type: attack-pattern
spec_version: 2.1
id: attack-pattern--43e7dc91-05b2-474c-b9ac-2ed4fe101f4d
created: 2017-05-31T21:30:47.843Z
created_by_ref: identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5
revoked: no
external_references: source_name: mitre-attack
url: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1055
external_id: T1055
source_name: GNU Acct
description: GNU. (2010, February 5). The GNU Accounting Utilities. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
url: https://www.gnu.org/software/acct/
source_name: Elastic Process Injection July 2017
description: Hosseini, A. (2017, July 18). Ten Process Injection Techniques: A Technical Survey Of Common And Trending Process Injection Techniques. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
url: https://www.endgame.com/blog/technical-blog/ten-process-injection-techniques-technical-survey-common-and-trending-process
source_name: RHEL auditd
description: Jahoda, M. et al.. (2017, March 14). redhat Security Guide - Chapter 7 - System Auditing. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
url: https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/6/html/security_guide/chap-system_auditing
source_name: ArtOfMemoryForensics
description: Ligh, M.H. et al.. (2014, July). The Art of Memory Forensics: Detecting Malware and Threats in Windows, Linux, and Mac Memory. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
source_name: Microsoft Sysmon v6 May 2017
description: Russinovich, M. & Garnier, T. (2017, May 22). Sysmon v6.20. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
url: https://docs.microsoft.com/sysinternals/downloads/sysmon
source_name: Chokepoint preload rootkits
description: stderr. (2014, February 14). Detecting Userland Preload Rootkits. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
url: http://www.chokepoint.net/2014/02/detecting-userland-preload-rootkits.html
object_marking_refs: marking-definition--fa42a846-8d90-4e51-bc29-71d5b4802168
modified: 2025-10-24T17:48:43.053Z
name: Process Injection
description: Adversaries may inject code into processes in order to evade process-based defenses as well as possibly elevate privileges. Process injection is a method of executing arbitrary code in the address space of a separate live process. Running code in the context of another process may allow access to the process's memory, system/network resources, and possibly elevated privileges. Execution via process injection may also evade detection from security products since the execution is masked under a legitimate process. 

There are many different ways to inject code into a process, many of which abuse legitimate functionalities. These implementations exist for every major OS but are typically platform specific. 

More sophisticated samples may perform multiple process injections to segment modules and further evade detection, utilizing named pipes or other inter-process communication (IPC) mechanisms as a communication channel. 
kill_chain_phases: kill_chain_name: mitre-attack
phase_name: defense-evasion
kill_chain_name: mitre-attack
phase_name: privilege-escalation
x_mitre_attack_spec_version: 3.2.0
x_mitre_contributors: Anastasios Pingios
Christiaan Beek, @ChristiaanBeek
Ryan Becwar
x_mitre_deprecated: no
x_mitre_domains: enterprise-attack
x_mitre_is_subtechnique: no
x_mitre_modified_by_ref: identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5
x_mitre_platforms: Linux
macOS
Windows
x_mitre_version: 1.4