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T1548.001: T1548.001

View on MITRE ATT&CK The MITRE Corporation · Published 30/01/2020 15:11 · Modified 21/05/2026 18:46

Essential information

MITRE technique ID
T1548.001
Confidence
100/100
Revoked
No
Published
30/01/2020 15:11
Modified
21/05/2026 18:46
Author / Source
The MITRE Corporation

Aliases

Setuid and Setgid

Platforms

macos linux

Description

An adversary may abuse configurations where an application has the setuid or setgid bits set in order to get code running in a different (and possibly more privileged) user’s context. On Linux or macOS, when the setuid or setgid bits are set for an application binary, the application will run with the privileges of the owning user or group respectively.(Citation: setuid man page) Normally an application is run in the current user’s context, regardless of which user or group owns the application. However, there are instances where programs need to be executed in an elevated context to function properly, but the user running them may not have the specific required privileges. Instead of creating an entry in the sudoers file, which must be done by root, any user can specify the setuid or setgid flag to be set for their own applications (i.e. [Linux and Mac File and Directory Permissions Modification](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1222/002)). The `chmod` command can set these bits with bitmasking, `chmod 4777 [file]` or via shorthand naming, `chmod u+s [file]`. This will enable the setuid bit. To enable the setgid bit, `chmod 2775` and `chmod g+s` can be used. Adversaries can use this mechanism on their own malware to make sure they're able to execute in elevated contexts in the future.(Citation: OSX Keydnap malware) This abuse is often part of a "shell escape" or other actions to bypass an execution environment with restricted permissions. Alternatively, adversaries may choose to find and target vulnerable binaries with the setuid or setgid bits already enabled (i.e. [File and Directory Discovery](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1083)). The setuid and setguid bits are indicated with an "s" instead of an "x" when viewing a file's attributes via `ls -l`. The `find` command can also be used to search for such files. For example, `find / -perm +4000 2>/dev/null` can be used to find files with setuid set and `find / -perm +2000 2>/dev/null` may be used for setgid. Binaries that have these bits set may then be abused by adversaries.(Citation: GTFOBins Suid)

Kill chain phases

Kill chainPhase
mitre-attack defense-evasion
mitre-attack privilege-escalation

Marking (TLP)

TLP:CLEAR Copyright 2015-2025, The MITRE Corporation. MITRE ATT&CK and ATT&CK are registered trademarks of The MITRE Corporation.

External references