LiveActive security incident?Get immediate response
MITRE ATT&CK® Malware

S1159: DUSTTRAP

DUSTTRAP is a multi-stage plugin framework associated with APT41 operations with multiple components.[1]

EnterpriseS1159MalwareObject v1.0Modified
Glexia's Take · Automated analysis

Security context for executives and security teams

Automation confidenceMedium

S1159: DUSTTRAP describes [DUSTTRAP](https://attack.mitre.org/software/S1159) is a multi-stage plugin framework associated with [APT41](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0096) operations with multiple components.(Citation: Google Cloud APT41 2024)

Executive priority

S1159: DUSTTRAP is an official MITRE ATT&CK software. 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 S1159: DUSTTRAP by reviewing the official ATT&CK relationships, mapped tactics (the mapped ATT&CK tactic context), supported platforms (Windows), and available local telemetry before making detection or mitigation decisions.

Likely telemetry

  • Official ATT&CK relationships and object metadata
  • Network, endpoint, and security-tool telemetry

Detection direction

  • Validate whether S1159: DUSTTRAP 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

DUSTTRAP

DUSTTRAP is a multi-stage plugin framework associated with APT41 operations with multiple components.[1]

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.

29 rows
DomainIDNameRelationship / procedure
EnterpriseT1087.002Domain AccountSub-technique

DUSTTRAP can enumerate domain accounts.[1]

EnterpriseT1012Query Registry

DUSTTRAP can enumerate Registry items.[1]

EnterpriseT1615Group Policy Discovery

DUSTTRAP can identify victim environment Group Policy information.[1]

EnterpriseT1055Process Injection

DUSTTRAP compromises the `.text` section of a legitimate system DLL in `%windir%` to hold the contents of retrieved plug-ins.[1]

EnterpriseT1056.001KeyloggingSub-technique

DUSTTRAP can perform keylogging operations.[1]

EnterpriseT1070Indicator Removal

DUSTTRAP restores the `.text` section of compromised DLLs after malicious code is loaded into memory and before the file is closed.[1]

EnterpriseT1027.013Encrypted/Encoded FileSub-technique

DUSTTRAP begins with an initial launcher that decrypts an AES-128-CFB encrypted file on disk and executes it in memory.[1]

EnterpriseT1057Process Discovery

DUSTTRAP can enumerate running processes.[1]

EnterpriseT1087.001Local AccountSub-technique

DUSTTRAP can enumerate local user accounts.[1]

EnterpriseT1113Screen Capture

DUSTTRAP can capture screenshots.[1]

EnterpriseT1518.001Security Software DiscoverySub-technique

DUSTTRAP can identify security software.[1]

EnterpriseT1140Deobfuscate/Decode Files or Information

DUSTTRAP deobfuscates embedded payloads.[1]

EnterpriseT1105Ingress Tool Transfer

DUSTTRAP can retrieve and load additional payloads.[1]

EnterpriseT1083File and Directory Discovery

DUSTTRAP can enumerate files and directories.[1]

EnterpriseT1005Data from Local System

DUSTTRAP can gather data from infected systems.[1]

EnterpriseT1016System Network Configuration Discovery

DUSTTRAP can enumerate infected system network information.[1]

EnterpriseT1059.003Windows Command ShellSub-technique

DUSTTRAP can execute commands via `cmd.exe`.[1]

EnterpriseT1010Application Window Discovery

DUSTTRAP can enumerate running application windows.[1]

EnterpriseT1070.005Network Share Connection RemovalSub-technique

DUSTTRAP can remove network shares from infected systems.[1]

EnterpriseT1041Exfiltration Over C2 Channel

DUSTTRAP can exfiltrate collected data over C2 channels.[1]

EnterpriseT1124System Time Discovery

DUSTTRAP reads the infected system's current time and writes it to a log file during execution.[1]

EnterpriseT1482Domain Trust Discovery

DUSTTRAP can identify Active Directory information and related items.[1]

EnterpriseT1685.005Clear Windows Event LogsSub-technique

DUSTTRAP can delete infected system log information.[1]

EnterpriseT1082System Information Discovery

DUSTTRAP reads the value of the infected system's `HKLM\SYSTEM\Microsoft\Cryptography\MachineGUID` value.[1]

EnterpriseT1027.009Embedded PayloadsSub-technique

DUSTTRAP contains additional embedded DLLs and configuration files that are loaded into memory during execution.[1]

EnterpriseT1018Remote System Discovery

DUSTTRAP can use `ping` to identify remote hosts within the victim network.[1]

EnterpriseT1654Log Enumeration

DUSTTRAP can identify infected system log information.[1]

EnterpriseT1497.001System ChecksSub-technique

DUSTTRAP decryption relies on the infected machine's `HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Cryptography\MachineGUID` value.[1]

EnterpriseT1135Network Share Discovery

DUSTTRAP can identify and enumerate victim system network shares.[1]

Associated objects

Groups, software, and campaigns

GroupEnterprise

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]

Relationship explorer

All related ATT&CK context

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
1.0
Created
Modified
Raw hash
1da59d24ce4b4a87...
Imported snapshots across ATT&CK releases(2)
ReleaseBundle importedObject versionModifiedStatusRaw hash
19.21.0Current bundle1da59d24ce4b…
19.11.0Older bundle1da59d24ce4b…
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.

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]
    Google Cloud APT41 2024

    Mike Stokkel et al. (2024, July 18). APT41 Has Arisen From the DUST. Retrieved September 16, 2024.

    Open source URL
  2. [2]
    mitre-attackS1159
    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.