7-November-2023
Welcome to the weekly threat detection update report from Stamus Networks. Each week, you will receive this email with a summary of the updates.
Current Stamus Threat Intelligence (STI) release version: 889
This week, in addition to daily ruleset and IOC updates, we provided Stamus Security Platform customers with the following improved defense(s):
Note: a "method" as referenced below, is a discrete detection vector for a given threat.
The following detections were added to your Stamus Security Platform (SSP) this past week:
Stealer + Clipper + Keylogger Stealer written on C#, logs will be sent to your Discord channel using a webhook. Github
Stealerium - Microsoft | Stealerium - Malpedia | Stealerium - Uptycs |
A botnet is a number of Internet-connected devices, each of which is running one or more bots. Botnets can be used to perform Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks, steal data, send spam, and allows the attacker to access the device and its connection. The owner can control the botnet using command and control (C&C) software. The word "botnet" is a portmanteau of the words "robot" and "network". The term is usually used with a negative or malicious connotation.
This Worm arrives on a system as a file dropped by other malware or as a file downloaded unknowingly by users when visiting malicious sites. Trend Micro
Fadok - Microsoft |
The following detections were updated this past week with changes to kill chain phase(s) or MITRE ATT&CK tactic(s)/technique(s):
Agent Tesla is a spyware Trojan written for the .NET framework that has been observed since at least 2014. MITRE
A remote access tool (RAT) is a piece of software that allows a remote user to control a system as if they had physical access to that system. An adversary may utilize existing RATs, modify existing RATs, or create their own RAT. MITRE
Backdoors are designed to give malicious users remote control over an infected computer. In terms of functionality, Backdoors are similar to many administration systems designed and distributed by software developers.
These types of malicious programs make it possible to do anything the author wants on the infected computer: send and receive files, launch files or delete them, display messages, delete data, reboot the computer, etc.
The programs in this category are often used in order to unite a group of victim computers and form a botnet or zombie network. This gives malicious users centralized control over an army of infected computers which can then be used for criminal purposes.
There is also a group of Backdoors which are capable of spreading via networks and infecting other computers as Net-Worms do. The difference is that such Backdoors do not spread automatically (as Net-Worms do), but only upon a special “command” from the malicious user that controls them. Kaspersky
There are several malicious fake updates campaigns being run across thousands of compromised websites. This campaign appears to have started around July 19th, 2023. Based on a search on PublicWWW of the injection base64 there are at least 434 infected sites. The name is a reference to the majority of the Javascript being used without obfuscation. One noticeable difference from SocGholish is that there appears to be no tracking of visits by IP or cookies. As an analyst you can you go back to the compromised site over and over coming from the same IP and not clearing your browser cache. This also means the site owner is more likely to see the infection as well. When a user visits a compromised website with ClearFake, the page initially loads as normal before the whole page is taken over by a call to action to update Chrome.
On the index page of the compromised site there is a Javascript injection. The Javascript is base64 encoded. Presumably this is a dynamic injection and will change over time to reflect the new host for the initial payload. On the index page of the compromised site there is a Javascript injection. The Javascript is base64 encoded. Presumably this is a dynamic injection and will change over time to reflect the new host for the initial payload. The second web call returns a Javascript that creates an iframe to house the fake update UI. The iframe src is set to a Keitaro endpoint. The response from the Keitaro endpoint is the foundation for the HTML to be rendered within the iframe.
Cobalt Strike is a commercial, full-featured, penetration testing tool which bills itself as “adversary simulation software designed to execute targeted attacks and emulate the post-exploitation actions of advanced threat actors”. Cobalt Strike’s interactive post-exploit capabilities cover the full range of ATT&CK tactics, all executed within a single, integrated system.
In addition to its own capabilities, Cobalt Strike leverages the capabilities of other well-known tools such as Metasploit and Mimikatz. MITRE
Attackers are utilizing hacked web sites that promote fake browser updates to infect targets with banking trojans. In some cases, post exploitation toolkits are later executed to encrypt the compromised network with ransomware.
Between May and September 2019, FireEye has conducted multiple incident response cases where enterprise customers were infected with malware through fake browser updates.
Hacked sites would display these "fakeupdates" through JavaScript alerts that state the user is using an old version of a web browser and that they should download an offered "update" to keep the browser running "smoothly and securely".
G-Cleaner is promoted as an app that supposedly speeds up and optimizes Windows computers. It is promoted as a legitimate application (and its appearance may suggest this) and has a website from which it can be downloaded. In fact, its installation setup also contains a malicious program. G-Cleaner is installed together with AZORult, a trojan-type malicious program. Pcrisk
The IcedID banking Trojan was discovered by IBM X-Force researchers in 2017. At that time, it targeted banks, payment card providers, mobile services providers, payroll, webmail and e-commerce sites, mainly in the U.S. IcedID has since continued to evolve, and while one of its more recent versions became active in late-2019, X-Force researchers have identified a new major version release that emerged in 2020 with some substantial changes. securityintelligence.com
Cyber criminals violated the law TDS (Traffic Direction System) platform Keitaro and used it to redirect them users in exploit kits RIG and Fallout in order to infect them with malicious software.
