PowerShell Empire is a post-exploitation framework and malware family centered on PowerShell-based agents, also referred to in the content as Empire and powershell_empire. It relies on PowerShell for most client-side agent tasks and supports PowerShell remoting via Invoke-PSRemoting. Reported capabilities in the content include use of TLS-encrypted command-and-control, alternative C2 over Dropbox and GitHub, exfiltration of collected data through its C2 channel, timestomping of files or payloads, antivirus/security software discovery, acquisition of local and domain account information, automatic collection of host metadata such as username, domain name, and machine name, harvesting of clipboard data on Windows and macOS, capture of webcam data on Windows and macOS, gathering of browser data such as bookmarks and visited sites, and use of modules to search for files containing passwords. The framework also includes built-in modules to modify service binaries and later restore them, and it has GetSystem functionality implemented in PowerShell via the PowerSploit Get-System.ps1 script.
The content associates Empire with multiple intrusion and delivery contexts. SocGholish/FakeUpdates has been used to deploy Empire. Sednit/APT28 was reported to have deployed PowerShell Empire in parallel with its Graphite implant in a 2021 campaign. Sandworm targeted Android developers in Ukraine with phishing emails and Microsoft Office exploit-laced attachments to install PowerShell Empire. Another described infection chain used an SCT file to execute an encoded PowerShell command that downloaded a staged Empire agent from a second domain. A separate example notes AppleScript being used to execute a Python script that dropped the Empire exploit kit. The content also references a malicious Word macro document analysis that cites 'Powershell Empire — You Can Run, but You Can’t Hide.'
High-confidence behaviors directly mentioned in the content include enumeration of antivirus software, username discovery, local and domain account discovery, automated host profiling, clipboard theft, webcam capture, browser data collection, password-file searching, PowerShell-based execution and remoting, encrypted and cloud-backed C2, exfiltration over C2, timestomping, and service-binary modification. Associated actors or campaigns explicitly mentioned include Sednit/APT28, Sandworm, and delivery via SocGholish.
Mallory pivots from this family to the IOCs, detections, and named campaigns that touch your stack, and pages you when something new lands.
1 CVE Mallory has correlated with this family across public research and vendor advisories. Each row links to the full Mallory page for that vulnerability.
Graphite was deployed in a campaign against several governments in Europe and Asia. Attacks began with spear-phishing emails that delivered an Excel downloader containing a remote code execution exploit (CVE-2021-40444). This led to the installation of a second-stage downloader, followed by Graphite and a secondary payload—PowerShell Empire. | This led to the installation of a second-stage downloader, followed by Graphite and a secondary payload—PowerShell Empire.
19 distinct threat actors attributed by public researchers. Open in Mallory to see the full evidence chain and overlapping campaigns.
For example, in the 2021 campaign documented by Trellix, Sednit deployed two implants in parallel: Graphite, which used OneDrive as its C&C channel, and PowerShell Empire, which relied on separate dedicated infrastructure.
APT19 has obtained and used publicly-available tools like Empire.
APT19 has obtained and used publicly-available tools like Empire.
APT19 has obtained and used publicly-available tools like Empire.
APT19 has obtained and used publicly-available tools like Empire.
APT19 has obtained and used publicly-available tools like Empire.
36 distinct techniques documented for this family, organized by ATT&CK tactic.
Windows operating systems provide a utility (schtasks.exe) which enables system administrators to execute a program or a script at a specific given date and time. This kind of behavior has been heavily abused by threat actors and red teams as a persistence mechanism.
References https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1053/ ... The persistence technique of scheduled tasks can be implemented both manually and automatically.
If you want to use the script in PowerShell Empire, then you can run it on the agent by switching to the command line (shell) mode.
Although it is categorized as an Execution technique in the MITRE ATT&CK framework, the T1059.001 PowerShell technique can be used for Defense Evasion. Attackers use PowerShell to: bypassing Antimalware Scan Interface (AMSI) disabling Script Block Logging to prevent detection disabling Windows Defender downloading and running malware payloads in memory executing sophisticated codes without installing extra software injecting malicious code into legitimate processes manipulating access tokens
AppleScript offers offensive actors a plethora of ways to execute. In addition to simply executing a .scrpt file, you can run AppleScripts from Mail rules, from a shell script, in memory, from the command line, from within a MachO, in a plain text, uncompiled file, from an Automator workflow, from a Folder Action, a Finder Service or from a Calendar event.
Windows operating systems provide a utility (schtasks.exe) which enables system administrators to execute a program or a script at a specific given date and time. This kind of behavior has been heavily abused by threat actors and red teams as a persistence mechanism.
References https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1053/ ... The persistence technique of scheduled tasks can be implemented both manually and automatically.
Across the content, malware repeatedly 'adds Registry Run keys', 'creates Registry entries', 'modifies the Windows Registry', or 'overwrites registry keys' to maintain persistence.
Windows operating systems provide a utility (schtasks.exe) which enables system administrators to execute a program or a script at a specific given date and time. This kind of behavior has been heavily abused by threat actors and red teams as a persistence mechanism.
References https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1053/ ... The persistence technique of scheduled tasks can be implemented both manually and automatically.
Both tools first attempt to use “named pipe impersonation” to achieve SYSTEM privileges. This involves creating a Windows Service to execute as NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM and feeding data to it through a named pipe that is randomly created by the malicious payload.
