Adversaries may leverage AutoRun functionality or scripts to execute malicious code. Devices configured to enable AutoRun functionality or legacy operating systems may be susceptible to abuse of these features to run malicious code stored on various forms of removeable media (i.e., USB, Disk Images [.ISO]). Commonly, AutoRun or AutoPlay are disabled in many operating systems configurations to mitigate against this technique. If a device is configured to enable AutoRun or AutoPlay, adversaries may execute code on the device by mounting the removable media to the device, either through physical or virtual means. This may be especially relevant for virtual machine environments where disk images may be dynamically mapped to a guest system on a hypervisor.
An example could include an adversary gaining access to a hypervisor through the management interface to modify a virtual machine’s hardware configuration. They could then deploy an iso image with a malicious AutoRun script to cause the virtual machine to automatically execute the code contained on the disk image. This would enable the execution of malicious code within a virtual machine without needing any prior remote access to that system.
| ID | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| C0034 | 2022 Ukraine Electric Power Attack |
During the 2022 Ukraine Electric Power Attack, Sandworm Team used existing hypervisor access to map an ISO image named |
| ID | Asset |
|---|---|
| A0008 | Application Server |
| A0007 | Control Server |
| A0006 | Data Historian |
| A0002 | Human-Machine Interface (HMI) |
| A0012 | Jump Host |
| A0001 | Workstation |
| ID | Mitigation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| M0928 | Operating System Configuration |
Configure operating systems to disable the autorun of any specific file types or drives. |
| ID | Name | Analytic ID | Analytic Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| DET0748 | Detection of Autorun Image | AN2066 |
Real-time monitoring identifies a field device loading a modified autorun image (boot read-only memory, bootloader firmware) detected by a discrepancy between the device's declared firmware hash and the authorized firmware inventory hash, with post-reboot device behavior diverging from expected (unexpected protocols active, unanticipated network connections). OT operational-fidelity gate: Alert only when execution violates an approved signer/hash/path/parent/process or tool allowlist, or originates from an unauthorized user/tool, and is tied to an OT asset or follow-on OT-relevant action. Suppress vendor-signed software, approved engineering utilities, diagnostics, patching, backup, and documented maintenance. |
| AN2112 |
Real-time monitoring identifies modification of udev rules or autofs configuration that triggers script execution on removable media mount, where the triggered script path is not in the authorized Industrial Control System (ICS) software inventory. OT operational-fidelity gate: Alert only when execution violates an approved signer/hash/path/parent/process or tool allowlist, or originates from an unauthorized user/tool, and is tied to an OT asset or follow-on OT-relevant action. Suppress vendor-signed software, approved engineering utilities, diagnostics, patching, backup, and documented maintenance. |
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| AN2273 |
Real-time monitoring identifies a registry write to Windows autorun keys or an AutoPlay/AutoRun configuration change referencing a binary path that is not part of the authorized Industrial Control System (ICS) software inventory, particularly in combination with removable media insertion. OT operational-fidelity gate: Alert only when execution violates an approved signer/hash/path/parent/process or tool allowlist, or originates from an unauthorized user/tool, and is tied to an OT asset or follow-on OT-relevant action. Suppress vendor-signed software, approved engineering utilities, diagnostics, patching, backup, and documented maintenance. |