1200KM / simulation
Adversaries may abuse software extensions to establish persistent access to victim systems. Software extensions are modular components that enhance or customize the functionality of software applications, including web browsers, Integrated Development Environments (IDEs), and other platforms. Extensions are typically installed via official marketplaces, app stores, or manually loaded by users, and they often inherit the permissions and access…
Adversaries may abuse software extensions to establish persistent access to victim systems. Software extensions are modular components that enhance or customize the functionality of software applications, including web browsers, Integrated Development Environments (IDEs), and other platforms.[Chrome Extension C2 Malware][Abramovsky VSCode Security] Extensions are typically installed via official marketplaces, app stores, or manually loaded by users, and they often inherit the permissions and access levels of the host application.
Malicious extensions can be introduced through various methods, including social engineering, compromised marketplaces, or direct installation by users or by adversaries who have already gained access to a system. Malicious extensions can be named similarly or identically to benign extensions in marketplaces. Security mechanisms in extension marketplaces may be insufficient to detect malicious components, allowing adversaries to bypass automated scanners or exploit trust established during the installation process. Adversaries may also abuse benign extensions to achieve their objectives, such as using legitimate functionality to tunnel data or bypass security controls.
The modular nature of extensions and their integration with host applications make them an attractive target for adversaries seeking to exploit trusted software ecosystems. Detection can be challenging due to the inherent trust placed in extensions during installation and their ability to blend into normal application workflows.
Official technique definition · Open in the interactive matrix
Related pages are navigation context. Their tools, rules and lab results are not automatically inherited.
These contracts are selected through exact technique-to-data-component relationships or explicitly labelled planning overrides. Configure a collector at the relevant observation point; a telemetry name alone is not coverage.
DC0064 collection page — Collect process command lines and relevant shell/interpreter audit; shell history alone is neither complete nor tamper-resistant.
Required normalized fields: interpreter, command_line, actor_uid, session_id.
Project-normalized synthetic JSON, not a native provider log, captured event, attack verdict or validated detection. A parser/adapter is required for a real SIEM. Example names, IPs and values are fictional.
{
"schema": "1200km.telemetry.example.v1",
"synthetic": true,
"timestamp": "2026-09-27T12:00:00Z",
"telemetry_id": "DC0064",
"collector": "illustrative-lab-collector",
"observation": {
"interpreter": "/bin/sh",
"command_line": "printf LAB_TELEMETRY_CHECK",
"actor_uid": 1000,
"session_id": "lab-session-1"
}
}Visibility limits: Script content and process command lines are different signals. Logging may be partial, fragmented, filtered or disabled; never assume a command line reveals everything executed.
DC0039 collection page — Scope Sysmon FileCreate (11) to the lab directory; retain the process and file path. Differentiate creation/overwrite if the sensor can.
Required normalized fields: process_id, path, action, size_bytes.
Project-normalized synthetic JSON, not a native provider log, captured event, attack verdict or validated detection. A parser/adapter is required for a real SIEM. Example names, IPs and values are fictional.
{
"schema": "1200km.telemetry.example.v1",
"synthetic": true,
"timestamp": "2026-09-27T12:00:00Z",
"telemetry_id": "DC0039",
"collector": "illustrative-lab-collector",
"observation": {
"process_id": 4200,
"path": "C:\\Lab\\demo.txt",
"action": "create",
"size_bytes": 64
}
}Visibility limits: Event filtering and sensor versions change coverage. High-volume image-load and process-access collection needs tuning; endpoint events alone do not establish intent.
DC0082 collection page — Enable scoped Sysmon NetworkConnect (3), disabled by default, or a platform-equivalent process-aware network sensor.
Required normalized fields: process_guid, destination_ip, destination_port, protocol, initiated.
Project-normalized synthetic JSON, not a native provider log, captured event, attack verdict or validated detection. A parser/adapter is required for a real SIEM. Example names, IPs and values are fictional.
{
"schema": "1200km.telemetry.example.v1",
"synthetic": true,
"timestamp": "2026-09-27T12:00:00Z",
"telemetry_id": "DC0082",
"collector": "illustrative-lab-collector",
"observation": {
"process_guid": "lab-process-001",
"destination_ip": "198.51.100.20",
"destination_port": 443,
"protocol": "tcp",
"initiated": true
}
}Visibility limits: Event filtering and sensor versions change coverage. High-volume image-load and process-access collection needs tuning; endpoint events alone do not establish intent.
