S0357: Impacket
Analyst context for executives and security teams
Impacket matters because it is not a single malware family; it is an open-source Python toolkit for manipulating network protocols with capabilities that can support remote service execution, Kerberos activity, Windows credential dumping, packet sniffing, and relay attacks. That makes it relevant to identity security, lateral movement investigations, and incident response readiness across Linux, macOS, and Windows environments.
Executive priority
Treat Impacket coverage as a practical test of whether the organization can see abuse of administrative protocols and credentials, not just known malware. The relationship context shows use by many ATT&CK-tracked campaigns and groups, including espionage, financially motivated, disruptive, ransomware-linked, and critical-infrastructure-relevant activity. Leaders should ask whether SOC, identity, endpoint, and network teams can correlate suspicious protocol use with account, host, and administrative context.
Technical view
ATT&CK provides no official detection guidance for S0357, so defenders should validate behavior-based visibility around the capabilities MITRE lists: remote service execution, Kerberos manipulation, Windows credential dumping, packet sniffing, and relay attacks. Because the tool is open source and may be present in security testing or administration contexts, detections should focus on unauthorized execution, unusual source hosts, abnormal authentication patterns, credential access indicators, and protocol activity inconsistent with normal operations.
Likely telemetry
- Endpoint process execution and command-line telemetry on Linux, macOS, and Windows, especially where Python-based tooling may run
- Authentication and identity logs related to Windows accounts, Kerberos activity, and remote access attempts
- Windows host and server logs from systems receiving remote service execution or credential access attempts
- Network traffic metadata or packet inspection for protocol manipulation, relay behavior, packet sniffing, and unusual east-west connections
- EDR, NDR, SIEM, and privileged access logs that can correlate account, source host, destination host, and protocol usage
Detection direction
- Build detections around behaviors and telemetry correlations rather than only tool names, since ATT&CK does not provide an official detection method for this object.
- Tune for suspicious administrative-protocol use from non-admin workstations, unusual jump points, unexpected operating systems, or accounts outside normal maintenance windows.
- Correlate Kerberos anomalies, relay-like authentication patterns, and remote service execution with endpoint process evidence and account privilege context.
- Account for false positives from red teams, penetration testers, incident responders, and administrators who may use open-source protocol tooling legitimately.
- Use the relationship context as threat-intelligence prioritization: organizations in government, MSP, aviation, energy, finance, healthcare, telecom, BPO, defense, critical infrastructure, retail, hospitality, and related sectors should verify coverage against this class of tooling.
Mitigation priorities
- Inventory and govern authorized use of Impacket or similar protocol tooling; require documented approval for testing and administrative use.
- Reduce credential exposure by tightening privileged account use, monitoring credential-dumping indicators, and enforcing least privilege for administrative access.
- Harden remote administration paths and restrict which hosts and accounts can perform remote service execution.
- Strengthen Kerberos and identity monitoring so suspicious authentication, delegation, or relay-like behavior is investigated quickly.
- Segment sensitive systems and critical services to limit the operational impact of credential abuse and lateral movement.
Analyst notes and limits
This take is based on the official ATT&CK description, platforms, external references, and relationships. The strongest decision value is not that Impacket is inherently malicious, but that its listed capabilities overlap with high-impact identity and lateral movement behaviors. The many campaign and group relationships make it useful for prioritizing defensive validation, but local telemetry is required to determine whether use is authorized or suspicious.
ATT&CK lists no tactics and provides no official detection text for this object. The supplied relationship descriptions are partial and do not prove current activity in any specific environment. No vendor-specific detections, indicators, or guaranteed coverage should be inferred from this object alone.
Impacket
How security teams should use this page
Treat this object as behavior context, not an attribution claim. Validate the related groups, software, data sources, and mitigations against official ATT&CK relationships and your own telemetry before making control-coverage decisions.
Techniques used
This mirrors the MITRE pattern of making group, software, campaign, and technique relationships scannable. Relationship notes come from mirrored ATT&CK relationship text when available.
