T1547.009: T1547.009

216.73.217.64

View on MITRE ATT&CK The MITRE Corporation · Published 24/01/2020 20:00 · Modified 27/03/2026 01:09

Essential information

MITRE technique ID: T1547.009
Confidence: 100/100
Revoked: No
Published: 24/01/2020 20:00
Modified: 27/03/2026 01:09
Author / Source: The MITRE Corporation

Aliases

Shortcut Modification

Platforms

windows

Description

Adversaries may create or modify shortcuts that can execute a program during system boot or user login. Shortcuts or symbolic links are used to reference other files or programs that will be opened or executed when the shortcut is clicked or executed by a system startup process. Adversaries may abuse shortcuts in the startup folder to execute their tools and achieve persistence.(Citation: Shortcut for Persistence ) Although often used as payloads in an infection chain (e.g. [Spearphishing Attachment](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1566/001)), adversaries may also create a new shortcut as a means of indirection, while also abusing [Masquerading](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1036) to make the malicious shortcut appear as a legitimate program. Adversaries can also edit the target path or entirely replace an existing shortcut so their malware will be executed instead of the intended legitimate program. Shortcuts can also be abused to establish persistence by implementing other methods. For example, LNK browser extensions may be modified (e.g. [Browser Extensions](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1176/001)) to persistently launch malware.

Kill chain phases

Kill chain	Phase
mitre-attack	persistence
mitre-attack	privilege-escalation