DC0078 collection page — Collect Zeek conn.log, Suricata flow events or exporter equivalents, including observation point and sampling settings.
Required normalized fields: source_ip, destination_ip, destination_port, protocol, bytes_sent, bytes_received.
Project-normalized synthetic JSON, not a native provider log, captured event, attack verdict or validated detection. A parser/adapter is required for a real SIEM. Example names, IPs and values are fictional.
{
"schema": "1200km.telemetry.example.v1",
"synthetic": true,
"timestamp": "2026-09-27T12:00:00Z",
"telemetry_id": "DC0078",
"collector": "illustrative-lab-collector",
"observation": {
"source_ip": "192.0.2.10",
"destination_ip": "198.51.100.20",
"destination_port": 443,
"protocol": "tcp",
"bytes_sent": 128,
"bytes_received": 512
}
}Visibility limits: Flows are not packet payloads. NAT, asymmetric routes, encryption, missing mirrors and sampling can hide attribution or content. A destination connection alone does not prove malicious intent.
DC0032 collection page — Collect Sysmon ProcessCreate (1); preserve ProcessGuid and parent identifiers. Security 4688 is an alternative with separate audit/command-line settings.
Required normalized fields: process_guid, image, parent_image, command_line, user.
<EventFiltering>
<ProcessCreate onmatch="include">
<Image condition="is">C:\Windows\System32\whoami.exe</Image>
</ProcessCreate>
</EventFiltering>This fragment only selects the named process. It is not a complete production policy. Inspect the installed schema with sysmon64 -s; preserve existing rules, then apply the reviewed complete configuration with sysmon64 -c <configuration-file>.
Project-normalized synthetic JSON, not a native provider log, captured event, attack verdict or validated detection. A parser/adapter is required for a real SIEM. Example names, IPs and values are fictional.
{
"schema": "1200km.telemetry.example.v1",
"synthetic": true,
"timestamp": "2026-09-27T12:00:00Z",
"telemetry_id": "DC0032",
"collector": "illustrative-lab-collector",
"observation": {
"process_guid": "lab-process-001",
"image": "C:\\Windows\\System32\\whoami.exe",
"parent_image": "C:\\Windows\\System32\\cmd.exe",
"command_line": "whoami",
"user": "LAB\\analyst"
}
}Visibility limits: Event filtering and sensor versions change coverage. High-volume image-load and process-access collection needs tuning; endpoint events alone do not establish intent.
DC0063 collection page — Use RegistryEvent 13 for value-set and 14 for rename; compare against intended policy and keep original type/value where available.
Required normalized fields: registry_path, event_type, value_type, value.
Project-normalized synthetic JSON, not a native provider log, captured event, attack verdict or validated detection. A parser/adapter is required for a real SIEM. Example names, IPs and values are fictional.
{
"schema": "1200km.telemetry.example.v1",
"synthetic": true,
"timestamp": "2026-09-27T12:00:00Z",
"telemetry_id": "DC0063",
"collector": "illustrative-lab-collector",
"observation": {
"registry_path": "HKCU\\Software\\Lab\\Mode",
"event_type": "SetValue",
"value_type": "DWORD",
"value": 1
}
}Visibility limits: Event filtering and sensor versions change coverage. High-volume image-load and process-access collection needs tuning; endpoint events alone do not establish intent.
Open the dedicated detection workspace · Existing query engineering
Installation or execution of a malicious browser or IDE extension, followed by abnormal registry entries or outbound network connections from the host application
Platforms: Windows.
Installation of configuration profiles or plist entries associated with malicious or unauthorized browser extensions
Platforms: macOS.
Manual or script-based installation of extension-like modules into browser config directories or IDE plugin paths, followed by suspicious network activity
Platforms: Linux.
No exact-tagged Sigma source rule was imported. This does not establish that the technique is undetectable; the MITRE guidance and collection requirements remain relevant.
No exact technique-specific Atlas model is present for T1176 in the selected source snapshot. The following is a design worksheet, not a newly validated model.
