T1458: Replication Through Removable Media
Adversaries may move onto devices by exploiting or copying malware to devices connected via USB. In the case of Lateral Movement, adversaries may utilize the physical connection of a device to a compromised or malicious charging station or PC to bypass application store requirements and install malicious applications directly.[1] In the case of Initial Access, adversaries may attempt to exploit the device via the connection to gain access to data stored on the device.[2] Examples of this include: * Exploiting insecure bootloaders in a Nexus 6 or 6P device over USB and gaining the ability to perform actions including intercepting phone calls, intercepting network traffic, and obtaining the device physical location.[3] * Exploiting weakly-enforced security boundaries in Android devices such as the Google Pixel 2 over USB.[4] * Products from Cellebrite and Grayshift purportedly that can exploit some iOS devices using physical access to the data port to unlock the passcode.[5]
Security context for executives and security teams
T1458: Replication Through Removable Media describes Adversaries may move onto devices by exploiting or copying malware to devices connected via USB. In the case of Lateral Movement, adversaries may utilize the physical connection of a device to a compromised or malicious charging station or PC to bypass application store requirements and install malicious applications directly.(Citation: Lau-Mactans) In the case of Initial Access, adversaries may attempt to exploit the device via the connection to gain access to data stored on the device.(Citation: Krebs-JuiceJackin...
Executive priority
T1458: Replication Through Removable Media is an official MITRE ATT&CK technique. 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 T1458: Replication Through Removable Media by reviewing the official ATT&CK relationships, mapped tactics (initial-access, lateral-movement), supported platforms (Android, iOS), and available local telemetry before making detection or mitigation decisions.
Likely telemetry
- Official ATT&CK relationships and object metadata
- Endpoint process, command-line, and script execution logs
Detection direction
- Validate whether T1458: Replication Through Removable Media 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.
Replication Through Removable Media
Adversaries may move onto devices by exploiting or copying malware to devices connected via USB. In the case of Lateral Movement, adversaries may utilize the physical connection of a device to a compromised or malicious charging station or PC to bypass application store requirements and install malicious applications directly.[1] In the case of Initial Access, adversaries may attempt to exploit the device via the connection to gain access to data stored on the device.[2] Examples of this include: * Exploiting insecure bootloaders in a Nexus 6 or 6P device over USB and gaining the ability to perform actions including intercepting phone calls, intercepting network traffic, and obtaining the device physical location.[3] * Exploiting weakly-enforced security boundaries in Android devices such as the Google Pixel 2 over USB.[4] * Products from Cellebrite and Grayshift purportedly that can exploit some iOS devices using physical access to the data port to unlock the passcode.[5]
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.
Groups, software, and campaigns
S0312: WireLurker
WireLurker is a family of macOS malware that targets iOS devices connected over USB. [1]
S0315: DualToy
All related ATT&CK context
Mitigation direction
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(2)
| Release | Bundle imported | Object version | Modified | Status | Raw hash |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19.2 | 2.1 | Current bundle | 19bb04476534… | ||
| 19.1 | 2.1 | Older bundle | 19bb04476534… |
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.
- [1]Lau-Mactans
Lau et al.. (2013). Mactans: Injecting Malware Into iOS Devices Via Malicious Chargers. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
Open source URL - [2]Krebs-JuiceJacking
Brian Krebs. (2011, August 17). Beware of Juice-Jacking. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
- [3]IBM-NexusUSB
Roee Hay. (2017, January 5). Android Vulnerabilities: Attacking Nexus 6 and 6P Custom Boot Modes. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
Open source URL - [4]GoogleProjectZero-OATmeal
Jann Horn. (2018, September 10). OATmeal on the Universal Cereal Bus: Exploiting Android phones over USB. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
Open source URL - [5]Computerworld-iPhoneCracking
Lucas Mearian. (2018, May 9). Two vendors now sell iPhone cracking technology – and police are buying. Retrieved November 17, 2024.
Open source URL - [6]NIST Mobile Threat CataloguePHY-1Open source URL
- [7]NIST Mobile Threat CataloguePHY-2Open source URL
- [8]NIST Mobile Threat CatalogueSTA-6Open source URL
- [9]mitre-attackT1458Open source URL
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