# T1404 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation > As of 2026-10-05, T1404 (Exploitation for Privilege Escalation) appears in 17 tracked threats, first reported 2026-04-10 and most recently 2026-09-27, with linked actors including Intellexa Consortium, NSO Group; it most often appears alongside T1426 (System Information Discovery). - **Tracked threats:** 17 (5 critical, 10 high, 1 medium) - **First seen:** 2026-04-10 - **Last seen:** 2026-09-27 - **Threat actors:** 2 - **Detection rules:** 39 (counts only; Blue tier and above) ## Key facts - **ID:** T1404 - **Framework:** MITRE ATT&CK - **Tactics:** Privilege Escalation (Mobile) - **Matrix:** Mobile - **Data as of:** 2026-10-05 - **MITRE:** https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1404/ ## Activity timeline T1404 first appeared in tracked threats on 2026-04-10 and was most recently reported on 2026-09-27. The busiest month was 2026-09 with 6 reports, and 17 of the 17 threats were reported in the twelve months to 2026-09. ## How adversaries use it T1404 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation is catalogued by MITRE ATT&CK under the Privilege Escalation (Mobile) tactic in the Mobile matrix. Threadlinqs maps 17 of 2623 tracked threats (0.6%) to it; by severity that is 5 critical, 10 high, 1 medium. Threats that use T1404 most often also use [T1426 System Information Discovery](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/technique/T1426) (11 threats), [T1430 Location Tracking](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/technique/T1430) (11 threats), [T1409 Stored Application Data](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/technique/T1409) (9 threats), [T1429 Audio Capture](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/technique/T1429) (9 threats), [T1512 Video Capture](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/technique/T1512) (8 threats). These are the techniques an intrusion set tends to chain with it, so they are the natural next places to look when it is observed. 2 tracked threat actors appear in the threats that use T1404; the most frequent are [Intellexa Consortium](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/actor/Intellexa%20Consortium) (2), [NSO Group](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/actor/NSO%20Group) (2). ## Mitigations MITRE ATT&CK lists 3 mitigations for T1404. - [M1001 Security Updates](https://attack.mitre.org/mitigations/M1001/) - [M1002 Attestation](https://attack.mitre.org/mitigations/M1002/) - [M1010 Deploy Compromised Device Detection Method](https://attack.mitre.org/mitigations/M1010/) ## Threat actors using it - [Intellexa Consortium](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/actor/Intellexa%20Consortium) — 2 - [NSO Group](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/actor/NSO%20Group) — 2 ## Tracked threats 17 tracked threats use T1404. - [Zero-Permission Android Apps Can Chain AtlasService and olc2 to Gain Root on OnePlus/OPPO Devices via…](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-2683) — high — 2026-09-27 - [FomoPeek iOS App Store Poisoning: Kernel Exploit Framework Steals Crypto Private Keys via Keychain Decryption](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-2591) — critical — 2026-09-20 - [CVE-2025-39682 — Linux Kernel net/tls rx_list Zero-Length Record Use-After-Free Added to CISA KEV Catalog](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-2570) — critical — 2026-09-18 - [Zero-click Pixel 10 exploit chain: VPU driver mmap flaw (CVE-2026-0106) enables arbitrary kernel read/write…](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-2418) — critical — 2026-09-09 - [Pegasus Spyware Used to Hack Phone of Former MEP Stelios Kouloglou, PEGA Committee Member](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-2324) — high — 2026-09-04 - [Serbian Authorities Deploy Pegasus and NoviSpy Spyware Against Journalists, Opposition Politicians, and…](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-2316) — high — 2026-09-03 - [Banking Trojans: Manic, Grandoreiro, and ToxicPanda 2.0 in the Spotlight](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-2118) — high — 2026-08-22 - [Apple Patches ImageIO Integer Overflow (CVE-2026-65346) Exploitable via Malicious Images](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-2060) — high — 2026-08-18 - [Apple Expands On-Device Lock Screen Alerts for Mercenary Spyware Targets](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-2016) — high — 2026-08-14 - [NSO Group Co-Founder Shalev Hulio Held Israeli Diplomatic Passport in Panama, Raising State-Ties Questions…](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-1748) — 2026-07-28 - [UK Supreme Court Rejects Bahrain's State Immunity Claim in FinSpy/FinFisher Spyware Surveillance Case…](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-1726) — medium — 2026-07-27 - [Pegasus Spyware Used Against Former MEP Stelios Kouloglou While Serving on PEGA Committee](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-1110) — critical — 2026-07-05 - [European Parliament Member Investigating Pegasus Spyware Hacked With Pegasus (PWNYOURHOME Zero-Click Exploit…](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-1099) — critical — 2026-07-03 - [Pegasus Spyware (PWNYOURHOME Zero-Click Chain) Used Against European Parliament PEGA Committee Member…](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-1098) — high — 2026-07-03 - [CVE-2026-20971: Eight-Year-Old Samsung Knox PROCA/FIVE Kernel Use-After-Free in /proc/pid/integrity Handlers](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-0925) — high — 2026-06-24 - [Pegasus Mercenary Spyware Used for State Surveillance of Azerbaijani Journalists, Activists, and Human…](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-0751) — high — 2026-06-10 - [Predator Spyware: Undocumented iOS Kernel Exploitation Engine (FDGuardNeonRW, PAC Bypass, RWTransfer)](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-2046) — high — 2026-04-10 ## Related CVEs CVEs referenced by the tracked threats that use T1404, most frequent first. - [CVE-2021-30860](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2021-30860) - [CVE-2016-4655](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2016-4655) - [CVE-2016-4656](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2016-4656) - [CVE-2016-4657](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2016-4657) - [CVE-2023-41061](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2023-41061) - [CVE-2023-41064](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2023-41064) - [CVE-2024-43047](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2024-43047) - [CVE-2024-50302](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2024-50302) - [CVE-2024-53104](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2024-53104) - [CVE-2024-53197](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2024-53197) - [CVE-2025-31200](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2025-31200) - [CVE-2025-31201](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2025-31201) - [CVE-2025-43200](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2025-43200) - [CVE-2025-54957](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2025-54957) - [CVE-2026-20971](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2026-20971) ## Detection coverage Threadlinqs maintains 39 detection rules mapped to T1404 (SPL 17, KQL 12, Sigma 10). Rule content is available to Blue tier accounts and above; this page shows counts only. 39 detection rules (SPL/KQL/Sigma), Blue and above: https://threadlinqs.com/pricing ## Links - Canonical page: https://intel.threadlinqs.com/technique/T1404 - All techniques: https://intel.threadlinqs.com/techniques - Full detection coverage and IOCs: https://intel.threadlinqs.com/mcp (Purple tier)