T1608 Stage Capabilities

Technique: T1608
Tactics: Resource Development
Research, 90 days: 1
KEV CVEs mapped: 0
SigmaHQ rules: 2
Elastic, Splunk: 10
thrunt rules: 0
Upstream: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1608

MITRE description

Adversaries may upload, install, or otherwise set up capabilities that can be used during targeting. To support their operations, an adversary may need to take capabilities they developed ([Develop Capabilities](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1587)) or obtained ([Obtain Capabilities](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1588)) and stage them on infrastructure under their control. These capabilities may be staged on infrastructure that was previously purchased/rented by the adversary ([Acquire Infrastructure](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1583)) or was otherwise compromised by them ([Compromise Infrastructure](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1584)). Capabilities may also be staged on web services, such as GitHub or Pastebin, or on Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) offerings that enable users to easily provision applications.(Citation: Volexity Ocean Lotus November 2020)(Citation: Dragos Heroku Watering Hole)(Citation: Malwarebytes Heroku Skimmers)(Citation: Netskope GCP Redirection)(Citation: Netskope Cloud Phishing) Staging of capabilities can aid the adversary in a number of initial access and post-compromise behaviors, including (but not limited to): * Staging web resources necessary to conduct [Drive-by Compromise](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1189) when a user browses to a site.(Citation: FireEye CFR Watering Hole 2012)(Citation: Gallagher 2015)(Citation: ATT ScanBox) * Staging web resources for a link target to be used with spearphishing.(Citation: Malwarebytes Silent Librarian October 2020)(Citation: Proofpoint TA407 September 2019) * Uploading malware or tools to a location accessible to a victim network to enable [Ingress Tool Transfer](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1105).(Citation: Volexity Ocean Lotus November 2020) * Installing a previously acquired SSL/TLS certificate to use to encrypt command and control traffic (ex: [Asymmetric Cryptography](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1573/002) with [Web Protocols](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1071/001)).(Citation: DigiCert Install SSL Cert)

Research citing this technique

Reports and advisories from the last 90 days that cite this technique.

2026-08-13 Recorded Future Insikt: Malware Crypting Services and the Threat Actors Who Sell Them

Detection coverage

SigmaHQ community rules

Elastic and Splunk rules

AWS SES Full Access Policy Attached to IAM Entity by Unusual User (elastic)
AWS SES Account Email Sending Enabled (elastic)
AWS SNS Topic Created by Rare User (elastic)
Azure Automation Webhook Created (elastic)
M365 OneDrive Malware File Upload (elastic)
M365 SharePoint Malware File Detected (elastic)
Linux Suspicious GCC Invocation Building Init Shared Object (splunk)
Windows Cobalt Strike PowerShell Loader (splunk)
Windows Metasploit Confluence Plugin Execution (splunk)
Windows NorthStar C2 Agent Execution (splunk)

Signal counts reflect the current corpus snapshot. Research citations are the technique IDs named in vendor reports and government advisories from the last 90 days; KEV mappings come from MITRE CTID. Coverage is the SigmaHQ rule inventory (core, emerging-threats, threat-hunting) at release r2026-07-01 plus Elastic and Splunk production rules. Rule bodies are not mirrored; links go upstream.