t1134-002-create-process-with-token

name	T1134.002_create-process-with-token
description	Adversaries may create a new process with an existing token to escalate privileges and bypass access controls.
category	configuration
version	18.1
author	cyberstrike-official
tags	["mitre-attack","enterprise","t1134.002","defense-evasion","privilege-escalation","windows","sub-technique"]
technique_id	T1134.002
tactic	defense-evasion
all_tactics	["defense-evasion","privilege-escalation"]
platforms	["Windows"]
mitre_url	https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1134/002
tech_stack	["windows"]
cwe_ids	["CWE-693"]
chains_with	["T1134","T1134.001","T1134.003","T1134.004","T1134.005"]
prerequisites	["T1134"]
severity_boost	{"T1134":"Chain with T1134 for deeper attack path","T1134.001":"Chain with T1134.001 for deeper attack path","T1134.003":"Chain with T1134.003 for deeper attack path"}

T1134.002 Create Process with Token

Sub-technique of: T1134

High-Level Description

Adversaries may create a new process with an existing token to escalate privileges and bypass access controls. Processes can be created with the token and resulting security context of another user using features such as CreateProcessWithTokenW and runas.

Creating processes with a token not associated with the current user may require the credentials of the target user, specific privileges to impersonate that user, or access to the token to be used. For example, the token could be duplicated via Token Impersonation/Theft or created via Make and Impersonate Token before being used to create a process.

While this technique is distinct from Token Impersonation/Theft, the techniques can be used in conjunction where a token is duplicated and then used to create a new process.

Kill Chain Phase

• Defense Evasion (TA0005)
• Privilege Escalation (TA0004)

Platforms: Windows

What to Check

• Identify if Create Process with Token technique is applicable to target environment
• Check Windows systems for indicators of Create Process with Token
• Verify mitigations are bypassed or absent (2 known mitigations)
• Assess detection coverage (1 detection strategies)

How to Test

Atomic Red Team Tests

The following tests are from Atomic Red Team and provide actionable ways to test this technique:

Atomic Test 1: Access Token Manipulation

This Action demonstrates how an access token for a specific program can spawn another program under a different owner. Adversaries can leverage access tokens to run programs under a different user not only to achieve privilege escalation but also to evade detection by blending in with normal user activity. This Action will query all processes and list the process name and owner.It will then make a copy of an existing token to create a new instance of cmd.exe

Supported Platforms: windows Elevation Required: Yes

Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process Bypass -Force
$owners = @{}
gwmi win32_process |% {$owners[$_.handle] = $_.getowner().user}
Get-Process | Select ProcessName,Id,@{l="Owner";e={$owners[$_.id.tostring()]}}
& "$PathToAtomicsFolder\T1134.002\src\GetToken.ps1"; [MyProcess]::CreateProcessFromParent((Get-Process lsass).Id,"cmd.exe")