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MITRE ATT&CK® Group

G0121: Sidewinder

Sidewinder is a suspected Indian threat actor group that has been active since at least 2012. They have been observed targeting government, military, and business entities throughout Asia, primarily focusing on Pakistan, China, Nepal, and Afghanistan.[1][2][3]

EnterpriseG0121GroupObject v1.2Modified
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Glexia's Take · Automated analysis

Security context for executives and security teams

Automation confidenceMedium

G0121: Sidewinder describes [Sidewinder](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0121) is a suspected Indian threat actor group that has been active since at least 2012. They have been observed targeting government, military, and business entities throughout Asia, primarily focusing on Pakistan, China, Nepal, and Afghanistan.(Citation: ATT Sidewinder January 2021)(Citation: Securelist APT Trends April 2018)(Citation: Cyble Sidewinder September 2020)

Executive priority

G0121: Sidewinder is an official MITRE ATT&CK group. Glexia treats it as defensive behavior context for prioritizing monitoring, control validation, and response planning without using the object by itself as an attribution claim.

Technical view

Security teams should validate G0121: Sidewinder by reviewing the official ATT&CK relationships, mapped tactics (the mapped ATT&CK tactic context), supported platforms (the platforms named in the official object), and available local telemetry before making detection or mitigation decisions.

Likely telemetry

  • Official ATT&CK relationships and object metadata

Detection direction

  • Validate whether G0121: Sidewinder appears in your detection coverage and tabletop scenarios.
  • Use the object to align executive risk language with SOC, incident response, and detection engineering work.
  • Do not treat ATT&CK relationship context as attribution without corroborating evidence.

Mitigation priorities

  • Map the object to existing controls and identify missing telemetry or response ownership.
  • Prioritize mitigations that reduce exposure on the listed platforms and tactics.
  • Review adjacent ATT&CK relationships before changing policy, detections, or reporting language.
Additional notes and limits

Baseline Glexia take generated from the official MITRE ATT&CK STIX object, source hash, tactics, platforms, and detection fields. It is safe to replace with a richer model-generated take for the same source hash later.

This baseline take is source-grounded and schema-validated, but it does not include environment-specific telemetry, incident evidence, or threat-intelligence corroboration.

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Official MITRE ATT&CK definition

Sidewinder

Sidewinder is a suspected Indian threat actor group that has been active since at least 2012. They have been observed targeting government, military, and business entities throughout Asia, primarily focusing on Pakistan, China, Nepal, and Afghanistan.[1][2][3]

View the same entry on attack.mitre.org (MITRE-hosted reference; in-page links above use the Glexia ATT&CK library.)

Glexia analysis

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.

ATT&CK relationship table

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.

30 rows
DomainIDNameRelationship / procedure
EnterpriseT1203Exploitation for Client Execution

Sidewinder has exploited vulnerabilities to gain execution including CVE-2017-11882 and CVE-2020-0674.[1][3]

EnterpriseT1518.001Security Software DiscoverySub-technique

Sidewinder has used the Windows service winmgmts:\\.\root\SecurityCenter2 to check installed antivirus products.CitationRewterz Sidewinder APT April 2020

EnterpriseT1218.005MshtaSub-technique

Sidewinder has used mshta.exe to execute malicious payloads.CitationRewterz Sidewinder APT April 2020CitationRewterz Sidewinder COVID-19 June 2020

EnterpriseT1598.003Spearphishing LinkSub-technique

Sidewinder has sent e-mails with malicious links to credential harvesting websites.[1]

EnterpriseT1124System Time Discovery

Sidewinder has used tools to obtain the current system time.[1]

EnterpriseT1566.002Spearphishing LinkSub-technique

Sidewinder has sent e-mails with malicious links often crafted for specific targets.[1][3]

EnterpriseT1074.001Local Data StagingSub-technique

Sidewinder has collected stolen files in a temporary folder in preparation for exfiltration.[1]

EnterpriseT1057Process Discovery

Sidewinder has used tools to identify running processes on the victim's machine.[1]

EnterpriseT1059.007JavaScriptSub-technique

Sidewinder has used JavaScript to drop and execute malware loaders.[1]CitationRewterz Sidewinder COVID-19 June 2020

EnterpriseT1027.013Encrypted/Encoded FileSub-technique

Sidewinder has used base64 encoding and ECDH-P256 encryption for payloads.[1]CitationRewterz Sidewinder APT April 2020[3]

EnterpriseT1020Automated Exfiltration

Sidewinder has configured tools to automatically send collected files to attacker controlled servers.[1]

EnterpriseT1105Ingress Tool Transfer

Sidewinder has used LNK files to download remote files to the victim's network.[1][3]

EnterpriseT1547.001Registry Run Keys / Startup FolderSub-technique

Sidewinder has added paths to executables in the Registry to establish persistence.CitationRewterz Sidewinder APT April 2020CitationRewterz Sidewinder COVID-19 June 2020[3]

EnterpriseT1071.001Web ProtocolsSub-technique

Sidewinder has used HTTP in C2 communications.[1]CitationRewterz Sidewinder APT April 2020CitationRewterz Sidewinder COVID-19 June 2020

EnterpriseT1559.002Dynamic Data ExchangeSub-technique

Sidewinder has used the ActiveXObject utility to create OLE objects to obtain execution through Internet Explorer.CitationRewterz Sidewinder APT April 2020CitationRewterz Sidewinder COVID-19 June 2020

EnterpriseT1083File and Directory Discovery

Sidewinder has used malware to collect information on files and directories.[1]

