- Tactics
- Persistence
- Platforms
- Windows, Office Suite
- Reference
- attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1137.002
Description
Adversaries may abuse the Microsoft Office “Office Test” Registry key to obtain persistence on a compromised system. An Office Test Registry location exists that allows a user to specify an arbitrary DLL that will be executed every time an Office application is started. This Registry key is thought to be used by Microsoft to load DLLs for testing and debugging purposes while developing Office applications. This Registry key is not created by default during an Office installation.(Citation: Hexacorn Office Test)(Citation: Palo Alto Office Test Sofacy)
There exist user and global Registry keys for the Office Test feature, such as:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office test\Special\PerfHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office test\Special\Perf
Adversaries may add this Registry key and specify a malicious DLL that will be executed whenever an Office application, such as Word or Excel, is started.
How GTK Cyber trains on this
GTK Cyber's hands-on training programs cover detection engineering across the MITRE ATT&CK framework, including the Persistence tactic this technique falls under. Our practitioner-led courses focus on building real detections, not just memorizing technique IDs.
Related techniques
- T1037 — Boot or Logon Initialization Scripts
- T1053 — Scheduled Task/Job
- T1078 — Valid Accounts
- T1098 — Account Manipulation
- T1112 — Modify Registry
- T1133 — External Remote Services
- T1136 — Create Account
- T1137 — Office Application Startup
- T1176 — Software Extensions
- T1197 — BITS Jobs
- T1205 — Traffic Signaling
- T1505 — Server Software Component