type: course-of-action
spec_version: 2.1
id: course-of-action--e0703d4f-3972-424a-8277-84004817e024
created: 2018-10-17T00:14:20.652Z
created_by_ref: identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5
external_references: source_name: mitre-attack
url: https://attack.mitre.org/mitigations/T1034
external_id: T1034
source_name: Microsoft CreateProcess
description: Microsoft. (n.d.). CreateProcess function. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
url: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms682425
source_name: MSDN DLL Security
description: Microsoft. (n.d.). Dynamic-Link Library Security. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
url: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff919712.aspx
source_name: Kanthak Sentinel
description: Kanthak, S. (2016, July 20). Vulnerability and Exploit Detector. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
url: https://skanthak.homepage.t-online.de/sentinel.html
source_name: Beechey 2010
description: Beechey, J. (2010, December). Application Whitelisting: Panacea or Propaganda?. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
url: http://www.sans.org/reading-room/whitepapers/application/application-whitelisting-panacea-propaganda-33599
source_name: Windows Commands JPCERT
description: Tomonaga, S. (2016, January 26). Windows Commands Abused by Attackers. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
url: https://blogs.jpcert.or.jp/en/2016/01/windows-commands-abused-by-attackers.html
source_name: NSA MS AppLocker
description: NSA Information Assurance Directorate. (2014, August). Application Whitelisting Using Microsoft AppLocker. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
url: https://apps.nsa.gov/iaarchive/library/ia-guidance/tech-briefs/application-whitelisting-using-microsoft-applocker.cfm
source_name: Corio 2008
description: Corio, C., & Sayana, D. P. (2008, June). Application Lockdown with Software Restriction Policies. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
url: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2008.06.srp.aspx
object_marking_refs: marking-definition--fa42a846-8d90-4e51-bc29-71d5b4802168
modified: 2025-04-18T18:00:18.258Z
name: Path Interception Mitigation
description: Eliminate path interception weaknesses in program configuration files, scripts, the PATH environment variable, services, and in shortcuts by surrounding PATH variables with quotation marks when functions allow for them (Citation: Microsoft CreateProcess). Be aware of the search order Windows uses for executing or loading binaries and use fully qualified paths wherever appropriate (Citation: MSDN DLL Security). Clean up old Windows Registry keys when software is uninstalled to avoid keys with no associated legitimate binaries.

Periodically search for and correct or report path interception weaknesses on systems that may have been introduced using custom or available tools that report software using insecure path configurations (Citation: Kanthak Sentinel). 

Require that all executables be placed in write-protected directories. Ensure that proper permissions and directory access control are set to deny users the ability to write files to the top-level directory C: and system directories, such as C:\Windows\, to reduce places where malicious files could be placed for execution.

Identify and block potentially malicious software that may be executed through the path interception by using whitelisting (Citation: Beechey 2010) tools, like AppLocker (Citation: Windows Commands JPCERT) (Citation: NSA MS AppLocker) or Software Restriction Policies, (Citation: Corio 2008) that are capable of auditing and/or blocking unknown executables.
x_mitre_modified_by_ref: identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5
x_mitre_deprecated: yes
x_mitre_domains: enterprise-attack
x_mitre_version: 1.0
x_mitre_attack_spec_version: 3.2.0