attack-ent-t1055-014-vdso-hijacking - SKILL.md Agent Skill

name: attack-ent-t1055-014-vdso-hijacking description: "Analyze MITRE ATT&CK T1055.014 VDSO Hijacking in the enterprise matrix. Use for TTP triage, detection engineering, hunting, defensive emulation planning, mitigations, incident response mapping, ATT&CK coverage, or questions mentioning T1055.014, VDSO Hijacking, or enterprise ATT&CK. Adversaries may inject malicious code into processes via VDSO hijacking in order to evade process-based defenses as well as possibly elevate privileges." license: MITRE ATT&CK Terms of Use apply to ATT&CK-derived content. See https://attack.mitre.org/resources/terms-of-use/ metadata: source: mitre-attack/attack-stix-data domain: enterprise attack_id: T1055.014 attack_stix_id: attack-pattern--98be40f2-c86b-4ade-b6fc-4964932040e5 attack_version: "2.0" attack_modified: "2026-04-15T22:30:51.756Z"

MITRE ATT&CK T1055.014: VDSO Hijacking

When to use this skill

Use this skill when the task involves T1055.014, VDSO Hijacking, enterprise ATT&CK, TTP mapping, detection engineering, hunting, incident-response enrichment, control validation, or authorized adversary-emulation planning. Treat it as a defensive analysis aid: keep outputs focused on understanding, detecting, mitigating, and safely validating this ATT&CK sub-technique.

Technique context

ATT&CK domain: enterprise
ATT&CK ID: T1055.014
Technique name: VDSO Hijacking
Type: sub-technique
ATT&CK URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1055/014
Tactics: privilege-escalation, stealth
Platforms: Linux
Required permissions: Not specified
Effective permissions: Not specified
Defenses bypassed: Not specified

ATT&CK description

Adversaries may inject malicious code into processes via VDSO hijacking in order to evade process-based defenses as well as possibly elevate privileges. Virtual dynamic shared object (vdso) hijacking is a method of executing arbitrary code in the address space of a separate live process.

VDSO hijacking involves redirecting calls to dynamically linked shared libraries. Memory protections may prevent writing executable code to a process via Ptrace System Calls. However, an adversary may hijack the syscall interface code stubs mapped into a process from the vdso shared object to execute syscalls to open and map a malicious shared object. This code can then be invoked by redirecting the execution flow of the process via patched memory address references stored in a process' global offset table (which store absolute addresses of mapped library functions).(Citation: ELF Injection May 2009)(Citation: Backtrace VDSO)(Citation: VDSO Aug 2005)(Citation: Syscall 2014)

Running code in the context of another process may allow access to the process's memory, system/network resources, and possibly elevated privileges. Execution via VDSO hijacking may also evade detection from security products since the execution is masked under a legitimate process.

Agent workflow

Clarify scope: identify the system, asset class, log sources, cloud or endpoint platform, and whether the user wants triage, detection, coverage assessment, or safe emulation planning.
Load bundled resources as needed: use references/technique-profile.json for structured metadata, references/detection-and-mitigation.md for triage and telemetry guidance, references/known-threat-context.md for ATT&CK relationship context, and templates/ for repeatable outputs.
Map observations to ATT&CK: compare the user's evidence to the ATT&CK description, tactics, platforms, and known procedure patterns before asserting a match.
Produce defensive outputs: prioritize hypotheses, telemetry requirements, detection logic ideas, validation steps, containment guidance, and mitigations.
Preserve uncertainty: distinguish confirmed evidence, plausible indicators, assumptions, and gaps. Recommend what to collect next.
Stay safe: do not provide malware, credential theft, persistence, evasion, destructive automation, or unauthorized exploitation instructions. For adversary emulation, keep steps bounded to approved lab or control-validation contexts and omit operational abuse details.

Bundled resources

references/technique-profile.json: machine-readable ATT&CK metadata for this technique.
references/detection-and-mitigation.md: detection notes, telemetry checklist, triage questions, mitigation candidates, and false-positive considerations.
references/known-threat-context.md: ATT&CK relationship context with attribution cautions.
templates/detection-brief.md: detection engineering brief template.
templates/hunt-plan.md: threat hunt plan template.
templates/incident-response-note.md: incident response note template.
templates/coverage-assessment.md: ATT&CK coverage assessment template.
scripts/render_brief.py: local helper that renders a Markdown defensive brief from technique-profile.json.
assets/output-schema.json: JSON schema for structured technique analysis outputs.

To generate a quick brief, run python scripts/render_brief.py --output brief.md from inside this skill directory, or adapt the templates directly.

Detection guidance

No ATT&CK detection guidance was present in the source STIX object.

Useful telemetry and data sources

Not specified in the STIX object.

Mitigations to consider

Behavior Prevention on Endpoint

Known threat context

Use these examples only as contextual leads, not as proof that an observed event is this technique:

No group or software uses relationships were included for this technique in the source STIX bundle.

Recommended output pattern

When responding with this skill, structure the answer as:

Assessment: whether the evidence supports this ATT&CK mapping and why.
Evidence: specific indicators, logs, behaviors, and assumptions.
Detection: telemetry sources, analytic logic, and tuning considerations.
Response: containment, eradication, recovery, and validation actions.
Coverage gaps: missing logs, sensors, controls, or environmental details.
References: include the ATT&CK URL and any user-provided evidence references.