved May 7, 2020. ↩

  33. P Shunk, K Balaam. (2021, October 28). Rooting Malware Makes a Comeback: Lookout Discovers Global Campaign. Retrieved February 6, 2023. ↩

  34. ThreatFabric. (2019, November). Ginp - A malware patchwork borrowing from Anubis. Retrieved April 8, 2020. ↩

  35. Felipe Naves, Andrew Conway, W. Stuart Jones, Adam McNeil . (2021, September 23). TangleBot: New Advanced SMS Malware Targets Mobile Users Across U.S. and Canada with COVID-19 Lures. Retrieved February 28, 2023. ↩

  36. A. Hinchliffe, M. Harbison, J. Miller-Osborn, et al. (2018, March 13). HenBox: The Chickens Come Home to Roost. Retrieved September 9, 2019. ↩