t1552-001-credentials-in-files

name	T1552.001_credentials-in-files
description	Adversaries may search local file systems and remote file shares for files containing insecurely stored credentials.
category	authentication
version	18.1
author	cyberstrike-official
tags	["mitre-attack","enterprise","t1552.001","credential-access","containers","iaas","linux","macos","windows","sub-technique"]
technique_id	T1552.001
tactic	credential-access
all_tactics	["credential-access"]
platforms	["Containers","IaaS","Linux","macOS","Windows"]
mitre_url	https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1552/001
tech_stack	["containers","cloud","linux","macos","windows"]
cwe_ids	["CWE-522"]
chains_with	["T1552","T1552.002","T1552.003","T1552.004","T1552.005","T1552.006","T1552.007","T1552.008"]
prerequisites	["T1552"]
severity_boost	{"T1552":"Chain with T1552 for deeper attack path","T1552.002":"Chain with T1552.002 for deeper attack path","T1552.003":"Chain with T1552.003 for deeper attack path"}

T1552.001 Credentials In Files

Sub-technique of: T1552

High-Level Description

Adversaries may search local file systems and remote file shares for files containing insecurely stored credentials. These can be files created by users to store their own credentials, shared credential stores for a group of individuals, configuration files containing passwords for a system or service, or source code/binary files containing embedded passwords.

It is possible to extract passwords from backups or saved virtual machines through OS Credential Dumping. Passwords may also be obtained from Group Policy Preferences stored on the Windows Domain Controller.

In cloud and/or containerized environments, authenticated user and service account credentials are often stored in local configuration and credential files. They may also be found as parameters to deployment commands in container logs. In some cases, these files can be copied and reused on another machine or the contents can be read and then used to authenticate without needing to copy any files.

Kill Chain Phase

• Credential Access (TA0006)

Platforms: Containers, IaaS, Linux, macOS, Windows

What to Check

• Identify if Credentials In Files technique is applicable to target environment
• Check Containers systems for indicators of Credentials In Files
• Check IaaS systems for indicators of Credentials In Files
• Check Linux systems for indicators of Credentials In Files
• Verify mitigations are bypassed or absent (4 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: Find AWS credentials

Find local AWS credentials from file, defaults to using / as the look path.

Supported Platforms: macos, linux

find #{file_path}/.aws -name "credentials" -type f 2>/dev/null

Atomic Test 2: Extract Browser and System credentials with LaZagne

LaZagne Source