EnterpriseT1016System Network Configuration Discovery

Sidewinder has used malware to collect information on network interfaces, including the MAC address.[1]

EnterpriseT1598.002Spearphishing AttachmentSub-technique

Sidewinder has sent e-mails with malicious attachments that lead victims to credential harvesting websites.[1]CitationRewterz Sidewinder APT April 2020[3]

EnterpriseT1027.010Command ObfuscationSub-technique

Sidewinder has used base64 encoding for scripts.[1]CitationRewterz Sidewinder APT April 2020

EnterpriseT1059.001PowerShellSub-technique

Sidewinder has used PowerShell to drop and execute malware loaders.[1]

EnterpriseT1518Software Discovery

Sidewinder has used tools to enumerate software installed on an infected host.[1]CitationRewterz Sidewinder APT April 2020

EnterpriseT1059.005Visual BasicSub-technique

Sidewinder has used VBScript to drop and execute malware loaders.[1]

EnterpriseT1082System Information Discovery

Sidewinder has used tools to collect the computer name, OS version, installed hotfixes, as well as information regarding the memory and processor on a compromised host.[1]CitationRewterz Sidewinder COVID-19 June 2020

EnterpriseT1119Automated Collection

Sidewinder has used tools to automatically collect system and network configuration information.[1]

EnterpriseT1566.001Spearphishing AttachmentSub-technique

Sidewinder has sent e-mails with malicious attachments often crafted for specific targets.[1]

EnterpriseT1036.005Match Legitimate Resource Name or LocationSub-technique

Sidewinder has named malicious files rekeywiz.exe to match the name of a legitimate Windows executable.CitationRewterz Sidewinder COVID-19 June 2020

EnterpriseT1204.001Malicious LinkSub-technique

Sidewinder has lured targets to click on malicious links to gain execution in the target environment.[1]CitationRewterz Sidewinder APT April 2020CitationRewterz Sidewinder COVID-19 June 2020[3]

EnterpriseT1204.002Malicious FileSub-technique

Sidewinder has lured targets to click on malicious files to gain execution in the target environment.[1]CitationRewterz Sidewinder APT April 2020CitationRewterz Sidewinder COVID-19 June 2020[3]

EnterpriseT1033System Owner/User Discovery

Sidewinder has used tools to identify the user of a compromised host.[1]

EnterpriseT1574.001DLLSub-technique

Sidewinder has used DLL side-loading to drop and execute malicious payloads including the hijacking of the legitimate Windows application file rekeywiz.exe.[1]

Associated objects

Groups, software, and campaigns

ToolEnterprise

S0250: Koadic

Koadic is a Windows post-exploitation framework and penetration testing tool that is publicly available on GitHub. Koadic has several options for staging payloads and creating implants, and performs most of its operations using Windows Script Host.[1][2][3]

Windows
Relationship explorer

All related ATT&CK context

uses · TechniqueT1203: Exploitation for Client ExecutionEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1518.001: Security Software DiscoveryEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1218.005: MshtaEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1598.003: Spearphishing LinkEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1124: System Time DiscoveryEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1566.002: Spearphishing LinkEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1074.001: Local Data StagingEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1057: Process DiscoveryEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1059.007: JavaScriptEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1027.013: Encrypted/Encoded FileEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1020: Automated ExfiltrationEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1105: Ingress Tool TransferEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1547.001: Registry Run Keys / Startup FolderEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1071.001: Web ProtocolsEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1559.002: Dynamic Data ExchangeEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1083: File and Directory DiscoveryEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1016: System Network Configuration DiscoveryEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1598.002: Spearphishing AttachmentEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1027.010: Command ObfuscationEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1059.001: PowerShellEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1518: Software DiscoveryEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1059.005: Visual BasicEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1082: System Information DiscoveryEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1119: Automated CollectionEnterprise
Change history

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.

ATT&CK release
19.2
Object version
1.2
Created
Modified
Raw hash
cd89d953f405d24f...
Imported snapshots across ATT&CK releases(2)
ReleaseBundle importedObject versionModifiedStatusRaw hash
19.21.2Current bundlecd89d953f405…
19.11.2Older bundlec657657a4341…
Raw source

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.

Open mirrored raw JSONOpen MITRE-hosted copy
Source references

External references and citations

MITRE external references are preserved separately from Glexia analysis so citations remain traceable to their original source records.

  1. [1]
    ATT Sidewinder January 2021

    Hegel, T. (2021, January 13). A Global Perspective of the SideWinder APT. Retrieved January 27, 2021.

    Open source URL
  2. [2]
    Securelist APT Trends April 2018

    Global Research and Analysis Team . (2018, April 12). APT Trends report Q1 2018. Retrieved January 27, 2021.

    Open source URL
  3. [3]
    Cyble Sidewinder September 2020

    Cyble. (2020, September 26). SideWinder APT Targets with futuristic Tactics and Techniques. Retrieved January 29, 2021.

    Open source URL
  4. [4]
    Rattlesnake

    (Citation: Cyble Sidewinder September 2020)

  5. [5]
    T-APT-04

    (Citation: Cyble Sidewinder September 2020)

  6. [6]
    mitre-attackG0121
    Open source URL
Source and licensing

Source: MITRE ATT&CK®. © 2026 The MITRE Corporation. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of The MITRE Corporation. MITRE ATT&CK and ATT&CK are registered trademarks of The MITRE Corporation. Glexia is not affiliated with or endorsed by MITRE.

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