T1137

Windows Office Suite

Office Application Startup

Description

Adversaries may leverage Microsoft Office-based applications for persistence between startups. Microsoft Office is a fairly common application suite on Windows-based operating systems within an enterprise network.

There are multiple mechanisms that can be used with Office for persistence when an Office-based application is started; this can include the use of Office Template Macros and add-ins. A variety of features have been discovered in Outlook that can be abused to obtain persistence, such as Outlook rules, forms, and Home Page.

These persistence mechanisms can work within Outlook or be used through Office 365.

Sub-techniques

T1137.001 — Office Template Macros T1137.002 — Office Test T1137.003 — Outlook Forms T1137.004 — Outlook Home Page T1137.005 — Outlook Rules T1137.006 — Add-ins