| Domain | ID | Name | Relationship / procedure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enterprise | T1557.001 | Name Resolution Poisoning and SMB Relay Sub-technique | Impacket modules like ntlmrelayx and smbrelayx can be used in conjunction with Network Sniffing and Name Resolution Poisoning and SMB Relay to gather NetNTLM credentials for Brute Force or relay attacks that can gain code execution.CitationImpacket Tools |
| Enterprise | T1040 | Network Sniffing | Impacket can be used to sniff network traffic via an interface or raw socket.CitationImpacket Tools |
| Enterprise | T1558.003 | Kerberoasting Sub-technique | Impacket modules like GetUserSPNs can be used to get Service Principal Names (SPNs) for user accounts. The output is formatted to be compatible with cracking tools like John the Ripper and Hashcat.CitationImpacket Tools |
| Enterprise | T1558.005 | Ccache Files Sub-technique | Impacket tools – such as |
| Enterprise | T1003.003 | NTDS Sub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1569.002 | Service Execution Sub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1003.001 | LSASS Memory Sub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1047 | Windows Management Instrumentation | Impacket's `wmiexec` module can be used to execute commands through WMI.CitationImpacket ToolsCitationSygnia VelvetAnt 2024A |
| Enterprise | T1003.002 | Security Account Manager Sub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1570 | Lateral Tool Transfer | Impacket has used its `wmiexec` command, leveraging Windows Management Instrumentation, to remotely stage and execute payloads in victim networks.CitationSygnia VelvetAnt 2024A |
| Enterprise | T1003.004 | LSA Secrets Sub-technique |
Groups, software, and campaigns
G1053: Storm-0501
Storm-0501 is a financially motivated cyber criminal group that uses commodity and open-source tools to conduct ransomware operations. Storm-0501 has been active since 2021 and has previously been affiliated with Sabbath Ransomware and other Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) variants such as Hive, BlackCat, Hunters International, LockBit 3.0, and Embargo ransomware.[1][2][3][4]
G1016: FIN13
G0059: Magic Hound
Magic Hound is an Iranian-sponsored threat group that conducts long term, resource-intensive cyber espionage operations, likely on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. They have targeted European, U.S., and Middle Eastern government and military personnel, academics, journalists, and organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), via complex social engineering campaigns since at least 2014.[1][2][3][4][5]
G0096: APT41
APT41 is a threat group that researchers have assessed as Chinese state-sponsored espionage group that also conducts financially-motivated operations. Active since at least 2012, APT41 has been observed targeting various industries, including but not limited to healthcare, telecom, technology, finance, education, retail and video game industries in 14 countries.[1] Notable behaviors include using a wide range of malware and tools to complete mission objectives. APT41 overlaps at least partially with public reporting on groups including BARIUM and Winnti Group.[2][3]
G0125: HAFNIUM
HAFNIUM is a likely state-sponsored cyber espionage group operating out of China that has been active since at least January 2021. HAFNIUM primarily targets entities in the US across a number of industry sectors, including infectious disease researchers, law firms, higher education institutions, defense contractors, policy think tanks, and NGOs. HAFNIUM has targeted remote management tools and cloud software for intial access and has demonstrated an ability to quickly operationalize exploits for identified vulnerabilities in edge devices.[1][2][3]
G0030: Lotus Blossom
Lotus Blossom is a long-standing threat group largely targeting various entities in Asia since at least 2009. In addition to government and related targets, Lotus Blossom has also targeted entities such as digital certificate issuers.[1][2][3]
G0027: Threat Group-3390
Threat Group-3390 is a Chinese threat group that has extensively used strategic Web compromises to target victims.[1] The group has been active since at least 2010 and has targeted organizations in the aerospace, government, defense, technology, energy, manufacturing and gambling/betting sectors.[2][3][4]
G0129: Mustang Panda
Mustang Panda is a China-based cyber espionage threat actor that has been conducting operations since at least 2012. Mustang Panda has been known to use tailored phishing lures and decoy documents to deliver malicious payloads. Mustang Panda has targeted government, diplomatic, and non-governmental organizations, including think tanks, religious institutions, and research entities, across the United States, Europe, and Asia, with notable activity in Russia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan, and Vietnam. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]
G0035: Dragonfly
Dragonfly is a cyber espionage group that has been attributed to Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) Center 16.[1][2] Active since at least 2010, Dragonfly has targeted defense and aviation companies, government entities, companies related to industrial control systems, and critical infrastructure sectors worldwide through supply chain, spearphishing, and drive-by compromise attacks.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
G1046: Storm-1811
Storm-1811 is a financially-motivated entity linked to Black Basta ransomware deployment. Storm-1811 is notable for unique phishing and social engineering mechanisms for initial access, such as overloading victim email inboxes with non-malicious spam to prompt a fake "help desk" interaction leading to the deployment of adversary tools and capabilities.[1][2][3][4]
G1021: Cinnamon Tempest
Cinnamon Tempest is a China-based threat group that has been active since at least 2021 deploying multiple strains of ransomware based on the leaked Babuk source code. Cinnamon Tempest does not operate their ransomware on an affiliate model or purchase access but appears to act independently in all stages of the attack lifecycle. Based on victimology, the short lifespan of each ransomware variant, and use of malware attributed to government-sponsored threat groups, Cinnamon Tempest may be motivated by intellectual property theft or cyberespionage rather than financial gain.[1][2][3][4]
G1017: Volt Typhoon
Volt Typhoon is a People's Republic of China (PRC) state-sponsored actor that has been active since at least 2021, primarily targeting critical infrastructure organizations in the US and its territories including Guam. Volt Typhoon's targeting and pattern of behavior have been assessed as pre-positioning to enable lateral movement to operational technology (OT) assets for potential destructive or disruptive attacks. Volt Typhoon has emphasized stealth in operations using web shells, living-off-the-land (LOTL) binaries, hands on keyboard activities, and stolen credentials.[1][2][3][4]. The group has leveraged compromised SOHO routers to proxy command and control traffic and obscure its infrastructure, activity associated with the KV botnet.[5].
