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T1213 Data from Information Repositories

Adversaries may leverage information repositories to mine valuable information. Information repositories are tools that allow for storage of information, typically to facilitate collaboration or information sharing between users, and can store a wide variety of data that may aid adversaries in further objectives, such as Credential Access, Lateral Movement, or Defense Evasion, or direct access to the target information. Adversaries may also abuse external sharing features to share sensitive documents with recipients outside of the organization (i.e., Transfer Data to Cloud Account).

The following is a brief list of example information that may hold potential value to an adversary and may also be found on an information repository:

  • Policies, procedures, and standards
  • Physical / logical network diagrams
  • System architecture diagrams
  • Technical system documentation
  • Testing / development credentials (i.e., Unsecured Credentials)
  • Work / project schedules
  • Source code snippets
  • Links to network shares and other internal resources
  • Contact or other sensitive information about business partners and customers, including personally identifiable information (PII)

Information stored in a repository may vary based on the specific instance or environment. Specific common information repositories include the following:

  • Storage services such as IaaS databases, enterprise databases, and more specialized platforms such as customer relationship management (CRM) databases
  • Collaboration platforms such as SharePoint, Confluence, and code repositories
  • Messaging platforms such as Slack and Microsoft Teams

In some cases, information repositories have been improperly secured, typically by unintentionally allowing for overly-broad access by all users or even public access to unauthenticated users. This is particularly common with cloud-native or cloud-hosted services, such as AWS Relational Database Service (RDS), Redis, or ElasticSearch.(Citation: Mitiga)(Citation: TrendMicro Exposed Redis 2020)(Citation: Cybernews Reuters Leak 2022)

View in MITRE ATT&CK®

CIS Controls Mappings

Capability ID Capability Description Mapping Type ATT&CK ID ATT&CK Name Notes
CIS-16.7 Use Standard Hardening Configuration Templates for Application Infrastructure mitigates T1213 Data from Information Repositories
Comments
Apply standard, industry-recommended hardening templates that enforce information repository data retention, archival, and deletion settings to limit accessible data.
References
    CIS-6.8 Define and Maintain Role-Based Access Control mitigates T1213 Data from Information Repositories
    Comments
    Using role-based access control (RBAC) to limit information repository access to only authorized users helps prevent adversaries from leveraging these repositories to mine valuable information.
    References
    1. https://cas.docs.cisecurity.org/en/latest/source/Controls6/#68-define-and-maintain-role-based-access-control
    CIS-3.5 Securely Dispose of Data mitigates T1213 Data from Information Repositories
    Comments
    Secure disposal reduces stale sensitive records in repositories such as document stores, collaboration platforms, or knowledge bases.
    References
    1. https://cas.docs.cisecurity.org/en/latest/source/Controls3/
    CIS-3.11 Encrypt Sensitive Data At Rest mitigates T1213 Data from Information Repositories
    Comments
    Repository encryption protects stored sensitive data even after unauthorized access.
    References
    1. https://cas.docs.cisecurity.org/en/latest/source/Controls3/

    VERIS Mappings

    Capability ID Capability Description Mapping Type ATT&CK ID ATT&CK Name Notes
    action.malware.variety.Capture stored data Capture data stored on system disk related-to T1213 Data from Information Repositories
    attribute.confidentiality.data_disclosure Confirmed or potential data disclosure related-to T1213 Data from Information Repositories

    GCP Mappings

    Capability ID Capability Description Mapping Type ATT&CK ID ATT&CK Name Notes
    cloud_identity Cloud Identity technique_scores T1213 Data from Information Repositories
    Comments
    MFA and enforcing the principal of least privilege can be used to control adversaries and possibly hinder them from gaining access to a victim network or a private code repository.
    References
    1. https://cloud.google.com/identity

    ATT&CK Subtechniques

    Technique ID Technique Name Number of Mappings
    T1213.002 Sharepoint 3
    T1213.006 Databases 4
    T1213.001 Confluence 3
    T1213.004 Customer Relationship Management Software 4
    T1213.003 Code Repositories 5
    T1213.005 Messaging Applications 3