T1661: Application Versioning
Essential information
- MITRE technique ID
T1661- Confidence
- 100/100
- Revoked
- No
- Published
- 22/09/2023 00:16
- Modified
- 27/03/2026 01:41
- Author / Source
- The MITRE Corporation
Platforms
android iOS
Description
An adversary may push an update to a previously benign application to add malicious code. This can be accomplished by pushing an initially benign, functional application to a trusted application store, such as the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store. This allows the adversary to establish a trusted userbase that may grant permissions to the application prior to the introduction of malicious code. Then, an application update could be pushed to introduce malicious code.(Citation: android_app_breaking_bad)
This technique could also be accomplished by compromising a developer’s account. This would allow an adversary to take advantage of an existing userbase without having to establish the userbase themselves.
Kill chain phases
| Kill chain | Phase |
|---|---|
| mitre-mobile-attack | defense-evasion |
| mitre-mobile-attack | initial-access |
Marking (TLP)
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