Reporting indicates a separate initial access cluster, SYLVANITE, has been observed exploiting internet-facing edge devices and transferring access to Volt Typhoon, also tracked as VOLTZITE, for follow-on operations. [6]
C0038: HomeLand Justice
HomeLand Justice was a disruptive cyber campaign conducted by Iranian state-affiliated actors against Albanian government networks in July and September 2022. The activity combined ransomware, wiper malware, and data leak operations. Initial access for HomeLand Justice was established as early as May 2021, and threat actors moved laterally, exfiltrated sensitive information, and maintained persistence for approximately 14 months prior to the destructive phase of the operation. Responsibility was claimed by the "HomeLand Justice" front, which framed the campaign as retaliation against the Mujahedeen-e Khalq (MEK), an Iranian opposition group with a presence in Albania. Multiple Iran-nexus groups are assessed to have participated in the campaign, including HEXANE who probed victim infrastructure.[1][2][3] A second wave of attacks was launched in September 2022 using similar tactics following public attribution of the previous activity to Iran and the severing of diplomatic ties between Iran and Albania.[3]
C0027: C0027
C0027 was a financially-motivated campaign linked to Scattered Spider that targeted telecommunications and business process outsourcing (BPO) companies from at least June through December of 2022. During C0027 Scattered Spider used various forms of social engineering, performed SIM swapping, and attempted to leverage access from victim environments to mobile carrier networks.[1]
C0058: SharePoint ToolShell Exploitation
The SharePoint ToolShell Exploitation campaign was conducted in July 2025 and encompassed the first waves of exploitation against incompletely patched spoofing (CVE-2025-49706) and remote code execution (CVE-2025-49704) vulnerabilities affecting on-premises Microsoft SharePoint servers. Later patched and updated as CVE-2025-53770 and CVE-2025-53771, the ToolShell vulnerabilities were widely exploited including by China-based ransomware actor Storm-2603 and espionage actors Threat Group-3390 and ZIRCONIUM. SharePoint ToolShell Exploitation targeted multiple regions and industries including finance, education, energy, and healthcare across Asia, Europe, and the United States.[1][2][3][4][5]
C0014: Operation Wocao
Operation Wocao was a cyber espionage campaign that targeted organizations around the world, including in Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The suspected China-based actors compromised government organizations and managed service providers, as well as aviation, construction, energy, finance, health care, insurance, offshore engineering, software development, and transportation companies.[1]
Security researchers assessed the Operation Wocao actors used similar TTPs and tools as APT20, suggesting a possible overlap. Operation Wocao was named after an observed command line entry by one of the threat actors, possibly out of frustration from losing webshell access.[1]
C0063: 2025 Poland Wiper Attacks
2025 Poland Wiper Attacks is a Russian state-sponsored campaign that conducted destructive cyberattacks against Polish energy infrastructure in December 2025. Targets included more than 30 wind and photovoltaic farms, a combined heat and power (CHP) plant, and a manufacturing sector company. The attacks on the distributed energy resources (DER) disrupted communications between affected facilities and the distribution system operator, but did not impact electricity generation or heat supply. Across the campaign, threat actors deployed two previously undocumented wiper tools, DynoWiper, a Windows-based wiper and LazyWiper, a PowerShell wiper, distributed via malicious Group Policy Objects. At the CHP plant, threat actors had maintained access since at least March 2025, using that foothold to obtain credentials and move laterally before attempting wiper deployment. Some reporting has assessed the activity to be consistent with Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) threat activity group Dragonfly, also tracked as STATIC TUNDRA, while other reporting attributes the destructive wiper activities to the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) threat activity group ELECTRUM, also tracked as Sandworm Team.[1][2][3][4]
C0029: Cutting Edge
Cutting Edge was a campaign conducted by suspected China-nexus espionage actors, variously identified as UNC5221/UTA0178 and UNC5325, that began as early as December 2023 with the exploitation of zero-day vulnerabilities in Ivanti Connect Secure (previously Pulse Secure) VPN appliances. Cutting Edge targeted the U.S. defense industrial base and multiple sectors globally including telecommunications, financial, aerospace, and technology. Cutting Edge featured the use of defense evasion and living-off-the-land (LoTL) techniques along with the deployment of web shells and other custom malware.[1][2][3][4][5]
All related ATT&CK context
Object version and sync metadata
The fields below describe the current mirrored snapshot. When Glexia retains multiple ATT&CK source imports, you can open the table to compare the same object across releases (hashes and MITRE timestamps). For MITRE’s own release notes and roadmap, see ATT&CK resources — Updates .
Imported snapshots across ATT&CK releases (1)
| Release | Bundle imported | Object version | Modified | Status | Raw hash |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19.1 | 1.8 | Current bundle | da6af34bb85d… |
Mirrored ATT&CK source object
The raw object is retained through the mirrored ATT&CK source bundle and object hash. The raw endpoint returns the exact object from the mirrored bundle when available.
External references and citations
MITRE external references are preserved separately from Glexia analysis so citations remain traceable to their original source records.
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[1]
Impacket Tools
SecureAuth. (n.d.). Retrieved January 15, 2019.
Open source URL -
[2]
mitre-attack S0357Open source URL
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