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T1587.002 Code Signing Certificates

Adversaries may create self-signed code signing certificates that can be used during targeting. Code signing is the process of digitally signing executables and scripts to confirm the software author and guarantee that the code has not been altered or corrupted. Code signing provides a level of authenticity for a program from the developer and a guarantee that the program has not been tampered with.1 Users and/or security tools may trust a signed piece of code more than an unsigned piece of code even if they don’t know who issued the certificate or who the author is.

Prior to Code Signing, adversaries may develop self-signed code signing certificates for use in operations.

Item Value
ID T1587.002
Sub-techniques T1587.001, T1587.002, T1587.003, T1587.004
Tactics TA0042
Platforms PRE
Version 1.1
Created 01 October 2020
Last Modified 17 October 2021

Procedure Examples

ID Name Description
C0022 Operation Dream Job During Operation Dream Job, Lazarus Group digitally signed their malware and the dbxcli utility.4
G0040 Patchwork Patchwork has created self-signed certificates from fictitious and spoofed legitimate software companies that were later used to sign malware.2
G0056 PROMETHIUM PROMETHIUM has created self-signed certificates to sign malicious installers.3

Mitigations

ID Mitigation Description
M1056 Pre-compromise This technique cannot be easily mitigated with preventive controls since it is based on behaviors performed outside of the scope of enterprise defenses and controls.

Detection

ID Data Source Data Component
DS0004 Malware Repository Malware Metadata

References

  1. Wikipedia. (2015, November 10). Code Signing. Retrieved March 31, 2016. ↩

  2. Hinchliffe, A. and Falcone, R. (2020, May 11). Updated BackConfig Malware Targeting Government and Military Organizations in South Asia. Retrieved June 17, 2020. ↩

  3. Tudorica, R. et al. (2020, June 30). StrongPity APT - Revealing Trojanized Tools, Working Hours and Infrastructure. Retrieved July 20, 2020. ↩

  4. Breitenbacher, D and Osis, K. (2020, June 17). OPERATION IN(TER)CEPTION: Targeted Attacks Against European Aerospace and Military Companies. Retrieved December 20, 2021. ↩