TDS platforms are designed for redirection of users in particular sites. Legitimate TDS platforms, such as Keitaro, are mainly used by individuals and companies that want to advertise services or their products. Platforms drive users to the pages that companies want, targeting specific customers and promoting an ad campaign. techbizweb
Lumma is an information stealer written in C, sold as a Malware-as-a-Service by LummaC on Russian-speaking underground forums and Telegram since at least August 2022. Lumma's capabilities are those of a classic stealer, with a focus on cryptocurrency wallets, and file grabber capabilities. Malpedia
DPRK APT actor tracked by Proofpoint as TA444 Malpedia
Proofpoint researchers have identified a years-long social engineering and targeted malware campaign by the Iranian-state aligned threat actor TA456. Using the social media persona “Marcella Flores,” TA456 built a relationship across corporate and personal communication platforms with an employee of a small subsidiary of an aerospace defense contractor. In early June 2021, the threat actor attempted to capitalize on this relationship by sending the target malware via an ongoing email communication chain. Designed to conduct reconnaissance on the target’s machine, the macro-laden document contained personalized content and demonstrated the importance TA456 placed on the target. Once the malware, which is an updated version of Liderc that Proofpoint has dubbed LEMPO, establishes persistence, it can perform reconnaissance on the infected machine, save the reconnaissance details to the host, exfiltrate sensitive information to an actor-controlled email account via SMTPS, and then cover its tracks by deleting that day’s host artifacts. PFPT
An advanced persistent threat (APT) is a stealthy computer network threat actor, typically a nation state or state-sponsored group, which gains unauthorized access to a computer network and remains undetected for an extended period. In recent times, the term may also refer to non-state sponsored groups conducting large-scale targeted intrusions for specific goals.
Such threat actors' motivations are typically political or economic. To date, every major business sector has recorded instances of attacks by advanced actors with specific goals seeking to steal, spy or disrupt. These include government, defense, financial services, legal services, industrial, telecoms, consumer goods, and many more. Some groups utilize traditional espionage vectors, including social engineering, human intelligence and infiltration to gain access to a physical location to enable network attacks. The purpose of these attacks is to place custom malicious code on one or multiple computers for specific tasks.
Source: Wikipedia
An advanced persistent threat (APT) is a stealthy computer network threat actor, typically a nation state or state-sponsored group, which gains unauthorized access to a computer network and remains undetected for an extended period. In recent times, the term may also refer to non-state sponsored groups conducting large-scale targeted intrusions for specific goals.
Such threat actors' motivations are typically political or economic. To date, every major business sector has recorded instances of attacks by advanced actors with specific goals seeking to steal, spy or disrupt. These include government, defense, financial services, legal services, industrial, telecoms, consumer goods, and many more. Some groups utilize traditional espionage vectors, including social engineering, human intelligence and infiltration to gain access to a physical location to enable network attacks. The purpose of these attacks is to place custom malicious code on one or multiple computers for specific tasks.
Source: Wikipedia
Again, the generic nature of this detection means that the Payloads performed by this group of trojans may be highly variable, and therefore difficult to describe specifically. This group of trojans has been observed to perform any, or all, of the following actions:
redirect Web traffic
- manipulate certain Windows or third-party applications including settings or configurations
- drop or install additional malicious programs
- download and run additional malicious programs
Please note that this list is not exhaustive.
Microsoft
Stealer: The term info stealer is self-explanatory. This type of malware resides in an infected computer and gathers data in order to send it to the attacker. Typical targets are credentials used in online banking services, social media sites, emails, or FTP accounts.
Info stealers may use many methods of data acquisition. The most common are:
hooking browsers (and sometimes other applications) and stealing credentials that are typed by the user using web injection scripts that are adding extra fields to web forms and submitting information from them to a server owned by the attacker form grabbing (finding specific opened windows and stealing their content) keylogging stealing passwords saved in the system and cookies Modern info stealers are usually parts of botnets. Sometimes the target of attack and related events are configured remotely by the command sent from the Command and Control server (C&C). Malwarebytes
The following threat detection(s) were improved this past week with new or updated threat methods.
| Name of threat | New coverage | Total coverage | Last updated | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Detection methods | Kill chain phases | Protocols involved | Detection methods | Kill chain phases | Protocols involved | ||
| AgentTesla | 1 | delivery | tcp-pkt | 51 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, ftp, http, smtp, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2023-11-02 |
| AsyncRAT | 2 | delivery, command and control | tcp, tcp-pkt | 433 | command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2023-11-03 |
| Backdoor | 1 | actions on objectives | http | 445 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, installation | dns, ftp, http, icmp, smtp, tcp, tls, udp | 2023-11-01 |
| Botnet Generic | 2 | command and control | http | 2 | command and control | http | 2023-11-01 |
| ClearFake | 3 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 50 | command and control, exploitation | dns, http, tls | 2023-11-04 |
| Cobalt Strike | 1 | command and control | http | 564 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, exploitation | dns, http, smb, tcp, tls, udp | 2023-11-01 |
| Fadok | 1 | command and control | http | 1 | command and control | http | 2023-11-01 |
| Fake Browser | 12 | exploitation | dns, tls, http | 144 | delivery, exploitation | dns, http, tls | 2023-11-03 |
| GCleaner | 2 | delivery | http | 21 | command and control, delivery | http | 2023-11-02 |
| IcedID | 15 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 836 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp, tls | 2023-11-04 |
| Keitaro | 9 | exploitation | dns, tls, http | 234 | command and control, delivery, exploitation | dns, http, tls | 2023-11-02 |
| Lumma | 1 | command and control | http | 16 | actions on objectives, command and control, installation | dns, http, tls | 2023-10-31 |
| TA444 | 63 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 1327 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 2023-10-31 |
| TA456 | 6 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 83 | command and control, delivery | dns, http, tls | 2023-11-02 |
| TA4903 | 9 | delivery | dns, tls, http | 207 | delivery | dns, http, tls | 2023-11-04 |
| TA582 | 3 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 14 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 2023-11-02 |
| Trojan Agent | 2 | command and control | http | 409 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, installation | dns, http, ip, smtp, tcp, tcp-pkt, tcp-stream, tls, udp | 2023-11-01 |
| TrojanSpy-Generic | 3 | command and control, actions on objectives | http | 64 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | http, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2023-11-01 |
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