Metadata credential theft
Compromised instance queries IMDS directly for role credentials
categoryCloud, container and supply chain attacksseverityHighdetectabilityHighlabnot yet measured
Example: TeamTNT
Detection opportunity what to watch for
A benign emulation of this technique’s linchpin behaviour — the command an attacker runs, and where we’ve detonated it in the lab, exactly what the SIEM saw, what caught it, and what it missed.
What the attacker runs
sudo /opt/lab/detonate.sh --technique T1552.005 --tool atomic --run-id <run-id> -- pwsh -c 'Import-Module invoke-atomicredteam; Invoke-AtomicTest T1552.005 -TestGuids c9aa1ca4-04df-4623-adac-1f199ca5ce42 -GetPrereqs -PathToAtomicsFolder /opt/AtomicRedTeam/atomics; Invoke-AtomicTest T1552.005 -TestGuids c9aa1ca4-04df-4623-adac-1f199ca5ce42 -PathToAtomicsFolder /opt/AtomicRedTeam/atomics -TimeoutSeconds 120'Queued for lab measurement — not yet detonated.
Classification
20 values: 11 reviewed, 7 imported, 2 derived. What do these mean?
Exploitability
| Attack vector | Credential attacks |
|---|---|
| Reach (CVSS) | Local |
| Attack complexity | Low |
| Privileges required | Low |
| User interaction | None |
| Attacker skill required | Low |
| Resources required | Low |
| Likelihood / prevalence | High |
| Maturity | Commoditized |
Impact & scope
| Severity | High |
|---|---|
| Impact | Confidentiality |
| Platform | IaaS |
| Environment | Cloud |
| Target asset class | Identity |
| Kill-chain phase (tactic) | Credential Access |
Detection & telemetry
| Detectability | High |
|---|---|
| Testability | Atomic Red Team test |
| Data sources (ATT&CK data components) | Network Connection CreationNetwork Traffic Content |
Detection & response
Mitigated by 14
- M1035 attack-mitigation
- M1037 attack-mitigation
- M1042 attack-mitigation
D3-ANCId3fendD3-CCSAd3fendD3-CHd3fendD3-CId3fendD3-CRd3fendD3-CROd3fendD3-CTSd3fendD3-DUCd3fendD3-MFAd3fendD3-RCd3fendD3-RICd3fend
Detected by 1
- DET0001 attack-detection-strategy
Tested by 3
ae9b2e3e-efa1-4483-86e2-fae529ab9fb6atomicc9aa1ca4-04df-4623-adac-1f199ca5ce42atomiccc99e772-4e18-4f1f-b422-c5cdd1bfd7b7atomic
Attack relationships
- Parent: API key / secret leakage
- Parent: CI/CD credential hygiene failures
Framework references
- Primary source: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1552/005/
- attack: T1552.005 (primary)
Evidence & sources
- ev-0001 (Cyber Attack Taxonomy) — Name, definition and Example/ID taken verbatim from the 'Cloud, container and supply chain attacks' table, line 391 of Cyber-Attack-Taxonomy.md
- ev-0002 (MITRE Enterprise ATT&CK v19.2 (STIX 2.1)) — ATT&CK usage prevalence: 6 groups/software/campaigns reference this technique (ATT&CK enterprise v19.2)