Adversaries may abuse CMSTP to proxy execution of malicious code. The Microsoft Connection Manager Profile Installer (CMSTP.exe) is a command-line program used to install Connection Manager service profiles.^[1] CMSTP.exe accepts an installation information file (INF) as a parameter and installs a service profile leveraged for remote access connections.

Adversaries may supply CMSTP.exe with INF files infected with malicious commands.^[2] Similar to Regsvr32 / ”Squiblydoo”, CMSTP.exe may be abused to load and execute DLLs^[3] and/or COM scriptlets (SCT) from remote servers.^[4],[5],[6] This execution may also bypass AppLocker and other application control defenses since CMSTP.exe is a legitimate binary that may be signed by Microsoft.

CMSTP.exe can also be abused to Bypass User Account Control and execute arbitrary commands from a malicious INF through an auto-elevated COM interface.^[3],[5],[6]

References

1. Microsoft. (2009, October 8). How Connection Manager Works. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
2. Carr, N. (2018, January 31). Here is some early bad cmstp.exe... Retrieved September 12, 2024.
3. Moe, O. (2017, August 15). Research on CMSTP.exe. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
4. Tyrer, N. (2018, January 30). CMSTP.exe - remote .sct execution applocker bypass. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
5. Moe, O. (2018, March 1). Ultimate AppLocker Bypass List. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
6. Seetharaman, N. (2018, July 7). Detecting CMSTP-Enabled Code Execution and UAC Bypass With Sysmon.. Retrieved November 17, 2024.

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