T1204 User Execution

Enterprise

An adversary may rely upon specific actions by a user in order to gain execution. Users may be subjected to social engineering to get them to execute malicious code by, for example, opening a malicious document file or link. These user actions will typically be observed as follow-on behavior from forms of Phishing. While User Execution frequently occurs shortly after Initial Access it may occur at other phases of an intrusion, such as when an adversary places a file in a shared directory or on a user's desktop hoping that a user will click on it. This activity may also be seen shortly after Internal Spearphishing. Adversaries may also deceive users into performing actions such as: * Enabling Remote Access Tools, allowing direct control of the system to the adversary * Running malicious JavaScript in their browser, allowing adversaries to Steal Web Session Cookies * Downloading and executing malware for User Execution * Coerceing users to copy, paste, and execute malicious code manually For example, tech support scams can be facilitated through Phishing, vishing, or various forms of user interaction. Adversaries can use a combination of these methods, such as spoofing and promoting toll-free numbers or call centers that are used to direct victims to malicious websites, to deliver and execute payloads containing malware or Remote Access Tools.

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platforms

Platforms this applies to.

LinuxWindowsmacOSIaaSContainers
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tactics

ATT&CK tactics this technique serves.

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mitigations

ATT&CK mitigations that reduce this.

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NIST CSF 2.0 — areas of relevance (Protect / Detect)

NIST CSF 2.0 areas this most relates to (evidence-ranked).

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.

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known-exploited CVEs (2)

Related CVEs.

IDseverity exploitable
CVE-2025-24993US—OT criticalKEV
Heap-based buffer overflow in Windows NTFS allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code locally.
CVE-2023-38831UShigh7.8OT criticalKEV
RARLAB WinRAR before 6.23 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code when a user attempts to view a benign file within a ZIP archive. The issue occurs because a ZIP archive may inc…
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groups (2)

Threat groups associated with this.

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software (2)

Malware and tools associated with this.

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campaigns (1)

Campaigns that use this.

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Detected by (Sigma) (10)

Sigma detection rules related to this.

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source

Where this definition is published.