T1543.005sub-technique of T1543 Create or Modify System Process
Container Service
Containersnothing on this site yetT1543.005 on attack.mitre.org
Adversaries may create or modify container or container cluster management tools that run as daemons, agents, or services on individual hosts. These include software for creating and managing individual containers, such as Docker and Podman, as well as container cluster node-level agents such as kubelet. By modifying these services, an adversary may be able to achieve persistence or escalate their privileges on a host.
If this is happening now
Checklists and playbooks to open while the alert is still live.
Suspicious execution on an endpoint
An EDR alert, an unexplained process, or a user reporting something odd.
Cloud account compromise
Impossible travel, an unrecognised inbox rule, or a reported invoice-fraud attempt.
how MITRE says to see it
Detect persistent or elevated container services via container runtime or cluster manipulation
- Correlate the creation or modification of containers using restart policies (e.g., 'always') or DaemonSets with elevated host access, service account misuse, or privileged container contexts. Watch for manipulation of systemd units involving containers or pod scheduling targeting specific nodes or namespaces.
what reduces it
- M1018 User Account Management. Limit access to utilities such as docker to only users who have a legitimate need, especially if using docker in rootful mode. In Kubernetes environments, only grant privileges to deploy pods to users that require it.
- M1054 Software Configuration. Where possible, consider enforcing the use of container services in rootless mode to limit the possibility of privilege escalation or malicious effects on the host running the container.