t1547-003-time-providers

name	T1547.003_time-providers
description	Adversaries may abuse time providers to execute DLLs when the system boots.
category	configuration
version	18.1
author	cyberstrike-official
tags	["mitre-attack","enterprise","t1547.003","persistence","privilege-escalation","windows","sub-technique"]
technique_id	T1547.003
tactic	persistence
all_tactics	["persistence","privilege-escalation"]
platforms	["Windows"]
mitre_url	https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1547/003
tech_stack	["windows"]
cwe_ids	["CWE-276"]
chains_with	["T1547","T1547.001","T1547.002","T1547.004","T1547.005","T1547.006","T1547.007","T1547.008","T1547.009","T1547.010","T1547.012","T1547.013","T1547.014","T1547.015"]
prerequisites	["T1547"]
severity_boost	{"T1547":"Chain with T1547 for deeper attack path","T1547.001":"Chain with T1547.001 for deeper attack path","T1547.002":"Chain with T1547.002 for deeper attack path"}

T1547.003 Time Providers

Sub-technique of: T1547

High-Level Description

Adversaries may abuse time providers to execute DLLs when the system boots. The Windows Time service (W32Time) enables time synchronization across and within domains. W32Time time providers are responsible for retrieving time stamps from hardware/network resources and outputting these values to other network clients.

Time providers are implemented as dynamic-link libraries (DLLs) that are registered in the subkeys of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\TimeProviders\. The time provider manager, directed by the service control manager, loads and starts time providers listed and enabled under this key at system startup and/or whenever parameters are changed.

Adversaries may abuse this architecture to establish persistence, specifically by creating a new arbitrarily named subkey pointing to a malicious DLL in the DllName value. Administrator privileges are required for time provider registration, though execution will run in context of the Local Service account.

Kill Chain Phase

• Persistence (TA0003)
• Privilege Escalation (TA0004)

Platforms: Windows

What to Check

• Identify if Time Providers technique is applicable to target environment
• Check Windows systems for indicators of Time Providers
• 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: Create a new time provider

Establishes persistence by creating a new time provider registry key under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\TimeProvider. The new time provider will point to a DLL which will be loaded after the w32time service is started. The DLL will then create the file AtomicTest.txt in C:\Users\Public\ as validation that the test is successful.

Payload source code: https://github.com/tr4cefl0w/payloads/tree/master/T1547.003/

Supported Platforms: windows Elevation Required: Yes