T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access

Enterprise

Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials. Exploitation of a software vulnerability occurs when an adversary takes advantage of a programming error in a program, service, or within the operating system software or kernel itself to execute adversary-controlled code.  Credentialing and authentication mechanisms may be targeted for exploitation by adversaries as a means to gain access to useful credentials or circumvent the process to gain authenticated access to systems. One example of this is `MS14-068`, which targets Kerberos and can be used to forge Kerberos tickets using domain user permissions. Another example of this is replay attacks, in which the adversary intercepts data packets sent between parties and then later replays these packets. If services don't properly validate authentication requests, these replayed packets may allow an adversary to impersonate one of the parties and gain unauthorized access or privileges. Such exploitation has been demonstrated in cloud environments as well. For example, adversaries have exploited vulnerabilities in public cloud infrastructure that allowed for unintended authentication token creation and renewal. Exploitation for credential access may also result in Privilege Escalation depending on the process targeted or credentials obtained.

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platforms

Platforms this applies to.

LinuxWindowsmacOSIdentity Provider
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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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countered by (D3FEND)

D3FEND countermeasures that counter 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 (4)

Related CVEs.

IDseverity exploitable
CVE-2025-48928US—OT criticalKEV
The TeleMessage service through 2025-05-05 is based on a JSP application in which the heap content is roughly equivalent to a "core dump" in which a password previously sent over H…
CVE-2025-48927US—OT criticalKEV
The TeleMessage service through 2025-05-05 configures Spring Boot Actuator with an exposed heap dump endpoint at a /heapdump URI, as exploited in the wild in May 2025.
CVE-2024-53704UScritical9.8OT criticalKEV
An Improper Authentication vulnerability in the SSLVPN authentication mechanism allows a remote attacker to bypass authentication.
CVE-2022-22948USmedium6.5OT criticalKEV
The vCenter Server contains an information disclosure vulnerability due to improper permission of files. A malicious actor with non-administrative access to the vCenter Server may…
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groups (1)

Threat groups associated with this.

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campaigns (1)

Campaigns that use this.

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source

Where this definition is published.