T1610

Official Description

Adversaries may deploy a container into an environment to facilitate execution or evade defenses. In some cases, adversaries may deploy a new container to execute processes associated with a particular image or deployment, such as processes that execute or download malware. In others, an adversary may deploy a new container configured without network rules, user limitations, etc. to bypass existing defenses within the environment. In Kubernetes environments, an adversary may attempt to deploy a privileged or vulnerable container into a specific node in order to [Escape to Host](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1611) and access other containers running on the node. (Citation: AppSecco Kubernetes Namespace Breakout 2020)

Containers can be deployed by various means, such as via Docker's <code>create</code> and <code>start</code> APIs or via a web application such as the Kubernetes dashboard or Kubeflow. (Citation: Docker Container)(Citation: Kubernetes Dashboard)(Citation: Kubeflow Pipelines) In Kubernetes environments, containers may be deployed through workloads such as ReplicaSets or DaemonSets, which can allow containers to be deployed across multiple nodes.(Citation: Kubernetes Workload Management) Adversaries may deploy containers based on retrieved or built malicious images or from benign images that download and execute malicious payloads at runtime.(Citation: Aqua Build Images on Hosts)

Tactics: Execution
Platforms: Containers
MITRE Version: 2.0
Last Modified: May 12, 2026

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Reported Context (2)

The actor deployed malicious Kubernetes pods to maintain persistence and steal cloud secrets. BREEZE COMET Uses Custom Malware to Target Brazil’s Financial Systems
The malware deployed privileged node-setup-{hostname} pods to every cluster node, including control plane nodes. TeamPCP’s LiteLLM Supply-Chain Attack Targets Credentials and Kubernetes Clusters

Malware (6)

Threat Actors (5)

MITRE ATT&CK (40)

Vendors (5)

Products (15)

Tools (12)

Industries (5)

Countries (7)

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.