Direct Volume Access
Where this stands
A Sigma rule exists for this technique in the corpus.
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When a detection for this fires
Destructive impactSomething moved to destroy, encrypt or disable. The only family where speed genuinely beats certainty.What the technique is
Adversaries may directly access a volume to bypass file access controls and file system monitoring. Windows allows programs to have direct access to logical volumes. Programs with direct access may read and write files directly from the drive by analyzing file system data structures. This technique may bypass Windows file access controls as well as file system monitoring tools. Utilities, such as NinjaCopy, exist to perform these actions in PowerShell. Adversaries may also use built-in or third-party utilities (such as vssadmin, wbadmin, and esentutl) to create shadow copies or backups of data from system volumes.
Read it on attack.mitre.orgWhat MITRE says you would watch
- AN1193
Processes accessing raw logical drives (e.g., \.\C:) to bypass file system protections or directly manipulate data structures.
- AN1194
CLI or automated utilities accessing raw device volumes or flash storage directly (e.g., via copy flash:, format, or partition commands).
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