14-May-2024
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: 1044
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:
FortiGuard Labs observed a new botnet targeting a D-Link vulnerability from nearly a decade ago, CVE-2015-2051. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via a GetDeviceSettings action on the HNAP interface. As a result, an attacker can create a crafted HTTP request with a malicious command embedded in the header. Fortinet
A piece of malware that is used as initial access for ransomware deployment. ThreatDown
The following detections were updated this past week with changes to kill chain phase(s) or MITRE ATT&CK tactic(s)/technique(s):
APT28 (also known as - Fancy Bear/Sofacy/Strontum) is a threat group that has been attributed to Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian General Staff by a July 2018 U.S. Department of Justice indictment.
This group reportedly compromised the Hillary Clinton campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2016 in an attempt to interfere with the U.S. presidential election. APT28 has been active since at least 2004.
Magic Hound is an Iranian-sponsored threat group that conducts long term, resource-intensive cyber espionage operations, likely on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. They have targeted U.S. and Middle Eastern government and military personnel, academics, journalists, and organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), via complex social engineering campaigns since at least 2014. MITRE
AutoIt backdoor is malware that has been used by the actors responsible for the MONSOON campaign. The actors frequently used it in weaponized .pps files exploiting CVE-2014-6352. [1] This malware makes use of the legitimate scripting language for Windows GUI automation with the same name. MITRE
Web skimming is a form of internet or carding fraud whereby a payment page on a website is compromised when malware is injected onto the page via compromising a third-party script service in order to steal payment information. Wikipedia
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.
Adversaries may communicate using a custom command and control protocol instead of encapsulating commands/data in an existing Standard Application Layer Protocol. Implementations include mimicking well-known protocols or developing custom protocols (including raw sockets) on top of fundamental protocols provided by TCP/IP/another standard network stack.
Since late 2021, samples associated with the DUCKTAIL operation were exclusively written in .NET Core and were compiled using its single file feature. This feature bundles all dependent libraries and files into a single executable, including the main assembly2. The usage of .NET Core and its single-file feature is not commonly seen in malware. WithSecure
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".
Phishing is a type of online scam that targets consumers by sending them an e-mail that appears to be from a well-known source – an internet service provider, a bank, or a mortgage company, for example. It asks the consumer to provide personal identifying information. Then a scammer uses the information to open new accounts, or invade the consumer’s existing accounts. There are several tips that consumers can follow to avoid phishing scams, such as not responding to e-mails or pop-up messages that ask for personal or financial information.
Loaders, for the most part, have one job: grab malicious executables or payloads from an attacker-controlled server. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t more happening under the hood of some, such as a user-friendly UI, self-healing capabilities, or the equivalent of a retail shop where a botmaster can sell his bots to potential clients.
Loaders are essentially basic remote access Trojans that give an attacker the ability to remotely interact with and control a compromised computer, or bot. While traditionally lightweight (smaller than 50 KB in size) in order to bypass detection by antivirus and other security monitoring technology, loaders evolve, and their viability to cybercriminals remains.
gh0st RAT is a remote access tool (RAT). The source code is public and it has been used by multiple groups.
