MITRE ATLAS 2026.09 / technique reference

AML.T0011.003
Malicious Link

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EnterpriseExecutionSource maturity: Demonstrated

MITRE source definition

An adversary may rely upon a user clicking a malicious link in order to gain execution. Users may be subjected to social engineering to get them to click on a link that will lead to code execution. This user action will typically be observed as follow-on behavior from Spearphishing Link. Clicking on a link may also lead to other execution techniques such as exploitation of a browser or application vulnerability via Exploitation for Client Execution. Links may also lead users to download files that require execution via Malicious File.

There are many ways an adversary can leverage malicious links to gain access to a victim system via an AI system. For example, an AI Agent that is configured to not validate website origin headers will accept connections from any website, allowing adversaries to access otherwise inaccessible networks.

Source modified 2026-05-27. Reproduced from the pinned ATLAS release; inline technique links resolve to local reference pages.

Source-backed defensive context

MITRE mitigations

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MITRE case studies

These are explicit source relationships, not independently reproduced incidents or validated detection coverage.

Simulation and telemetry boundary

This is a technique reference page, not a runnable simulation. No ATLAS-specific telemetry mapping, local attack execution or detector validation is asserted. MITRE maturity describes its source evidence, not a 1200km lab result.

For broader context—not technique-specific control mappings—see AI Security, AI Security Course, and detection-validation methodology.

Provenance and attribution

Immutable MITRE ATLAS source · Import provenance · Attribution and transformation notice · Apache License 2.0

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