Adversaries may gather credentials from the proc filesystem or `/proc`. The proc filesystem is a pseudo-filesystem used as an interface to kernel data structures for Linux based systems managing virtual memory. For each process, the `/proc//maps` file shows how memory is mapped within the process’s virtual address space. And `/proc//mem`, exposed for debugging purposes, provides access to the process’s virtual address space.(Citation: Picus Labs Proc cump 2022)(Citation: baeldung Linux proc map 2022) When executing with root privileges, adversaries can search these memory locations for all processes on a system that contain patterns indicative of credentials. Adversaries may use regex patterns, such as grep -E "^[0-9a-f-]* r" /proc/"$pid"/maps | cut -d' ' -f 1, to look for fixed strings in memory structures or cached hashes.(Citation: atomic-red proc file system) When running without privileged access, processes can still view their own virtual memory locations. Some services or programs may save credentials in clear text inside the process’s memory.(Citation: MimiPenguin GitHub May 2017)(Citation: Polop Linux PrivEsc Gitbook) If running as or with the permissions of a web browser, a process can search the `/maps` & `/mem` locations for common website credential patterns (that can also be used to find adjacent memory within the same structure) in which hashes or cleartext credentials may be located.

Linked Issues

Issuelinks
is related to Techniques
is blocked by Detecting OS Credential Dumping via /proc Filesystem Access on Linux
is blocked by Password Policies
is blocked by Privileged Account Management
is blocked by Access Restriction For Change
is blocked by Security, Compliance & Resilience Controls Oversight
is blocked by Secure Baseline Configurations
is blocked by Continuous Monitoring
is blocked by Encrypting Data At Rest
is blocked by Malicious Code Protection (Anti-Malware)
is blocked by Separation of Duties (SoD)
is blocked by Identification & Authentication for Organizational Users
is blocked by Authenticator Management
is blocked by Account Management
is blocked by Access Enforcement
is blocked by Least Privilege
is blocked by Process Isolation
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