Source: MITRE
FIN6(Magecart) is a cyber crime group that has stolen payment card data and sold it for profit on underground marketplaces. This group has aggressively targeted and compromised point of sale (PoS) systems in the hospitality and retail sectors. MITRE
Adversaries may attempt to make an executable or file difficult to discover or analyze by encrypting, encoding, or otherwise obfuscating its contents on the system or in transit. This is common behavior that can be used across different platforms and the network to evade defenses. MITRE
It leverages compromised websites and performs some of the most creative fingerprinting checks we’ve seen, before delivering its payload (NetSupport RAT). Malwarebytes
Talos assesses with high confidence that SugarGh0st is a customized variant of the Gh0st RAT. Gh0st RAT was developed by a Chinese group called 红狼小组 (C.Rufus Security Team), and its source code was publicly released in 2008. The public release of the source code has made it easy for threat actors to get access to it and tailor it to fulfill their malicious intentions. There are several variants of Gh0st RAT in the threat landscape, and it remains a preferred tool for many Chinese-speaking actors, allowing them to conduct surveillance and espionage attacks. Talos
DPRK APT actor tracked by Proofpoint as TA444 Malpedia
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
A Trojan downloader is a type of Trojan horse that downloads and installs files, often malicious programs. A Trojan horse is a type of software that looks legitimate but can be malicious in nature. Sometimes these programs can be downloaded onto a device without the user’s knowledge or consent. A Trojan’s purpose is to damage, disrupt, steal, or generally inflict some other harm on your computer and devices. Norton
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 | ||
| APT28 | 2 | exploitation | http | 809 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, exploitation | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2024-05-09 |
| APT35 | 47 | command and control, delivery | dns, tls, http | 766 | command and control, delivery | dns, ftp, http, tcp, tls, udp | 2024-05-07 |
| AutoIt | 1 | actions on objectives | http | 66 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, installation | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt | 2024-05-10 |
| Card Skimmer | 3 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 23 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tls | 2024-05-09 |
| ClearFake | 36 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 107 | command and control, exploitation | dns, http, tls | 2024-05-10 |
| Command and Control | 13 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 428 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, installation | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2024-05-09 |
| Ducktail Stealer | 1 | delivery | http | 23 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tls | 2024-05-07 |
| Fake Browser | 12 | exploitation | dns, tls, http | 518 | delivery, exploitation | dns, http, tls | 2024-05-08 |
| Fake Service | 3 | delivery | tls | 88 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, installation | dns, http, tcp, tls | 2024-05-09 |
| Generic Loader | 7 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 39 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp, tls | 2024-05-09 |
| Gh0st | 1 | command and control | tcp-pkt | 181 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2024-05-09 |
| Goldoon Botnet | 3 | delivery, command and control | http, tcp-pkt | 3 | delivery, command and control | http, tcp-pkt | 2024-05-09 |
| MageCart | 57 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 397 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tls | 2024-05-08 |
| Nitrogen Loader | 10 | command and control | http, dns, tls | 10 | command and control | http, dns, tls | 2024-05-09 |
| Obfuscated File | 3 | delivery | http, tcp | 5 | delivery | http, tcp | 2024-05-09 |
| SocGholish | 3 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 959 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, exploitation, reconnaissance | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2024-05-07 |
| SugarGh0st | 3 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 10 | command and control | dns, http, tcp-pkt, tls | 2024-05-09 |
| TA444 | 7 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 1631 | command and control, delivery | dns, http, tls | 2024-05-09 |
| TA4903 | 12 | delivery | dns, tls, http | 804 | delivery | dns, http, tls | 2024-05-10 |
| TA582 | 3 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 97 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 2024-05-07 |
| Trojan Agent | 99 | command and control, delivery | http, tcp-pkt, tcp, dns, tls | 580 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, installation | dns, http, ip, smtp, tcp, tcp-pkt, tcp-stream, tls, udp | 2024-05-09 |
| Trojan Downloader | 2 | command and control | tcp, http | 299 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, installation | dns, http, tcp, tls, udp | 2024-05-09 |
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Stamus Networks believes in a world where defenders are heroes, and a future where those they protect remain safe. As organizations face threats from well-funded adversaries, we relentlessly pursue solutions that make the defender’s job easier and more impactful. The global leader in Suricata-based network security solutions, Stamus Networks helps enterprise security teams know more, respond sooner and mitigate their risk with insights gathered from cloud and on-premise network activity. Our Stamus Security Platform combines the best of intrusion detection (IDS), network security monitoring (NSM), and network detection and response (NDR) systems into a single solution that exposes serious and imminent threats to critical assets and empowers rapid response.
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