05-December-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: 912
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.
No new detections were added to your Stamus Security Platform (SSP) this past week
The following detections were updated this past week with changes to kill chain phase(s) or MITRE ATT&CK tactic(s)/technique(s):
APT38 is a financially-motivated threat group that is backed by the North Korean regime. The group mainly targets banks and financial institutions and has targeted more than 16 organizations in at least 13 countries since at least 2014.
North Korean group definitions are known to have significant overlap, and the name Lazarus Group is known to encompass a broad range of activity. Some organizations use the name Lazarus Group to refer to any activity attributed to North Korea. Some organizations track North Korean clusters or groups such as Bluenoroff, APT37, and APT38 separately, while other organizations may track some activity associated with those group names by the name Lazarus Group. MITRE
Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs) are a type of software that can get onto your device without your knowledge. PUPs are often bundled with free software, downloaded unintentionally, or distributed through deceptive advertising. While PUPs may not necessarily be harmful, they can compromise your privacy and security by tracking your online activity or displaying targeted ads. PUPs can modify your web browser settings, display unwanted ads, install other unwanted software, or make unwanted changes to your system. Some PUPs can also slow down your device and cause it to crash. Malwarebytes
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.
Ransom malware, or ransomware, is a type of malware that prevents users from accessing their system or personal files and demands ransom payment in order to regain access. The earliest variants of ransomware were developed in the late 1980s, and payment was to be sent via snail mail. Today, ransomware authors order that payment be sent via cryptocurrency or credit card. Malwarebytes
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".
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
Kimsuky is a North Korean-based threat group that has been active since at least September 2013. The group initially focused on targeting Korean think tanks and DPRK/nuclear-related targets, expanding recently to the United States, Russia, and Europe. The group was attributed as the actor behind the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. compromise. MITRE
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
Mirai (Japanese: 未来, lit. 'future') is a malware that turns networked devices running Linux into remotely controlled bots that can be used as part of a botnet in large-scale network attacks. It primarily targets online consumer devices such as IP cameras and home routers. The Mirai botnet was first found in August 2016 by MalwareMustDie, a white hat malware research group, and has been used in some of the largest and most disruptive distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, including an attack on 20 September 2016 on computer security journalist Brian Krebs' web site, an attack on French web host OVH, and the October 2016 Dyn cyberattack. According to a chat log between Anna-senpai and Robert Coelho, Mirai was named after the 2011 TV anime series Mirai Nikki.
Source: Wikipedia
Redline Stealer is a malware available on underground forums for sale apparently as standalone versions or also on a subscription basis. This malware harvests information from browsers such as saved credentials, autocomplete data, and credit card information. A system inventory is also taken when running on a target machine, to include details such as the username, location data, hardware configuration, and information regarding installed security software. More recent versions of Redliune added the ability to steal cryptocurrency. FTP and IM clients are also apparently targeted by this family, and this malware has the ability to upload and download files, execute commands, and periodically send back information about the infected computer. Malpedia
It leverages compromised websites and performs some of the most creative fingerprinting checks we’ve seen, before delivering its payload (NetSupport RAT). Malwarebytes
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
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
ToddyCat is responsible for multiple sets of attacks detected since December 2020 against high-profile entities in Europe and Asia. There is still little information about this actor, but its main distinctive signs are two formerly unknown tools that Kaspersky call ‘Samurai backdoor’ and ‘Ninja Trojan’. Malpedia
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 web shell is a shell-like interface that enables a web server to be remotely accessed, often for the purposes of cyberattacks. A web shell is unique in that a web browser is used to interact with it.
A web shell could be programmed in any programming language that is supported on a server. Web shells are most commonly written in PHP due to the widespread usage of PHP for web applications. Though Active Server Pages, ASP.NET, Python, Perl, Ruby, and Unix shell scripts are also used.
Using network monitoring tools, an attacker can find vulnerabilities that can potentially allow delivery of a web shell. These vulnerabilities are often present in applications that are run on a web server. An attacker can use a web shell to issue shell commands, perform privilege escalation on the web server, and the ability to upload, delete, download, and execute files to and from the web server.
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 | ||
| APT38 | 1 | command and control | http | 236 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tcp, tls | 2023-11-29 |
| Bypass Ticket | 5 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 5 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 2023-11-29 |
| ClearFake | 3 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 62 | command and control, exploitation | dns, http, tls | 2023-11-28 |
| DarkGate | 7 | command and control | http, dns, tls | 30 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, http, tls | 2023-12-02 |
| Fake Browser | 9 | exploitation | dns, tls, http | 174 | delivery, exploitation | dns, http, tls | 2023-12-01 |
| Keitaro | 4 | exploitation | dns, tls, http | 248 | command and control, delivery, exploitation | dns, http, tls | 2023-11-28 |
| Kimsuky | 2 | actions on objectives, command and control | http | 323 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | dns, ftp, ftp-data, http, tls | 2023-11-28 |
| Lumma | 34 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 50 | actions on objectives, command and control, installation | dns, http, tls | 2023-12-02 |
| Mirai | 1 | command and control | tcp-pkt | 264 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, reconnaissance | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2023-11-30 |
| RedLine | 1 | command and control | http | 62 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, installation | dns, http, tcp, tls | 2023-11-30 |
| SocGholish | 3 | command and control | dns, tls, http | 857 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, exploitation, reconnaissance | dns, http, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2023-12-01 |
| Stealer and Exfiltration | 3 | installation, delivery, command and control | http | 383 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, exploitation, installation | dns, ftp, http, smtp, tcp, tcp-pkt, tls | 2023-11-30 |
| TA4903 | 42 | delivery | dns, tls, http | 498 | delivery | dns, http, tls | 2023-12-02 |
| ToddyCat | 1 | command and control | http | 5 | command and control | dns, http, tls | 2023-12-01 |
| Trojan Agent | 1 | actions on objectives | tcp-pkt | 429 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery, installation | dns, http, ip, smtp, tcp, tcp-pkt, tcp-stream, tls, udp | 2023-12-02 |
| Web Shell | 6 | actions on objectives, delivery, command and control | http | 6 | actions on objectives, command and control, delivery | http | 2023-11-29 |
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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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