Compromise Software Dependencies and Development Tools

This sub-technique involves attackers targeting software dependencies, development tools, and third-party libraries to gain unauthorized access to systems. During the "Gain Access" phase, adversaries compromise components in the software development or build process rather than directly attacking the primary target organization. By infiltrating package repositories, tampering with open source libraries, compromising build servers, or injecting malicious code into development tools, attackers create a trusted delivery mechanism for their malicious payloads. The compromised dependencies are then distributed to numerous downstream organizations through legitimate update channels, allowing attackers to gain initial access across multiple environments simultaneously. This approach is particularly effective because organizations typically have lower security scrutiny for trusted development components, and the malicious code inherits the trust level of the compromised dependency, circumventing traditional security controls that might otherwise detect direct attack attempts.