T1059.005 Visual Basic
sub-techniqueEnterpriseAdversaries may abuse Visual Basic (VB) for execution. VB is a programming language created by Microsoft with interoperability with many Windows technologies such as Component Object Model and the Native API through the Windows API. Although tagged as legacy with no planned future evolutions, VB is integrated and supported in the.NET Framework and cross-platform.NET Core. Derivative languages based on VB have also been created, such as Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and VBScript. VBA is an event-driven programming language built into Microsoft Office, as well as several third-party applications. VBA enables documents to contain macros used to automate the execution of tasks and other functionality on the host. VBScript is a default scripting language on Windows hosts and can also be used in place of JavaScript on HTML Application (HTA) webpages served to Internet Explorer (though most modern browsers do not come with VBScript support). Adversaries may use VB payloads to execute malicious commands. Common malicious usage includes automating execution of behaviors with VBScript or embedding VBA content into Spearphishing Attachment payloads (which may also involve Mark-of-the-Web Bypass to enable execution).
platforms
Platforms this applies to.
tactics
ATT&CK tactics this technique serves.
sub-technique of
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mitigations
ATT&CK mitigations that reduce this.
detected by (4)
Data components that detect this.
NIST CSF 2.0 — areas of relevance (Protect / Detect)
NIST CSF 2.0 areas this most relates to (evidence-ranked).
- PR.DSData Securitymoderate · backed by 7 of 17 mapped controls
- PR.PSPlatform Securitymoderate · backed by 6 of 17 mapped controls
- DE.CMContinuous Monitoringmoderate · backed by 5 of 17 mapped controls
Derived from MITRE CTID (Apache-2.0) and the NIST 800-53 ↔ CSF crosswalk (public domain). Indicative relevance along the Protect/Detect axis — not a compliance assessment or coverage claim.
mitigating controls (17)
Security controls that mitigate this.
groups (46)
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software (69)
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campaigns (16)
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Detected by (Sigma) (29)
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source
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