T1107.md

T1107 - File Deletion

Description from ATT&CK

Malware, tools, or other non-native files dropped or created on a system by an adversary may leave traces behind as to what was done within a network and how. Adversaries may remove these files over the course of an intrusion to keep their footprint low or remove them at the end as part of the post-intrusion cleanup process.

There are tools available from the host operating system to perform cleanup, but adversaries may use other tools as well. Examples include native cmd functions such as DEL, secure deletion tools such as Windows Sysinternals SDelete, or other third-party file deletion tools. (Citation: Trend Micro APT Attack Tools)

Atomic Tests

• Atomic Test #1 - Delete a single file - Linux/macOS

• Atomic Test #2 - Delete an entire folder - Linux/macOS

• Atomic Test #3 - Overwrite and delete a file with shred

• Atomic Test #4 - Delete a single file - Windows cmd

• Atomic Test #5 - Delete an entire folder - Windows cmd

• Atomic Test #6 - Delete a single file - Windows PowerShell

• Atomic Test #7 - Delete an entire folder - Windows PowerShell

• Atomic Test #8 - Delete VSS - vssadmin

• Atomic Test #9 - Delete VSS - wmic

• Atomic Test #10 - bcdedit

• Atomic Test #11 - wbadmin

• Atomic Test #12 - Delete Filesystem - Linux

• Atomic Test #13 - Delete-PrefetchFile

Atomic Test #1 - Delete a single file - Linux/macOS

Delete a single file from the temporary directory

Supported Platforms: Linux, macOS

Inputs

Name	Description	Type	Default Value
file_to_delete	Path of file to delete	Path	/tmp/victim-files/a

Run it with sh!

rm -f #{file_to_delete}

Atomic Test #2 - Delete an entire folder - Linux/macOS

Recursively delete the temporary directory and all files contained within it

Supported Platforms: Linux, macOS

Inputs

Name	Description	Type	Default Value
folder_to_delete	Path of folder to delete	Path	/tmp/victim-files

Run it with sh!

rm -rf #{folder_to_delete}

Atomic Test #3 - Overwrite and delete a file with shred

Use the shred command to overwrite the temporary file and then delete it

Supported Platforms: Linux

Inputs

Name	Description	Type	Default Value
file_to_shred	Path of file to shred	Path	/tmp/victim-shred.txt

Run it with sh!

shred -u #{file_to_shred}

Atomic Test #4 - Delete a single file - Windows cmd

Delete a single file from the temporary directory using cmd.exe

Supported Platforms: Windows

Inputs

Name	Description	Type	Default Value
file_to_delete	Path of file to delete	Path	C:\Windows\Temp\victim-files-cmd\a

Run it with command_prompt!

del /f #{file_to_delete}

Atomic Test #5 - Delete an entire folder - Windows cmd

Recursively delete the temporary directory and all files contained within it using cmd.exe

Supported Platforms: Windows

Inputs

Name	Description	Type	Default Value
folder_to_delete	Path of folder to delete	Path	C:\Windows\Temp\victim-files-cmd

Run it with command_prompt!

del /f /S #{folder_to_delete}

Atomic Test #6 - Delete a single file - Windows PowerShell

Delete a single file from the temporary directory using Powershell

Supported Platforms: Windows

Inputs

Name	Description	Type	Default Value
file_to_delete	Path of file to delete	Path	C:\Windows\Temp\victim-files-ps\a

Run it with powershell!

Remove-Item -path "#{file_to_delete}"

Atomic Test #7 - Delete an entire folder - Windows PowerShell

Recursively delete the temporary directory and all files contained within it using Powershell

Supported Platforms: Windows

Inputs

Name	Description	Type	Default Value
folder_to_delete	Path of folder to delete	Path	C:\Windows\Temp\victim-files-ps

Run it with powershell!

Remove-Item -path "#{folder_to_delete}" -recurse

Atomic Test #8 - Delete VSS - vssadmin

Delete all volume shadow copies with vssadmin.exe

Supported Platforms: Windows

Run it with command_prompt! Elevation Required (e.g. root or admin)

vssadmin.exe Delete Shadows /All /Quiet

Atomic Test #9 - Delete VSS - wmic

Delete all volume shadow copies with wmic

Supported Platforms: Windows

Run it with command_prompt! Elevation Required (e.g. root or admin)

wmic shadowcopy delete

Atomic Test #10 - bcdedit

This test leverages bcdedit to remove boot-time recovery measures.

Supported Platforms: Windows

Run it with command_prompt!

bcdedit /set {default} bootstatuspolicy ignoreallfailures
bcdedit /set {default} recoveryenabled no

Atomic Test #11 - wbadmin

This test deletes Windows Backup catalogs.

Supported Platforms: Windows

Run it with command_prompt! Elevation Required (e.g. root or admin)

wbadmin delete catalog -quiet

Atomic Test #12 - Delete Filesystem - Linux

This test deletes the entire root filesystem of a Linux system. This technique was used by Amnesia IoT malware to avoid analysis. This test is dangerous and destructive, do NOT use on production equipment.

Supported Platforms: Linux, CentOS, Ubuntu

Run it with bash!

rm -rf / --no-preserve-root > /dev/null 2> /dev/null

Atomic Test #13 - Delete-PrefetchFile

Delete a single prefetch file. Deletion of prefetch files is a known anti-forensic technique.

Supported Platforms: Windows

Run it with powershell! Elevation Required (e.g. root or admin)

Remove-Item -Path (Join-Path "$Env:SystemRoot\prefetch\" (Get-ChildItem -Path "$Env:SystemRoot\prefetch\*.pf" -Name)[0])