Adversaries may carry out malicious operations using a virtual instance to avoid detection. A wide variety of virtualization technologies exist that allow for the emulation of a computer or computing environment. By running malicious code inside of a virtual instance, adversaries can hide artifacts associated with their behavior from security tools that are unable to monitor activity inside the virtual instance.^[1] Additionally, depending on the virtual networking implementation (ex: bridged adapter), network traffic generated by the virtual instance can be difficult to trace back to the compromised host as the IP address and hostname might not match known values.^[2]

Adversaries may utilize native support for virtualization (ex: Hyper-V), deploy lightweight emulators (ex: QEMU), or drop the necessary files to run a virtual instance (ex: VirtualBox binaries).^[3] After running a virtual instance, adversaries may create a shared folder between the guest and host with permissions that enable the virtual instance to interact with the host file system.^[4]

Threat actors may also leverage temporary virtualized environments such as the Windows Sandbox, which supports the use of .wsb configuration files for defining execution parameters. For example, the <MappedFolder> property supports the creation of a shared folder, while the <LogonCommand> property allows the specification of a payload.^[5],[6],[7]

In VMWare environments, adversaries may leverage the vCenter console to create new virtual machines. However, they may also create virtual machines directly on ESXi servers by running a valid .vmx file with the /bin/vmx utility. Adding this command to /etc/rc.local.d/local.sh (i.e., RC Scripts) will cause the VM to persistently restart.^[8] Creating a VM this way prevents it from appearing in the vCenter console or in the output to the vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms command on the ESXi server, thereby hiding it from typical administrative activities.^[9]

References

1. CyberCX. (2023, September 15). Weaponising VMs to bypass EDR – Akira ransomware. Retrieved April 4, 2025.
2. Committee of Inquiry into the Cyber Attack on SingHealth. (2019, January 10). Public Report of the Committee of Inquiry into the Cyber Attack on Singapore Health Services Private Limited's Patient Database. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
3. Den Iuzvyk and Tim Peck. (2024, November 4). CRON#TRAP: Emulated Linux Environments as the Latest Tactic in Malware Staging. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
4. SophosLabs. (2020, May 21). Ragnar Locker ransomware deploys virtual machine to dodge security. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
5. Dominik Breitenbacher. (2025, March 18). Operation AkaiRyū: MirrorFace invites Europe to Expo 2025 and revives ANEL backdoor. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
6. ITOCHU Cyber & Intelligence Inc.. (2025, March 12). Hack The Sandbox: Unveiling the Truth Behind Disappearing Artifacts. Retrieved November 5, 2025.
7. ITOCHU Cyber & Intelligence Inc.. (n.d.). Hack The Sandbox: Unveiling the Truth Behind Disappearing Artifacts. Retrieved November 5, 2025.
8. Christian Mohn. (2024, November 11). Beware Of The Rogue VMs!. Retrieved March 26, 2025.
9. Lex Crumpton. (2024, May 22). Infiltrating Defenses: Abusing VMware in MITRE’s Cyber Intrusion. Retrieved March 26, 2025.

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