Applied Cybernetics Group
T1048 Exfiltration Over Alternative Protocol
- Technique
T1048- Tactics
- Exfiltration
- Research, 90 days
- 2
- KEV CVEs mapped
- 4
- SigmaHQ rules
- 12
- Elastic, Splunk
- 27
- thrunt rules
- 0
- Upstream
- https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1048
MITRE description
Adversaries may steal data by exfiltrating it over a different protocol than that of the existing command and control channel. The data may also be sent to an alternate network location from the main command and control server. Alternate protocols include FTP, SMTP, HTTP/S, DNS, SMB, or any other network protocol not being used as the main command and control channel. Adversaries may also opt to encrypt and/or obfuscate these alternate channels. [Exfiltration Over Alternative Protocol](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1048) can be done using various common operating system utilities such as [Net](https://attack.mitre.org/software/S0039)/SMB or FTP.(Citation: Palo Alto OilRig Oct 2016) On macOS and Linux <code>curl</code> may be used to invoke protocols such as HTTP/S or FTP/S to exfiltrate data from a system.(Citation: 20 macOS Common Tools and Techniques) Many IaaS and SaaS platforms (such as Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SharePoint, GitHub, and AWS S3) support the direct download of files, emails, source code, and other sensitive information via the web console or [Cloud API](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1059/009).
KEV CVEs mapped to this technique
MITRE CTID maps these KEV CVEs to this technique by hand. They are the actively exploited vulnerabilities behind this technique's KEV signal.
Research citing this technique
Reports and advisories from the last 90 days that cite this technique.
-
2026-10-29Cisco Talos: IR trends Q3 2026: Actors impersonate IT help desks in vishing attacks as ransomware activity increases -
2026-09-25Google Threat Intelligence: ShinyHunters Renewed Mass Exploitation Campaign Targeting Oracle PeopleSoft
Detection coverage
SigmaHQ community rules
- TanStack Supply-Chain Attack DNS Indicators (emerging-threats)
- FTP Connection Open Attempt Via Winscp CLI (threat-hunting)
- Winscp Execution From Non Standard Folder (threat-hunting)
- DNS TOR Proxies (core)
- Tap Driver Installation - Security (core)
- Tap Driver Installation (core)
- Powershell DNSExfiltration (core)
- Data Export From MSSQL Table Via BCP.EXE (core)
- PUA - Restic Backup Tool Execution (core)
- Copy From Or To Admin Share Or Sysvol Folder (core)
- Suspicious Redirection to Local Admin Share (core)
- Tap Installer Execution (core)
Elastic and Splunk rules
- LLM-Based Curl Activity Triage via Auditd (elastic)
- LLM-Based Curl Activity Triage (elastic)
- LLM-Based Wget Activity Triage via Auditd (elastic)
- LLM-Based Wget Activity Triage (elastic)
- Potential Data Exfiltration Through Curl (elastic)
- Netcat File Transfer or Listener Detected via Defend for Containers (elastic)
- Network Activity Detected via cat (elastic)
- File Transfer or Listener Established via Netcat (elastic)
- Potential Database Dumping Activity (elastic)
- Potential Data Exfiltration Through Wget (elastic)
- File Transfer Utility Launched from Unusual Parent (elastic)
- Unusual DNS Activity (elastic)
- Spike in host-based traffic (elastic)
- Network Traffic to Rare Destination Country (elastic)
- Spike in Network Traffic To a Country (elastic)
- Unusual Windows Network Activity (elastic)
- Potential DNS Tunneling via NULL or Long DNS Queries (elastic)
- SMTP to the Internet on Port 26/TCP (elastic)
- SMB (Windows File Sharing) Activity to the Internet (elastic)
- Windows Registry File Creation in SMB Share (elastic)
- Potential DNS Exfiltration via Excessive Chunked Queries (elastic)
- Potential Data Exfiltration via Rclone (elastic)
- Rare SMB Connection to the Internet (elastic)
- O365 DLP Rule Triggered (splunk)
- DNS Exfiltration Using Nslookup App (splunk)
Showing 25 of 27.