T0800 Activate Firmware Update Mode — Detection Rules

Source-backed rule directory

No reviewed association in this snapshot.

Atlas deterministic concepts

No exact concept selected.

Anomaly models

No exact Atlas model in this snapshot.

ATT&CK analytic guidance

DET0802 Detection of Activate Firmware Update Mode

AN1934 Analytic 1934

Real-time monitoring identifies an Industrial Control System (ICS) protocol message sequence placing a field device into firmware-update mode from a source not in the approved engineering workstation list, correlated with the device's alarm telemetry going silent within a short grace period without acknowledgment. Documented precedent: Industroyer exploited CVE-2015-5374 by sending a crafted packet that initiated an incomplete firmware update sequence on Siemens Protection Technology (SIPROTEC) relays. OT operational-fidelity gate: Alert only when the action is not attributable to an authorized operator/engineering source for the specific target and function, and it is either outside an approved change/maintenance window or lacks matching change-control context; where telemetry permits, require corroborating device, configuration, or process-state effect. Suppress activity that fully matches approved maintenance, commissioning, failover, recovery, or tested control procedures.

AN2158 Analytic 2158

Real-time monitoring identifies a firmware update tool on an Industrial Control System (ICS) Linux engineering host initiating firmware-update mode activation outside a scheduled maintenance window, by a User Identifier (UID) not in the approved firmware manager UIDs. OT operational-fidelity gate: Alert only when the action is not attributable to an authorized operator/engineering source for the specific target and function, and it is either outside an approved change/maintenance window or lacks matching change-control context; where telemetry permits, require corroborating device, configuration, or process-state effect. Suppress activity that fully matches approved maintenance, commissioning, failover, recovery, or tested control procedures.

AN2179 Analytic 2179

Real-time monitoring identifies transfer protocol traffic such as the Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) or vendor-specific protocol traffic initiating firmware-update mode on Industrial Control System (ICS) device Internet Protocol (IP) addresses from sources not in the approved engineering workstation list. OT operational-fidelity gate: Alert only when the action is not attributable to an authorized operator/engineering source for the specific target and function, and it is either outside an approved change/maintenance window or lacks matching change-control context; where telemetry permits, require corroborating device, configuration, or process-state effect. Suppress activity that fully matches approved maintenance, commissioning, failover, recovery, or tested control procedures.

AN2282 Analytic 2282

Real-time monitoring identifies a vendor firmware update tool activating firmware-update mode on a field device from a Windows host, outside a scheduled maintenance window or by an account not in the approved firmware management role. OT operational-fidelity gate: Alert only when the action is not attributable to an authorized operator/engineering source for the specific target and function, and it is either outside an approved change/maintenance window or lacks matching change-control context; where telemetry permits, require corroborating device, configuration, or process-state effect. Suppress activity that fully matches approved maintenance, commissioning, failover, recovery, or tested control procedures.