Adversaries may achieve persistence by adding a Registry key to the Active Setup of the local machine. Active Setup is a Windows mechanism that is used to execute programs when a user logs in. The value stored in the Registry key will be executed after a user logs into the computer.^[1] These programs will be executed under the context of the user and will have the account's associated permissions level.

Adversaries may abuse Active Setup by creating a key under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\ and setting a malicious value for StubPath. This value will serve as the program that will be executed when a user logs into the computer.^{[2],[3],[4],[5],[6]}

Adversaries can abuse these components to execute malware, such as remote access tools, to maintain persistence through system reboots. Adversaries may also use Masquerading to make the Registry entries look as if they are associated with legitimate programs.

References

1. Klein, H. (2010, April 22). Active Setup Explained. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
2. Glyer, C. (2010). Examples of Recent APT Persistence Mechanism. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
3. Scott-Railton, J., et al. (2015, December 8). Packrat. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
4. Kindlund, D. (2012, December 30). CFR Watering Hole Attack Details. Retrieved November 17, 2024.
5. Baumgartner, K., Guerrero-Saade, J. (2015, March 4). Who’s Really Spreading through the Bright Star?. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
6. Ray, V., et al. (2016, November 22). Tropic Trooper Targets Taiwanese Government and Fossil Fuel Provider With Poison Ivy. Retrieved December 18, 2020.

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