| name | T1018_remote-system-discovery |
| description | Adversaries may attempt to get a listing of other systems by IP address, hostname, or other logical identifier on a network that may be used for Lateral Movement from the current system. |
| category | information-gathering |
| version | 18.1 |
| author | cyberstrike-official |
| tags | ["mitre-attack","enterprise","t1018","discovery","esxi","linux","macos","network-devices","windows"] |
| technique_id | T1018 |
| tactic | discovery |
| all_tactics | ["discovery"] |
| platforms | ["ESXi","Linux","macOS","Network Devices","Windows"] |
| mitre_url | https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1018 |
| tech_stack | ["esxi","linux","macos","network devices","windows"] |
| cwe_ids | ["CWE-200"] |
| chains_with | [] |
| prerequisites | [] |
| severity_boost | {} |
T1018 Remote System Discovery
High-Level Description
Adversaries may attempt to get a listing of other systems by IP address, hostname, or other logical identifier on a network that may be used for Lateral Movement from the current system. Functionality could exist within remote access tools to enable this, but utilities available on the operating system could also be used such as Ping, net view using Net, or, on ESXi servers, esxcli network diag ping.
Adversaries may also analyze data from local host files (ex: C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\hosts or /etc/hosts) or other passive means (such as local Arp cache entries) in order to discover the presence of remote systems in an environment.
Adversaries may also target discovery of network infrastructure as well as leverage Network Device CLI commands on network devices to gather detailed information about systems within a network (e.g. show cdp neighbors, show arp).
Kill Chain Phase
Platforms: ESXi, Linux, macOS, Network Devices, Windows
What to Check
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: Remote System Discovery - net
Identify remote systems with net.exe.
Upon successful execution, cmd.exe will execute net.exe view and display results of local systems on the network that have file and print sharing enabled.
Supported Platforms: windows
net view /domain
net view
Atomic Test 2: Remote System Discovery - net group Domain Computers
Identify remote systems with net.exe querying the Active Directory Domain Computers group.