MITRE ATT&CK Technique
T1053Scheduled Task/Job
- First Reported
- Jul 23, 2026
- Latest Reported
- Jul 23, 2026
Official Description
Adversaries may abuse task scheduling functionality to facilitate initial or recurring execution of malicious code. Utilities exist within all major operating systems to schedule programs or scripts to be executed at a specified date and time. A task can also be scheduled on a remote system, provided the proper authentication is met (ex: RPC and file and printer sharing in Windows environments). Scheduling a task on a remote system typically may require being a member of an admin or otherwise privileged group on the remote system.(Citation: TechNet Task Scheduler Security)
Adversaries may use task scheduling to execute programs at system startup or on a scheduled basis for persistence. These mechanisms can also be abused to run a process under the context of a specified account (such as one with elevated permissions/privileges). Similar to [System Binary Proxy Execution](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1218), adversaries have also abused task scheduling to potentially mask one-time execution under a trusted system process.(Citation: ProofPoint Serpent)
Adversaries may use task scheduling to execute programs at system startup or on a scheduled basis for persistence. These mechanisms can also be abused to run a process under the context of a specified account (such as one with elevated permissions/privileges). Similar to [System Binary Proxy Execution](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1218), adversaries have also abused task scheduling to potentially mask one-time execution under a trusted system process.(Citation: ProofPoint Serpent)
- Tactics
- Execution, Persistence, Privilege Escalation
- Platforms
- Containers, ESXi, Linux, macOS, Network Devices, Windows
- MITRE Version
- 2.5
- Last Modified
- May 12, 2026
Sub-techniques (5)
Reported Context (1)
- Analyzed Hades builds include scheduled-task persistence on Windows and cron persistence on Linux. Unattended Hermes AI Agent Used in Targeting of Thailand Finance Ministry, Researchers Find
CVE (7)
Malware (2)
People (1)
MITRE ATT&CK (15)
Products (9)
Tools (8)
Industries (1)
Countries (3)
Note: Related entities, including threat actors, malware, CVEs, MITRE ATT&CK techniques, vendors, products, tools, countries, and industries, are shown when they appear in the same reporting. Their presence does not necessarily mean they were targeted, compromised, vulnerable, responsible for the activity, or directly involved in the incident.