Initial Access TA0001

Overview

The Initial Access phase in the MITRE ATT&CK framework refers to how attackers gain an initial foothold in a target environment. In Azure, this often involves abusing identity, exploiting public-facing applications, or leveraging compromised credentials to infiltrate the cloud infrastructure. Below are the core concepts of TA0001.

1. Exploiting Public-Facing Applications

Technique: T1190 - Exploit Public-Facing Application Attackers target vulnerabilities in exposed services to gain unauthorized access.

• Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS): Leveraging misconfigured ingress controllers or exploiting known vulnerabilities in containerized applications.

2. Trusted Relationship

Technique: T1199 - Trusted Relationship The Trusted Relationship technique involves exploiting relationships or permissions granted between organizations or systems. Specifically:

• Third-Party Access: Adversaries may compromise external entities like IT service providers, contractors, or resellers who already have access to the victim’s environment.

• Delegated Permissions: Abuse of delegated administrative privileges in cloud environments, like Office 365 or Azure, is a prime example.

• Insider-Like Access: The adversary leverages permissions that bypass standard external access controls, often because the trust between entities or systems is poorly scrutinized.

3. Valid Accounts

Technique: T1078 - Valid Accounts Attackers obtain or abuse credentials of existing accounts in order to complete other tactics within MITRE Att&ck.

• T1078.001 - Default Accounts: Utilizing default account credentials in order to complete other tactics within the MITRE Att&CK framework.

• T1078.004 - Cloud Accounts: Use stolen Entra ID tokens to access resources without MFA, such as Key Vault secrets and Blob storage.