MITRE ATT&CK Technique
Description
Adversaries may tunnel network communications to and from a victim system within a separate protocol to avoid detection/network filtering and/or enable access to otherwise unreachable systems. Tunneling involves explicitly encapsulating a protocol within another. This behavior may conceal malicious traffic by blending in with existing traffic and/or provide an outer layer of encryption (similar to a VPN). Tunneling could also enable routing of network packets that would otherwise not reach their intended destination, such as SMB, RDP, or other traffic that would be filtered by network appliances or not routed over the Internet. There are various means to encapsulate a protocol within another protocol. For example, adversaries may perform SSH tunneling (also known as SSH port forwarding), which involves forwarding arbitrary data over an encrypted SSH tunnel.(Citation: SSH Tunneling)(Citation: Sygnia Abyss Locker 2025) [Protocol Tunneling](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1572) may also be abused by adversaries during [Dynamic Resolution](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1568). Known as DNS over HTTPS (DoH), queries to resolve C2 infrastructure may be encapsulated within encrypted HTTPS packets.(Citation: BleepingComp Godlua JUL19) Adversaries may also leverage [Protocol Tunneling](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1572) in conjunction with [Proxy](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1090) and/or [Protocol or Service Impersonation](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1001/003) to further conceal C2 communications and infrastructure.
Supported Platforms
Created
April 29, 2026
Last Updated
April 29, 2026
STIX Data
{'created': '2020-03-15T16:03:39.082Z',
'created_by_ref': 'identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5',
'description': 'Adversaries may tunnel network communications to and from a '
'victim system within a separate protocol to avoid '
'detection/network filtering and/or enable access to otherwise '
'unreachable systems. Tunneling involves explicitly '
'encapsulating a protocol within another. This behavior may '
'conceal malicious traffic by blending in with existing '
'traffic and/or provide an outer layer of encryption (similar '
'to a VPN). Tunneling could also enable routing of network '
'packets that would otherwise not reach their intended '
'destination, such as SMB, RDP, or other traffic that would be '
'filtered by network appliances or not routed over the '
'Internet. \n'
'\n'
'There are various means to encapsulate a protocol within '
'another protocol. For example, adversaries may perform SSH '
'tunneling (also known as SSH port forwarding), which involves '
'forwarding arbitrary data over an encrypted SSH '
'tunnel.(Citation: SSH Tunneling)(Citation: Sygnia Abyss '
'Locker 2025) \n'
'\n'
'[Protocol '
'Tunneling](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1572) may '
'also be abused by adversaries during [Dynamic '
'Resolution](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1568). Known '
'as DNS over HTTPS (DoH), queries to resolve C2 infrastructure '
'may be encapsulated within encrypted HTTPS packets.(Citation: '
'BleepingComp Godlua JUL19) \n'
'\n'
'Adversaries may also leverage [Protocol '
'Tunneling](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1572) in '
'conjunction with '
'[Proxy](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1090) and/or '
'[Protocol or Service '
'Impersonation](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1001/003) '
'to further conceal C2 communications and infrastructure. ',
'external_references': [{'external_id': 'T1572',
'source_name': 'mitre-attack',
'url': 'https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1572'},
{'description': 'Abigail See, Zhongyuan (Aaron) Hau, '
'Ren Jie Yow, Yoav Mazor, Omer '
'Kidron, and Oren Biderman. (2025, '
'February 4). The Anatomy of Abyss '
'Locker Ransomware Attack. Retrieved '
'April 4, 2025.',
'source_name': 'Sygnia Abyss Locker 2025',
'url': 'https://www.sygnia.co/blog/abyss-locker-ransomware-attack-analysis/'},
{'description': 'Gardiner, J., Cova, M., Nagaraja, '
'S. (2014, February). Command & '
'Control Understanding, Denying and '
'Detecting. Retrieved April 20, 2016.',
'source_name': 'University of Birmingham C2',
'url': 'https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1408/1408.1136.pdf'},
{'description': 'Gatlan, S. (2019, July 3). New '
'Godlua Malware Evades Traffic '
'Monitoring via DNS over HTTPS. '
'Retrieved March 15, 2020.',
'source_name': 'BleepingComp Godlua JUL19',
'url': 'https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/new-godlua-malware-evades-traffic-monitoring-via-dns-over-https/'},
{'description': 'SSH.COM. (n.d.). SSH tunnel. '
'Retrieved March 15, 2020.',
'source_name': 'SSH Tunneling',
'url': 'https://www.ssh.com/ssh/tunneling'}],
'id': 'attack-pattern--4fe28b27-b13c-453e-a386-c2ef362a573b',
'kill_chain_phases': [{'kill_chain_name': 'mitre-attack',
'phase_name': 'command-and-control'}],
'modified': '2025-10-24T17:48:45.888Z',
'name': 'Protocol Tunneling',
'object_marking_refs': ['marking-definition--fa42a846-8d90-4e51-bc29-71d5b4802168'],
'revoked': False,
'spec_version': '2.1',
'type': 'attack-pattern',
'x_mitre_attack_spec_version': '3.2.0',
'x_mitre_deprecated': False,
'x_mitre_detection': '',
'x_mitre_domains': ['enterprise-attack'],
'x_mitre_is_subtechnique': False,
'x_mitre_modified_by_ref': 'identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5',
'x_mitre_platforms': ['ESXi', 'Linux', 'macOS', 'Windows'],
'x_mitre_version': '1.1'}