Skilled attackers continually seek out new attack vectors while employing evasion techniques to maintain the effectiveness of old vectors in an ever-changing defensive landscape... numerous threat actors employ obfuscation frameworks... In June 2017, the Advanced Practices Team identified FIN7 ... testing a novel obfuscation technique native to cmd.exe.
APT28 has performed timestomping on victim files. APT29 has used timestomping to alter the Standard Information timestamps on their web shells to match other files in the same directory. APT32 has used scheduled task raw XML with a backdated timestamp... APT38 has modified data timestamps to mimic files that are in the same folder on a compromised host.
Both tools first attempt to use “named pipe impersonation” to achieve SYSTEM privileges. This involves creating a Windows Service to execute as NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM and feeding data to it through a named pipe that is randomly created by the malicious payload.
APT32 ... often downloads this second stage using the regsvr32.exe remote download technique known as “Squiblydoo”. To evade rigid signatures for this technique that rely on command line argument values /i:http:// or /i:https:// being present, APT32 first used cmd.exe’s escape character, the caret (^), and then in this later example used double quotes to break up these arguments.
there are cases when we would like to fetch the user’s password, or their TGT (Ticket Granting Ticket) for Kerberos.
Kerberoasting TL;DR: Attackers request service tickets for accounts tied to high-privileged services. They then extract and crack these tickets offline to retrieve the plaintext password.
AS-REP Roasting Attack Explained - MITRE ATT&CK T1558.004 ... It exploits a vulnerability in Kerberos when the 'Do not require Kerberos preauthentication' setting is enabled. This vulnerability allows adversaries to extract user hashes, enabling them to decrypt passwords offline.
The content repeatedly describes malware and threat actors using commands and APIs such as ipconfig /all, ifconfig, arp -a, route print, nbtstat, netsh, GetAdaptersInfo, and GetIpNetTable to gather IP addresses, MAC addresses, DNS, DHCP, gateways, routing tables, ARP cache, proxy settings, domains, and network adapter/interface details.
The content repeatedly describes malware and threat actors collecting usernames, identifying logged-in users, running whoami/query user/quser, checking whether the current user is an administrator, enumerating user sessions, and gathering account details from compromised hosts.
Use in conjunction with other contextual indicators, for example detect Network discovery and Lateral movement attempts by unusual hassh such as those used by Paramiko, Powershell, Ruby, Meterpreter, Empire.
The content repeatedly describes malware and threat actors obtaining lists of running processes, using utilities such as tasklist, ps, WMI, Get-Process, CreateToolhelp32Snapshot, EnumProcesses, and similar APIs/commands to enumerate active processes on victim systems.
The content is a long ATT&CK-style listing of malware and threat actors that collect host details such as OS version, hostname, architecture, CPU, memory, BIOS, language, and other basic system characteristics; examples include use of commands like systeminfo, ver, uname, sw_vers, and WMI queries.
The content repeatedly describes malware and threat actors listing files and directories, enumerating drives, searching for files by extension/name/path, retrieving file metadata, and browsing file systems (for example: "APT28 has used Forfiles to locate PDF, Excel, and Word documents during collection" and "cmd can be used to find files and directories with native functionality such as dir commands").
Agent Tesla can steal data from the victim’s clipboard. APT38 used a Trojan called KEYLIME to collect data from the clipboard. APT39 has used tools capable of stealing contents of the clipboard.
Agrius used a custom tool, sql.net4.exe, to query SQL databases and then identify and extract personally identifiable information... AppleSeed has automatically collected data from USB drives, keystrokes, and screen images before exfiltration... Ember Bear engages in mass collection from compromised systems during intrusions.
And if everything works well, we’ll get that beacon communicating to our front end servers.
The content repeatedly describes threat actors and malware using HTTP and HTTPS for command and control, such as: "Sandworm Team used BlackEnergy to communicate between compromised hosts and their command-and-control servers via HTTP post requests."
The adversaries had communicated to both Dropbox and Pastebin. APT28 has used Google Drive for C2. APT37 leverages social networking sites and cloud platforms (AOL, Twitter, Yandex, Mediafire, pCloud, Dropbox, and Box) for C2.
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ADVSTORESHELL exfiltrates data over the same channel used for C2... Agrius exfiltrated staged data using tools such as Putty and WinSCP, communicating with command and control servers... numerous malware and groups sent victim data, files, credentials, or host information over existing C2 channels.
7 indicators attributed across vendor reports, sandbox runs, and researcher write-ups. Full values are available in Mallory.
IPs, domains, and DNS infrastructure linked to this family.
File hashes (MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256) from samples and reports.
Other indicator types observed in public reporting.
170 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.
Post-exploitation framework previously distributed via SocGholish.
Named malware/tool family deployed via SocGholish.
Post-exploitation framework used by APT28 alongside other implants in targeted intrusions.
An open-source post-exploitation framework used by Sednit in parallel with Graphite in a 2021 campaign, relying on separate dedicated infrastructure.
Match every observed IP, domain, and hash against your live telemetry.
Named campaigns wielding this family, with evidence pinned to each claim.
CVEs this family uses for access and lateral movement.
YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.
Every documented technique, ranked by evidence weight.
Reddit, Mastodon, and CTI community discussion around this family.