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  1. Frameworks
  2. >ATTACK
  3. >Execution
  4. >ATTACK-T1059.012
ATTACK-T1059.012Active

Hypervisor CLI

Statement

Adversaries may abuse hypervisor command line interpreters (CLIs) to execute malicious commands. Hypervisor CLIs typically enable a wide variety of functionality for managing both the hypervisor itself and the guest virtual machines it hosts.

For example, on ESXi systems, tools such as esxcli and vim-cmd allow administrators to configure firewall rules and log forwarding on the hypervisor, list virtual machines, start and stop virtual machines, and more.(Citation: Broadcom ESXCLI Reference)(Citation: Crowdstrike Hypervisor Jackpotting Pt 2 2021)(Citation: LOLESXi) Adversaries may be able to leverage these tools in order to support further actions, such as File and Directory Discovery or Data Encrypted for Impact.

Location

Tactic
Execution

Technique Details

Identifier
ATTACK-T1059.012
Parent Technique
ATTACK-T1059
ATT&CK Page
View on MITRE

Tactics

Execution

Platforms

ESXi

Detection

Detection Strategy for ESXi Hypervisor CLI Abuse

No cross-framework mappings available

← Back to Execution
Execution45 controls
ATTACK-T1047Windows Management InstrumentationATTACK-T1053Scheduled Task/JobATTACK-T1053.002AtATTACK-T1053.003CronATTACK-T1053.005Scheduled TaskATTACK-T1053.006Systemd TimersATTACK-T1053.007Container Orchestration JobATTACK-T1059Command and Scripting InterpreterATTACK-T1059.001PowerShellATTACK-T1059.002AppleScriptATTACK-T1059.003Windows Command ShellATTACK-T1059.004Unix ShellATTACK-T1059.005Visual BasicATTACK-T1059.006PythonATTACK-T1059.007JavaScriptATTACK-T1059.008Network Device CLIATTACK-T1059.009Cloud APIATTACK-T1059.010AutoHotKey & AutoITATTACK-T1059.011LuaATTACK-T1059.012Hypervisor CLIATTACK-T1059.013Container CLI/APIATTACK-T1072Software Deployment ToolsATTACK-T1106Native APIATTACK-T1129Shared ModulesATTACK-T1203Exploitation for Client ExecutionATTACK-T1204User ExecutionATTACK-T1204.001Malicious LinkATTACK-T1204.002Malicious FileATTACK-T1204.003Malicious ImageATTACK-T1204.004Malicious Copy and PasteATTACK-T1204.005Malicious LibraryATTACK-T1559Inter-Process CommunicationATTACK-T1559.001Component Object ModelATTACK-T1559.002Dynamic Data ExchangeATTACK-T1559.003XPC ServicesATTACK-T1569System ServicesATTACK-T1569.001LaunchctlATTACK-T1569.002Service ExecutionATTACK-T1569.003SystemctlATTACK-T1609Container Administration CommandATTACK-T1648Serverless ExecutionATTACK-T1651Cloud Administration CommandATTACK-T1674Input InjectionATTACK-T1675ESXi Administration CommandATTACK-T1677Poisoned Pipeline Execution