Start from the exact analytic above. The collection-specific lenses below are analyst recommendations; they do not assert that an arbitrary statistical deviation detects this technique.
Anomaly Detection Atlas · Baseline, validation and blind spots
No reviewed lab-tool association is selected for this exact technique. This is a curation gap, not a statement that no tool can implement the behavior.
Atomic evidence: 4 compatible documented candidates. Live lab status: not run for these imported procedures.
Use disposable lab hosts and test accounts, explicit target allowlists, a clean snapshot, bounded egress and a restore plan. Review every candidate and dependency before any execution.
Adversaries may use VPN extensions in an attempt to hide traffic sent from a compromised host. This will install one (of many) available VPNS in the Edge add-on store.
Pinned Atomic procedure · 3d456e2b-a7db-4af8-b5b3-720e7c4d9da5 · windows, macos · manual.
Elevation: not declared required. Cleanup: not declared. This is source documentation, not an execution approval.
No input arguments declared.
Review the upstream command, dependencies and cleanup at the source link. Source defaults may refer to real infrastructure or destructive actions; they are not authorized targets. No automatic install, prerequisite download or command execution is provided.
Turn on Chrome/Chromium developer mode and Load Extension found in the src directory
Pinned Atomic procedure · 3ecd790d-2617-4abf-9a8c-4e8d47da9ee1 · linux, windows, macos · manual.
Elevation: not declared required. Cleanup: not declared. This is source documentation, not an execution approval.
No input arguments declared.
Review the upstream command, dependencies and cleanup at the source link. Source defaults may refer to real infrastructure or destructive actions; they are not authorized targets. No automatic install, prerequisite download or command execution is provided.
This test loads an unpacked extension in Google Chrome with the `--load-extension` parameter. This technique was previously used by the Grandoreiro malware to load a malicious extension that would capture the browsing history, steal cookies and other user information. Other malwares also leverage this technique to hijack searches, steal passwords, inject ads, and more.
References:
https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1176/
https://securityintelligence.com/posts/grandoreiro-malware-now-targeting-banks-in-spain/
Pinned Atomic procedure · 7a714703-9f6b-461c-b06d-e6aeac650f27 · windows · powershell.
Elevation: required. Cleanup: defined upstream; review required. This is source documentation, not an execution approval.
working_dir: Working directory where the files will be downloaded and extracted (type string; source default $env:TEMP)Review the upstream command, dependencies and cleanup at the source link. Source defaults may refer to real infrastructure or destructive actions; they are not authorized targets. No automatic install, prerequisite download or command execution is provided.
Create a file called test.wma, with the duration of 30 seconds
Pinned Atomic procedure · cb790029-17e6-4c43-b96f-002ce5f10938 · linux, windows, macos · manual.
Elevation: not declared required. Cleanup: not declared. This is source documentation, not an execution approval.
No input arguments declared.
Review the upstream command, dependencies and cleanup at the source link. Source defaults may refer to real infrastructure or destructive actions; they are not authorized targets. No automatic install, prerequisite download or command execution is provided.
Download synthetic collection fixture (JSON) · Download the complete engineering workbook
This fixture exercises the listed collection fields. It does not reproduce Software Extensions, label its example events as malicious, or measure detection effectiveness. Use the exact analytic and selected procedure to build an independently labelled behavior-positive dataset.
Not run in this browser. No network scan or attack command is executed by this control.
All-page audit and evidence inventory · This page’s machine-readable workbook
Pinned MITRE STIX source · SHA-256 81113ba98afa2928f3dcff62022539f7ce30c315c32e14422f11ff95ce534352. Definition and procedure context are reproduced from this snapshot, not independently re-investigated incidents.
Train users to minimize extension use, and to only install trusted extensions.
Only install extensions from trusted sources that can be verified.
Set an extension allow or deny list as appropriate for your security policy.
Ensure extensions that are installed are the intended ones, as many malicious extensions may masquerade as legitimate ones.
Ensure operating systems and software are using the most current version.
Source procedure platform / method / executor tags:
No reviewed association in this snapshot.
Pinned research references. No browser attack runner or production-validated detector is asserted. Imported procedures remain unvalidated; any bounded lab evidence has its own scope. ATT&CK / Atomic provenance · Detection provenance.