T1636.003: Contact List
Adversaries may utilize standard operating system APIs to gather contact list data. On Android, this can be accomplished using the Contacts Content Provider. On iOS, this can be accomplished using the `Contacts` framework.
If the device has been jailbroken or rooted, an adversary may be able to access the Contact List without the user’s knowledge or approval.
Security context for executives and security teams
T1636.003: Contact List describes Adversaries may utilize standard operating system APIs to gather contact list data. On Android, this can be accomplished using the Contacts Content Provider. On iOS, this can be accomplished using the `Contacts` framework. If the device has been jailbroken or rooted, an adversary may be able to access the [Contact List](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1636/003) without the user’s knowledge or approval.
Executive priority
T1636.003: Contact List 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 T1636.003: Contact List by reviewing the official ATT&CK relationships, mapped tactics (collection), supported platforms (Android, iOS), and available local telemetry before making detection or mitigation decisions.
Likely telemetry
- Official ATT&CK relationships and object metadata
Detection direction
- Validate whether T1636.003: Contact List 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.
Contact List
Adversaries may utilize standard operating system APIs to gather contact list data. On Android, this can be accomplished using the Contacts Content Provider. On iOS, this can be accomplished using the `Contacts` framework.
If the device has been jailbroken or rooted, an adversary may be able to access the Contact List without the user’s knowledge or approval.
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.
Related techniques
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile | T1432 | Access Contact List | Access Contact List revoked by this object. |
| Mobile | T1636 | Protected User Data | This object subtechnique of Protected User Data. |
Groups, software, and campaigns
G0112: Windshift
S0480: Cerberus
S0411: Rotexy
S0328: Stealth Mango
Stealth Mango is Android malware that has reportedly been used to successfully compromise the mobile devices of government officials, members of the military, medical professionals, and civilians. The iOS malware known as Tangelo is believed to be from the same developer. [1]
S0551: GoldenEagle
GoldenEagle is a piece of Android malware that has been used in targeting of Uyghurs, Muslims, Tibetans, individuals in Turkey, and individuals in China. Samples have been found as early as 2012.[1]
S1077: Hornbill
S0305: SpyNote RAT
SpyNote RAT (Remote Access Trojan) is a family of malicious Android apps. The SpyNote RAT builder tool can be used to develop malicious apps with the malware's functionality. [1]
S0463: INSOMNIA
S1095: AhRat
AhRat is an Android remote access tool based on the open-source AhMyth remote access tool. AhRat initially spread in August 2022 on the Google Play Store via an update containing malicious code to the previously benign application, “iRecorder – Screen Recorder,” which itself was released in September 2021.[1]
S1061: AbstractEmu
AbstractEmu is mobile malware that was first seen in Google Play and other third-party stores in October 2021. It was discovered in 19 Android applications, of which at least 7 abused known Android exploits for obtaining root permissions. AbstractEmu was observed primarily impacting users in the United States, however victims are believed to be across a total of 17 countries.[1]
S0405: Exodus
S0505: Desert Scorpion
Desert Scorpion is surveillanceware that has targeted the Middle East, specifically individuals located in Palestine. Desert Scorpion is suspected to have been operated by the threat actor APT-C-23.[1]
There are multiple close variants of Desert Scorpion, such as VAMP[2], GnatSpy[3], FrozenCell and SpyC23, which add some additional functionality but are not significantly different from the original malware.
S0289: Pegasus for iOS
Pegasus for iOS is the iOS version of malware that has reportedly been linked to the NSO Group. It has been advertised and sold to target high-value victims.[1][2] The Android version is tracked separately under Pegasus for Android.
C0033: C0033
C0033 was a PROMETHIUM campaign during which they used StrongPity to target Android users. C0033 was the first publicly documented mobile campaign for PROMETHIUM, who previously used Windows-based techniques.[1]
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 | 1.1 | Current bundle | e97a78dd41a1… | ||
| 19.1 | 1.1 | Older bundle | e97a78dd41a1… |
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]NIST Mobile Threat CatalogueAPP-13Open source URL
- [2]mitre-attackT1636.003Open source URL
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