Path Interception by PATH Environment Variable

Adversaries may execute their own malicious payloads by hijacking environment variables used to load libraries. The PATH environment variable contains a list of directories (User and System) that the OS searches sequentially through in search of the binary that was called from a script or the command line. Adversaries can place a malicious program in an earlier entry in the list of directories stored in the PATH environment variable, resulting in the operating system executing the malicious binary rather than the legitimate binary when it searches sequentially through that PATH listing. For example, on Windows if an adversary places a malicious program named "net.exe" in `C:\example path`, which by default precedes `C:\Windows\system32\net.exe` in the PATH environment variable, when "net" is executed from the command-line the `C:\example path` will be called instead of the system's legitimate executable at `C:\Windows\system32\net.exe`. Some methods of executing a program rely on the PATH environment variable to determine the locations that are searched when the path for the program is not given, such as executing programs from a [Command and Scripting Interpreter](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1059).(Citation: ExpressVPN PATH env Windows 2021) Adversaries may also directly modify the $PATH variable specifying the directories to be searched. An adversary can modify the `$PATH` variable to point to a directory they have write access. When a program using the $PATH variable is called, the OS searches the specified directory and executes the malicious binary. On macOS, this can also be performed through modifying the $HOME variable. These variables can be modified using the command-line, launchctl, [Unix Shell Configuration Modification](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1546/004), or modifying the `/etc/paths.d` folder contents.(Citation: uptycs Fake POC linux malware 2023)(Citation: nixCraft macOS PATH variables)(Citation: Elastic Rules macOS launchctl 2022)

Linked Issues

Issuelinks
Linktyp	Issue
is related to	Techniques
is blocked by	Detection Strategy for Hijack Execution Flow using Path Interception by PATH Environment Variable.
is blocked by	Restrict File and Directory Permissions
is blocked by	Execution Prevention
is blocked by	Audit
is blocked by	Asset Inventories
is blocked by	Security, Compliance & Resilience Controls Oversight
is blocked by	Secure Baseline Configurations
is blocked by	Least Functionality
is blocked by	Continuous Monitoring
is blocked by	Malicious Code Protection (Anti-Malware)
is blocked by	Endpoint File Integrity Monitoring (FIM)
is blocked by	Separation of Duties (SoD)
is blocked by	Account Management
is blocked by	Access Enforcement
is blocked by	Least Privilege
is blocked by	Data Flow Enforcement – Access Control Lists (ACLs)
is blocked by	Input Data Validation
is blocked by	Vulnerability Scanning

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