Query: privilege escalation using Image File Execution Options Injection
Matching passage: T1546.012 Image File Execution Options Injection. Tactics: privilege escalation, persistence. Description: Adversaries may establish persistence and/or elevate privileges by executing malicious content triggered by Image File Execution Options (IFEO) debuggers. IFEOs enable a developer to attach a debugger to an application. When a process is created, a debugger present in an application’s IFEO will be prepended to the application’s name, effectively launching the new process under the debugger (e.g., <code>C:\dbg\ntsd.exe -g notepad.exe</code>).(Citation: Microsoft Dev Blog IFEO Mar 2010) IFEOs can be set directly via the Registry or in Global Flags via the GFlags tool.(Citation: Microsoft GFlags Mar 2017) IFEOs are represented as <code>Debugger</code> values in the Registry under <code>HKLM\SOFTWARE{\Wow6432Node}\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\<executable></code> where <code>&lt;executable&gt;</code> is the binary on which the debugger is attached.(Citation: Microsoft Dev Blog IFEO Mar 2010) IFEOs can also enable an arbitrary monitor program to be launched when a specified program silently exits (i.e. is prematurely terminated by itself or a second, non kernel-mode process).(Citation: Microsoft Silent Process Exit NOV 2017)(Citation: Oddvar Moe IFEO APR 2018) Similar to debuggers, silent exit monitoring can be enabled through GFlags and/or by directly modifying IFEO and silent process exit Registry values in <code>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SilentProcessExit\</code>.(Citation: Microsoft Silent Process Exit NOV 2017)(Citation: Oddvar Moe IFEO APR 2018) Similar to [Accessibility Features](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1546/008), on Windows Vista and later as well as Windows Server 2008 and later, a Registry key may be modified that configures "cmd.exe," or another program that provides backdoor access, as a "debugger" for an accessibility program (ex: utilman.exe). After the Registry is modified, pressing the appropriate key combination at the login screen while at the keyboard or when connecte
Near-miss passage: T1546.018 Python Startup Hooks. Tactics: persistence, privilege escalation. Description: Adversaries may achieve persistence by leveraging Python’s startup mechanisms, including path configuration (`.pth`) files and the `sitecustomize.py` or `usercustomize.py` modules. These files are automatically processed during the initialization of the Python interpreter, allowing for the execution of arbitrary code whenever Python is invoked.(Citation: Volexity GlobalProtect CVE 2024) Path configuration files are designed to extend Python’s module search paths through the use of import statements. If a `.pth` file is placed in Python's `site-packages` or `dist-packages` directories, any lines beginning with `import` will be executed automatically on Python invocation.(Citation: DFIR Python Persistence 2025) Similarly, if `sitecustomize.py` or `usercustomize.py` is present in the Python path, these files will be imported during interpreter startup, and any code they contain will be executed.(Citation: Python Site Configuration Hook) Adversaries may abuse these mechanisms to establish persistence on systems where Python is widely used (e.g., for automation or scripting in production environments).