H3XAOperational intelligence
Live analytical pictureEvidence before assessment
TypeTechnique
External ID—
First seen2026-08-14
Last seen2026-08-14

Confidence

—

Adversaries may undermine security controls that will either warn users of untrusted activity or prevent execution of untrusted programs. Operating systems and security products may contain mechanisms to identify programs or websites as possessing some level of trust. Examples of such features would include a program being allowed to run because it is signed by a valid code signing certificate, a program prompting the user with a warning because it has an attribute set from being downloaded from the Internet, or getting an indication that you are about to connect to an untrusted site. Adversaries may attempt to subvert these trust mechanisms. The method adversaries use will depend on the specific mechanism they seek to subvert. Adversaries may conduct [File and Directory Permissions Modification](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1222) or [Modify Registry](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1112) in support of subverting these controls.(Citation: SpectorOps Subverting Trust Sept 2017) Adversaries may also create or steal code signing certificates to acquire trust on target systems.(Citation: Securelist Digital Certificates)(Citation: Symantec Digital Certificates)

13 recorded

Relationships

mitigatesMitigation
mitigatesMitigation
mitigatesMitigation
mitigatesMitigation
mitigatesMitigation
subtechnique-ofTechnique
subtechnique-ofTechnique
subtechnique-ofTechnique
subtechnique-ofTechnique
subtechnique-ofTechnique
subtechnique-ofTechnique
uses
from Axiom
Group
usesMalware
4 external

References

mitre-attack
T1553
open
SpectorOps Subverting Trust Sept 2017
https://specterops.io/assets/resources/SpecterOps_Subverting_Trust_in_Windows.pdf
open
Securelist Digital Certificates
https://securelist.com/why-you-shouldnt-completely-trust-files-signed-with-digital-certificates/68593/
open
Symantec Digital Certificates
http://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/how-attackers-steal-private-keys-digital-certificates
open