tfMITRE ATT&CK sub-technique

PowerShell Profile T1546.013

sub-technique of T1546 Event Triggered Execution

Tactics: Persistence, Privilege Escalation
Platform: Windows
Version: 1.2
Created: 24 January 2020
Last modified: 24 October 2025
Contributors: Allen DeRyke, ICE; Matt Green, @mgreen27

Adversaries may gain persistence and elevate privileges by executing malicious content triggered by PowerShell profiles. A PowerShell profile (profile.ps1) is a script that runs when PowerShell starts and can be used as a logon script to customize user environments.

ReconResource DevInitial AccessExecutionPersistencePriv EscStealthDef ImpairmentCred AccessDiscoveryLateral MoveCollectionC2ExfiltrationImpact

Threat groups45th pct

Threat groups45th percentile · 55% of ATT&CK techniques have more threat groups attributed.

CampaignsNone recorded

CampaignsNone recorded · 54% of ATT&CK techniques have none either.

Tools & malwareNone recorded

Tools & malwareNone recorded · 29% of ATT&CK techniques have none either.

Detection rules54th pct

Detection rules54th percentile · 54% of ATT&CK techniques have this many detection rules written or fewer.

PowerShell Profile MITRE reference T1546.013

45th pctamong all ATT&CK techniques for number of groups

1 group has been recorded using this technique. Newest first; each entry carries MITRE’s procedure text and a link to the group’s full record. Click a name to filter the rules below.

TurlaG0010 ↗

Has used PowerShell profiles to maintain persistence on an infected machine.1

created 2017-05-311 referenceaka IRON HUNTER

All 1 groups for this technique

Offense vs defense T1546.013

Is defensive coverage keeping up with adversary use? Eight counts, each ranked against all 697 ATT&CK techniques. Attack sits left, defense right, so a shape leaning left means adversaries are better documented here than defenders are equipped. Hover any spoke for its percentile and the share of techniques that have more. The timeline below shows when each side arrived.

How it got here

Range

Adversary activity (campaign spans) over cumulative rule output. Each source is plotted independently from zero, so neither line includes the other. Campaign dates are year-granularity.

Campaigns · 0Sigma rules (cumulative) · 3Splunk ESCU (cumulative) · 0

first rule: 2019 Q4

PowerShell Profile detection strategy DET0451

MITRE names one behaviour worth catching for this technique and breaks it into 1 analytic, one per platform. Each carries the log sources it needs and the fields you tune per environment.

Detection Strategy for PowerShell Profile Persistence via profile.ps1 Modification

Enterprise

1 platform

AN1245 · Windows

Defenders can identify PowerShell profile-based persistence by correlating file creation or modification in known profile locations with subsequent PowerShell process launches that do not use the -NoProfile flag. Profile scripts loading unusual modules or launching external programs, particularly under elevated contexts, are suspicious and may represent adversary persistence or privilege escalation.

Log sources

The data this analytic draws on. You do not need every component — each one you already collect covers part of it. Each links to its ATT&CK record.

Data component	Name	Channel
Process CreationDC0032	WinEventLog:Sysmon	EventCode=1
File CreationDC0039	WinEventLog:Sysmon	EventCode=11
File ModificationDC0061	WinEventLog:Sysmon	EventCode=2
Command ExecutionDC0064	WinEventLog:PowerShell	Execution of PowerShell without -NoProfile flag

Tunable fields

MITRE calls these the analytic’s mutable elements: the thresholds and filters you set for your own environment.

Field	What you tune
ProfilePathList	Custom PowerShell host profiles or redirection to alternate profile paths
ExecutionContext	Whether profile execution occurs under elevated user (e.g., Administrator, SYSTEM)
ModuleOrScriptName	Specific modules or external programs loaded within profile
TimeWindow	Correlation time between profile modification and PowerShell process start

Tests1ExecutorsPowerShell 1Need elevation0 of 1Have prerequisites1Have cleanup1Platformswindows

Test

Platform

Executor

Elevation

Prereqs

Cleanup

Ref

Append malicious start-process cmdlet

windows

PowerShell

—

Yes

Appends a start process cmdlet to the current user's powershell profile pofile that points to a malicious executable. Upon execution, calc.exe will be launched.

Input arguments

Name	Type	Default	Description
exe_path	path	calc.exe	Path the malicious executable
ps_profile	string	$profile	Powershell profile to use

Attack command

Add-Content #{ps_profile} -Value ""
Add-Content #{ps_profile} -Value "Start-Process #{exe_path}"
powershell -Command exit

Cleanup command

$oldprofile = cat $profile | Select-Object -skiplast 1
Set-Content $profile -Value $oldprofile

Prerequisite

Ensure a powershell profile exists for the current user

Check

if (Test-Path #{ps_profile}) {exit 0} else {exit 1}

Satisfy

New-Item -Path #{ps_profile} -Type File -Force

GUID2a64dd62-72cd-4f5d-87f7-2b4e5d6ab7eb

Tests from Atomic Red Team (MIT licence) · technique definition

PowerShell Profile detections T1546.013

3 rules are mapped to this technique. Parent techniques also include their sub-techniques’ rules. Click a slice or key entry to filter the table.

54th pctamong all ATT&CK techniques for number of rules

Product

Severity

Library

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