{ "id": "48ddcce9-fb37-407c-87cd-7c445b60fb87", "created_at": "2026-04-06T00:12:13.203436Z", "updated_at": "2026-04-10T13:12:01.692603Z", "deleted_at": null, "sha1_hash": "98f61a97700f8c9bef101df9d1620c02d281b970", "title": "CAPEC-478: Modification of Windows Service Configuration (Version 3.9)", "llm_title": "", "authors": "", "file_creation_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "file_modification_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "file_size": 45673, "plain_text": "CAPEC-478: Modification of Windows Service Configuration (Version\r\n3.9)\r\nArchived: 2026-04-05 22:57:23 UTC\r\nAttack Pattern ID: 478\r\nAbstraction: Detailed\r\n Description\r\nAn adversary exploits a weakness in access control to modify the execution parameters of a Windows service. The goal of\r\nthis attack is to execute a malicious binary in place of an existing service.\r\n Likelihood Of Attack\r\nLow\r\n Typical Severity\r\nHigh\r\n Relationships\r\nThis table shows the other attack patterns and high level categories that are related to this attack pattern. These\r\nrelationships are defined as ChildOf and ParentOf, and give insight to similar items that may exist at higher and lower levels\r\nof abstraction. In addition, relationships such as CanFollow, PeerOf, and CanAlsoBe are defined to show similar attack\r\npatterns that the user may want to explore.\r\nNature Type\r\nChildOf Standard Attack Pattern - A standard level attack pattern in CAPEC is focused on a specific methodology or technique used in an attack. It\r\nThis table shows the views that this attack pattern belongs to and top level categories within that view.\r\nView Name Top Level Categories\r\nDomains of Attack Software\r\nMechanisms of Attack Manipulate System Resources\r\n Execution Flow\r\nExplore\r\n1. Determine target system: The adversary must first determine the system they wish to modify the registry of. This\r\nneeds to be a windows machine as this attack only works on the windows registry.\r\nExperiment\r\n1. Gain access to the system: The adversary needs to gain access to the system in some way so that they can modify\r\nthe windows registry.\r\nTechniques\r\nGain physical access to a system either through shoulder surfing a password or accessing a system that is left\r\nunlocked.\r\nGain remote access to a system through a variety of means.\r\nExploit\r\n1. Modify windows registry: The adversary will modify the windows registry by changing the configuration settings\r\nfor a service. Specifically, the adversary will change the path settings to define a path to a malicious binary to be\r\nexecuted.\r\nhttps://capec.mitre.org/data/definitions/478.html\r\nPage 1 of 3\n\nPrerequisites\r\nThe adversary must have the capability to write to the Windows Registry on the targeted system.\r\n Resources Required\r\nNone: No specialized resources are required to execute this type of attack.\r\n Consequences\r\nThis table specifies different individual consequences associated with the attack pattern. The Scope identifies the security\r\nproperty that is violated, while the Impact describes the negative technical impact that arises if an adversary succeeds in\r\ntheir attack. The Likelihood provides information about how likely the specific consequence is expected to be seen relative\r\nto the other consequences in the list. For example, there may be high likelihood that a pattern will be used to achieve a\r\ncertain impact, but a low likelihood that it will be exploited to achieve a different impact.\r\nScope Impact Likelihood\r\nIntegrity Execute Unauthorized Commands\r\n Mitigations\r\nEnsure proper permissions are set for Registry hives to prevent users from modifying keys for system components that may\r\nlead to privilege escalation.\r\n Taxonomy Mappings\r\nCAPEC mappings to ATT\u0026CK techniques leverage an inheritance model to streamline and minimize direct\r\nCAPEC/ATT\u0026CK mappings. Inheritance of a mapping is indicated by text stating that the parent CAPEC has relevant\r\nATT\u0026CK mappings. Note that the ATT\u0026CK Enterprise Framework does not use an inheritance model as part of the\r\nmapping to CAPEC.\r\nRelevant to the ATT\u0026CK taxonomy mapping (also see parent)\r\nEntry ID Entry Name\r\n1574.011 Hijack Execution Flow:Service Registry Permissions Weakness\r\n1543.003 Create or Modify System Process:Windows Service\r\n Content History\r\nSubmissions\r\nSubmission Date Submitter Organization\r\n2018-04-25\r\n(Version 2.11)\r\nCAPEC Content Team The MITRE Corporation\r\nModifications\r\nModification Date Modifier Organization\r\n2019-04-04\r\n(Version 3.1)\r\nCAPEC Content Team The MITRE Corporation\r\nUpdated Related_Weaknesses\r\n2020-07-30\r\n(Version 3.3)\r\nCAPEC Content Team The MITRE Corporation\r\nUpdated Taxonomy_Mappings\r\n2021-10-21\r\n(Version 3.6)\r\nCAPEC Content Team The MITRE Corporation\r\nUpdated Description, Execution_Flow\r\nMore information is available — Please select a different filter.\r\nhttps://capec.mitre.org/data/definitions/478.html\r\nPage 2 of 3\n\nSource: https://capec.mitre.org/data/definitions/478.html\r\nhttps://capec.mitre.org/data/definitions/478.html\r\nPage 3 of 3", "extraction_quality": 1, "language": "EN", "sources": [ "MITRE" ], "origins": [ "web" ], "references": [ "https://capec.mitre.org/data/definitions/478.html" ], "report_names": [ "478.html" ], "threat_actors": [ { "id": "d90307b6-14a9-4d0b-9156-89e453d6eb13", "created_at": "2022-10-25T16:07:23.773944Z", "updated_at": "2026-04-10T02:00:04.746188Z", "deleted_at": null, "main_name": "Lead", "aliases": [ "Casper", "TG-3279" ], "source_name": "ETDA:Lead", "tools": [ "Agentemis", "BleDoor", "Cobalt Strike", "CobaltStrike", "RbDoor", "RibDoor", "Winnti", "cobeacon" ], "source_id": "ETDA", "reports": null } ], "ts_created_at": 1775434333, "ts_updated_at": 1775826721, "ts_creation_date": 0, "ts_modification_date": 0, "files": { "pdf": "https://archive.orkl.eu/98f61a97700f8c9bef101df9d1620c02d281b970.pdf", "text": "https://archive.orkl.eu/98f61a97700f8c9bef101df9d1620c02d281b970.txt", "img": "https://archive.orkl.eu/98f61a97700f8c9bef101df9d1620c02d281b970.jpg" } }