NPPSPY

S1131

Tool.View on attack.mitre.org

About this tool

NPPSPY is an implementation of a theoretical mechanism first presented in 2004 for capturing credentials submitted to a Windows system via a rogue Network Provider API item. NPPSPY captures credentials following submission and writes them to a file on the victim system for follow-on exfiltration.

Techniques used7

Procedure examples7

TechniqueProcedure example
T1005
Data from Local System

NPPSPY records data entered from the local system logon at Winlogon to capture credentials in cleartext.

T1056
Input Capture

NPPSPY captures user input into the Winlogon process by redirecting RPC traffic from legitimate listening DLLs within the operating system to a newly registered malicious item that allows for recording logon information in cleartext.

T1112
Modify Registry

NPPSPY modifies the Registry to record the malicious listener for output from the Winlogon process.

T1119
Automated Collection

NPPSPY collection is automatically recorded to a specified file on the victim machine.

T1552
Unsecured Credentials

NPPSPY captures credentials by recording them through an alternative network listener registered to the mpnotify.exe process, allowing for cleartext recording of logon information.

T1557
Adversary-in-the-Middle

NPPSPY opens a new network listener for the mpnotify.exe process that is typically contacted by the Winlogon process in Windows. A new, alternative RPC channel is set up with a malicious DLL recording plaintext credentials entered into Winlogon, effectively intercepting and redirecting the logon information.

T1684.001
Impersonation

NPPSPY creates a network listener using the misspelled label logincontroll recorded to the Registry key HKLM\\SYSTEM\\CurrentControlSet\\Control\\NetworkProvider\\Order.

Groups that use it0

None recorded.

Campaigns0

None recorded.

References2

  1. Huntress NPPSPY 2022 Open source
    Dray Agha. (2022, August 16). Cleartext Shenanigans: Gifting User Passwords to Adversaries With NPPSPY. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  2. Polak NPPSPY 2004 Open source
    Sergey Polak. (2004, August). Capturing Windows Passwords using the Network Provider API. Retrieved May 17, 2024.

Data from MITRE ATT&CK® (Enterprise). ATT&CK® is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation.