Sub-technique of T1584 Compromise Infrastructure.View on attack.mitre.org
Adversaries may hijack domains and/or subdomains that can be used during targeting. Domain registration hijacking is the act of changing the registration of a domain name without the permission of the original registrant. Adversaries may gain access to an email account for the person listed as the owner of the domain. The adversary can then claim that they forgot their password in order to make changes to the domain registration. Other possibilities include social engineering a domain registration help desk to gain access to an account, taking advantage of renewal process gaps, or compromising a cloud service that enables managing domains (e.g., AWS Route53).
Subdomain hijacking can occur when organizations have DNS entries that point to non-existent or deprovisioned resources. In such cases, an adversary may take control of a subdomain to conduct operations with the benefit of the trust associated with that domain.
Adversaries who compromise a domain may also engage in domain shadowing by creating malicious subdomains under their control while keeping any existing DNS records. As service will not be disrupted, the malicious subdomains may go unnoticed for long periods of time.
Rules on DetectionCode tagged with T1584.001.
| Used by | Procedure example |
|---|---|
| GroupAPT1 | APT1 hijacked FQDNs associated with legitimate websites hosted by hop points. |
| GroupKimsuky | Kimsuky has compromised legitimate sites and used them to distribute malware. |
| GroupMagic Hound | Magic Hound has used compromised domains to host links targeted to specific phishing victims. |
| GroupMustard Tempest | Mustard Tempest operates a global network of compromised websites that redirect into a traffic distribution system (TDS) to select victims for a fake browser update page. |
| GroupSideCopy | SideCopy has compromised domains for some of their infrastructure, including for C2 and staging malware. |
| GroupTransparent Tribe | Transparent Tribe has compromised domains for use in targeted malicious campaigns. |
| Used by | Procedure example |
|---|---|
| MalwareGootloader | Gootloader has used compromised legitimate domains to as a delivery network for malicious payloads. |
| Used by | Procedure example |
|---|---|
| Campaign2025 Poland Wiper Attacks | During the 2025 Poland Wiper Attacks, the adversaries compromised infrastructure to use for C2. |
| CampaignC0010 | During C0010, UNC3890 actors likely compromised the domain of a legitimate Israeli shipping company. |
| CampaignC0021 | For C0021, the threat actors used legitimate but compromised domains to host malicious payloads. |
| CampaignOperation Dream Job | For Operation Dream Job, Lazarus Group compromised domains in Italy and other countries for their C2 infrastructure. |
| CampaignSolarWinds Compromise | For the SolarWinds Compromise, APT29 compromised domains to use for C2. |
Data from MITRE ATT&CK® (Enterprise). ATT&CK® is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation.
