Adversaries may add or modify XDG Autostart Entries to execute malicious programs or commands when a user’s desktop environment is loaded at login. XDG Autostart entries are available for any XDG-compliant Linux system. XDG Autostart entries use Desktop Entry files (`.desktop`) to configure the user’s desktop environment upon user login. These configuration files determine what applications launch upon user login, define associated applications to open specific file types, and define applications used to open removable media.(Citation: Free Desktop Application Autostart Feb 2006)(Citation: Free Desktop Entry Keys)

Adversaries may abuse this feature to establish persistence by adding a path to a malicious binary or command to the `Exec` directive in the `.desktop` configuration file. When the user’s desktop environment is loaded at user login, the `.desktop` files located in the XDG Autostart directories are automatically executed. System-wide Autostart entries are located in the `/etc/xdg/autostart` directory while the user entries are located in the `~/.config/autostart` directory.

Adversaries may combine this technique with [Masquerading](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1036) to blend malicious Autostart entries with legitimate programs.(Citation: Red Canary Netwire Linux 2022)
XDG Autostart Entries
source_name: mitre-attack  url: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1547/013  external_id: T1547.013     source_name: Free Desktop Application Autostart Feb 2006  description: Free Desktop. (2006, February 13). Desktop Application Autostart Specification. Retrieved September 12, 2019.  url: https://specifications.freedesktop.org/autostart-spec/autostart-spec-latest.html     source_name: Free Desktop Entry Keys  description: Free Desktop. (2017, December 24). Recognized Desktop Entry Keys. Retrieved September 12, 2019.  url: https://specifications.freedesktop.org/desktop-entry-spec/1.2/ar01s06.html     source_name: Red Canary Netwire Linux 2022  description: TONY LAMBERT. (2022, June 7). Trapping the Netwire RAT on Linux. Retrieved September 28, 2023.  url: https://redcanary.com/blog/netwire-remote-access-trojan-on-linux/     