MITRE ATT&CK Technique
Defense Evasion T1134.003
Description

Adversaries may make new tokens and impersonate users to escalate privileges and bypass access controls. For example, if an adversary has a username and password but the user is not logged onto the system the adversary can then create a logon session for the user using the `LogonUser` function.(Citation: LogonUserW function) The function will return a copy of the new session's access token and the adversary can use `SetThreadToken` to assign the token to a thread. This behavior is distinct from [Token Impersonation/Theft](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1134/001) in that this refers to creating a new user token instead of stealing or duplicating an existing one.

Supported Platforms
Windows
Created

April 29, 2026

Last Updated

April 29, 2026

STIX Data
{'created': '2020-02-18T18:03:37.481Z',
 'created_by_ref': 'identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5',
 'description': 'Adversaries may make new tokens and impersonate users to '
                'escalate privileges and bypass access controls. For example, '
                'if an adversary has a username and password but the user is '
                'not logged onto the system the adversary can then create a '
                'logon session for the user using the `LogonUser` '
                'function.(Citation: LogonUserW function) The function will '
                "return a copy of the new session's access token and the "
                'adversary can use `SetThreadToken` to assign the token to a '
                'thread.\n'
                '\n'
                'This behavior is distinct from [Token '
                'Impersonation/Theft](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1134/001) '
                'in that this refers to creating a new user token instead of '
                'stealing or duplicating an existing one.',
 'external_references': [{'external_id': 'T1134.003',
                          'source_name': 'mitre-attack',
                          'url': 'https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1134/003'},
                         {'description': 'Mathers, B. (2017, March 7). Command '
                                         'line process auditing. Retrieved '
                                         'April 21, 2017.',
                          'source_name': 'Microsoft Command-line Logging',
                          'url': 'https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server-docs/identity/ad-ds/manage/component-updates/command-line-process-auditing'},
                         {'description': 'Microsoft. (2023, March 10). '
                                         'LogonUserW function (winbase.h). '
                                         'Retrieved January 8, 2024.',
                          'source_name': 'LogonUserW function',
                          'url': 'https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/winbase/nf-winbase-logonuserw'}],
 'id': 'attack-pattern--8cdeb020-e31e-4f88-a582-f53dcfbda819',
 'kill_chain_phases': [{'kill_chain_name': 'mitre-attack',
                        'phase_name': 'defense-evasion'},
                       {'kill_chain_name': 'mitre-attack',
                        'phase_name': 'privilege-escalation'}],
 'modified': '2025-10-24T17:49:05.200Z',
 'name': 'Make and Impersonate Token',
 '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_contributors': ['Jonny Johnson'],
 'x_mitre_deprecated': False,
 'x_mitre_detection': '',
 'x_mitre_domains': ['enterprise-attack'],
 'x_mitre_is_subtechnique': True,
 'x_mitre_modified_by_ref': 'identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5',
 'x_mitre_platforms': ['Windows'],
 'x_mitre_version': '1.2'}
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