T1547.003 Time Providers
sub-techniqueEnterpriseAdversaries may abuse time providers to execute DLLs when the system boots. The Windows Time service (W32Time) enables time synchronization across and within domains. W32Time time providers are responsible for retrieving time stamps from hardware/network resources and outputting these values to other network clients. Time providers are implemented as dynamic-link libraries (DLLs) that are registered in the subkeys of `HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\TimeProviders\`. The time provider manager, directed by the service control manager, loads and starts time providers listed and enabled under this key at system startup and/or whenever parameters are changed. Adversaries may abuse this architecture to establish persistence, specifically by creating a new arbitrarily named subkey pointing to a malicious DLL in the `DllName` value. Administrator privileges are required for time provider registration, though execution will run in context of the Local Service account.
platforms
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tactics
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sub-technique of
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mitigations
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detected by (4)
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countered by (D3FEND)
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NIST CSF 2.0 — areas of relevance (Protect / Detect)
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- DE.CMContinuous Monitoringstrong · backed by 5 of 10 mapped controls
- PR.DSData Securitymoderate · backed by 4 of 10 mapped controls
- PR.PSPlatform Securitymoderate · backed by 4 of 10 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 (10)
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Detected by (Sigma) (1)
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