# T1542.003 Bootkit > As of 2026-10-28, T1542.003 (Bootkit) appears in 10 tracked threats, first reported 2026-03-02 and most recently 2026-10-27, with linked actors including APT28, Earth Lusca, Mustang Panda; it most often appears alongside T1685 (Disable or Modify Tools). - **Tracked threats:** 10 (4 critical, 4 high, 2 medium) - **First seen:** 2026-03-02 - **Last seen:** 2026-10-27 - **Threat actors:** 21 - **Detection rules:** 30 (counts only; Blue tier and above) ## Key facts - **ID:** T1542.003 - **Framework:** MITRE ATT&CK - **Tactics:** Persistence, Stealth (formerly Defense Evasion) - **Matrix:** Enterprise - **Parent:** T1542 - **Data as of:** 2026-10-28 - **MITRE:** https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1542/003/ ## Activity timeline T1542.003 first appeared in tracked threats on 2026-03-02 and was most recently reported on 2026-10-27. The busiest month was 2026-06 with 3 reports, and 10 of the 10 threats were reported in the twelve months to 2026-10. ## How adversaries use it T1542.003 Bootkit is catalogued by MITRE ATT&CK under the Persistence and Stealth (formerly Defense Evasion) tactics in the Enterprise matrix, as a sub-technique of [T1542 Pre-OS Boot](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/technique/T1542). Threadlinqs maps 10 of 3287 tracked threats (0.3%) to it; by severity that is 4 critical, 4 high, 2 medium. Threats that use T1542.003 most often also use [T1685 Disable or Modify Tools](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/technique/T1685) (7 threats), [T1014 Rootkit](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/technique/T1014) (6 threats), [T1082 System Information Discovery](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/technique/T1082) (6 threats), [T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/technique/T1190) (4 threats), [T1495 Firmware Corruption](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/technique/T1495) (4 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. 21 tracked threat actors appear in the threats that use T1542.003; the most frequent are [APT28](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/actor/APT28) (2), [Earth Lusca](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/actor/Earth%20Lusca) (2), [Mustang Panda](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/actor/Mustang%20Panda) (2), [APT10](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/actor/APT10) (1), [APT32](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/actor/APT32) (1). ## Mitigations MITRE ATT&CK lists 2 mitigations for T1542.003. - [M1026 Privileged Account Management](https://attack.mitre.org/mitigations/M1026/) - [M1046 Boot Integrity](https://attack.mitre.org/mitigations/M1046/) ## Data sources Telemetry that can reveal T1542.003, per MITRE ATT&CK. - Drive — Drive Modification - File — File Creation, File Modification ## Threat actors using it - [APT28](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/actor/APT28) — 2 - [Earth Lusca](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/actor/Earth%20Lusca) — 2 - [Mustang Panda](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/actor/Mustang%20Panda) — 2 - [APT10](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/actor/APT10) — 1 - [APT32](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/actor/APT32) — 1 - [APT36](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/actor/APT36) — 1 - [APT37](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/actor/APT37) — 1 - [APT38](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/actor/APT38) — 1 - [APT41](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/actor/APT41) — 1 - [APT43](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/actor/APT43) — 1 - [Gamaredon](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/actor/Gamaredon) — 1 - [GreyVibe](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/actor/GreyVibe) — 1 ## Tracked threats 10 tracked threats use T1542.003. - [CVE-2026-97631: Code-Execution Flaw in TianoCore EDK II UEFI Firmware (PXE ICMP Error Handlers) Affects Most…](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-4579) — critical — 2026-10-27 - [APT41 BlackX UEFI bootkit (BlackLotus-derived) targets Central Asian diplomatic organizations via…](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-4118) — critical — 2026-10-22 - [Tibbar (Bad Rabbit) ransomware alerts triggered by inbound SMTP (TCP/25) SYN connection attempts from…](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-4008) — medium — 2026-10-21 - [11-Year-Old Linux UEFI Shim Bootloader Flaws Enable Secure Boot Bypass (CVE-2026-8863, CVE-2026-10797)](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-1340) — high — 2026-07-14 - [Forgotten UEFI Shims Undermine Secure Boot (CVE-2026-8863, CVE-2026-10797)](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-1298) — high — 2026-07-14 - [ASEC June 2026 APT Trend Report: Nation-State Actors Pivot to Cloud/OAuth Abuse, MaaS, and Supply-Chain…](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-1287) — medium — 2026-07-14 - [FishMonger (I-SOON / Winnti) Ports SprySOCKS Backdoor to Windows — WIN_DRV (RawWNPF Kernel Rootkit) &…](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-0884) — high — 2026-06-20 - [usbliter8 — Unpatchable BootROM USB DMA Exploit on Apple A12/A12X/A12Z/A13 and S4/S5 Chips Bypassing Secure…](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-0860) — critical — 2026-06-18 - [AhnLab ASEC April 2026 APT Group Trend Report: State-Sponsored Espionage Campaigns (CVE-2026-32202…](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-0745) — high — 2026-06-10 - [RESURGE Passive Rootkit — Ivanti Connect Secure CVE-2025-0282 Exploitation, CRC32 TLS Fingerprint C2, Covert…](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-0163) — critical — 2026-03-02 ## Related CVEs CVEs referenced by the tracked threats that use T1542.003, most frequent first. - [CVE-2015-5281](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2015-5281) - [CVE-2023-24932](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2023-24932) - [CVE-2026-8863](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2026-8863) - [CVE-2019-8900](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2019-8900) - [CVE-2021-26855](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2021-26855) - [CVE-2025-0282](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2025-0282) - [CVE-2025-20333](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2025-20333) - [CVE-2025-20362](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2025-20362) - [CVE-2026-21509](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2026-21509) - [CVE-2026-32202](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2026-32202) ## Detection coverage Threadlinqs maintains 30 detection rules mapped to T1542.003 (SPL 10, KQL 8, Sigma 12). Rule content is available to Blue tier accounts and above; this page shows counts only. 30 detection rules (SPL/KQL/Sigma), Blue and above: https://threadlinqs.com/pricing ## Parent technique [T1542 Pre-OS Boot](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/technique/T1542) — 25 tracked threats at the technique level. ## Links - Canonical page: https://intel.threadlinqs.com/technique/T1542.003 - All techniques: https://intel.threadlinqs.com/techniques - Full detection coverage and IOCs: https://intel.threadlinqs.com/mcp (Purple tier)