type: attack-pattern
spec_version: 2.1
id: attack-pattern--f9cc4d06-775f-4ee1-b401-4e2cc0da30ba
created: 2020-10-01T00:51:28.513Z
created_by_ref: identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5
revoked: no
external_references: source_name: mitre-attack
url: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1584/001
external_id: T1584.001
source_name: Krebs DNS Hijack 2019
description: Brian Krebs. (2019, February 18). A Deep Dive on the Recent Widespread DNS Hijacking Attacks. Retrieved February 14, 2022.
url: https://krebsonsecurity.com/2019/02/a-deep-dive-on-the-recent-widespread-dns-hijacking-attacks/
source_name: ICANNDomainNameHijacking
description: ICANN Security and Stability Advisory Committee. (2005, July 12). Domain Name Hijacking: Incidents, Threats, Risks and Remediation. Retrieved November 17, 2024.
url: https://www.icann.org/en/ssac/registration-services/documents/sac-007-domain-name-hijacking-incidents-threats-risks-and-remediation-12-07-2005-en
source_name: Palo Alto Unit 42 Domain Shadowing 2022
description: Janos Szurdi, Rebekah Houser and Daiping Liu. (2022, September 21). Domain Shadowing: A Stealthy Use of DNS Compromise for Cybercrime. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
url: https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/domain-shadowing/
source_name: Microsoft Sub Takeover 2020
description: Microsoft. (2020, September 29). Prevent dangling DNS entries and avoid subdomain takeover. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
url: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/security/fundamentals/subdomain-takeover
object_marking_refs: marking-definition--fa42a846-8d90-4e51-bc29-71d5b4802168
modified: 2025-10-24T17:49:38.448Z
name: Domains
description: Adversaries may hijack domains and/or subdomains that can be used during targeting. Domain registration hijacking is the act of changing the registration of a domain name without the permission of the original registrant.(Citation: ICANNDomainNameHijacking) Adversaries may gain access to an email account for the person listed as the owner of the domain. The adversary can then claim that they forgot their password in order to make changes to the domain registration. Other possibilities include social engineering a domain registration help desk to gain access to an account, taking advantage of renewal process gaps, or compromising a cloud service that enables managing domains (e.g., AWS Route53).(Citation: Krebs DNS Hijack 2019)

Subdomain hijacking can occur when organizations have DNS entries that point to non-existent or deprovisioned resources. In such cases, an adversary may take control of a subdomain to conduct operations with the benefit of the trust associated with that domain.(Citation: Microsoft Sub Takeover 2020)

Adversaries who compromise a domain may also engage in domain shadowing by creating malicious subdomains under their control while keeping any existing DNS records. As service will not be disrupted, the malicious subdomains may go unnoticed for long periods of time.(Citation: Palo Alto Unit 42 Domain Shadowing 2022)
kill_chain_phases: kill_chain_name: mitre-attack
phase_name: resource-development
x_mitre_attack_spec_version: 3.2.0
x_mitre_contributors: Jeremy Galloway
x_mitre_deprecated: no
x_mitre_domains: enterprise-attack
x_mitre_is_subtechnique: yes
x_mitre_modified_by_ref: identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5
x_mitre_platforms: PRE
x_mitre_version: 1.4