Categories: Malware

New sophisticated Malware campaign Leveraging NSA Exploits to Mine Monero on Windows and Linux Systems

A new sophisticated malware campaign dubbed “Zealot” leveraging NSA exploits targeting Windows and Linux systems to mine Monero on Internal Networks.

Security researchers from F5 Networks identified the malware campaign “Zealot” targeting internal networks Leveraging NSA Exploit EternalBlue and EternalSynergy.

Zealot campaign is highly obfuscated, and it can deliver multistaged attacks. it exploits unpatched Apache Struts Vulnerability(CVE-2017-5638) and DotNetNuke (CVE-2017-9822).

Linux Exploit CVE-2017-5638

The attack starting by scanning the web and then by sending HTTP requests with famous Apache Struts exploit, Zealot equipped  exploits that compatible with both Windows and Linux platforms.

If server found vulnerable and it will execute the JAVA script to detect the operating system type.Then in the background, it will run shell commands to downloads the bash scripts through many methods “TCP socket,” “curl” and “wget.”

These shell commands fetch “larva” bash script, and it checks whether machine has been already infected or not, and then it downloads the crypto-miner “mule“.

Also Read Exploit Windows Remote PC with EternalBlue & DoublePulsar Exploit through Metasploit

Windows Exploit CVE-2017-5638

For windows, it runs a PowerShell interpreter, and it will run base64 encoded code, and the decodes code reveals linking to another file, and it delivers obfuscated PowerShell script “scv.ps1,” and the deployer downloads the miner malware and executes it.

It looks for python 2.7, if not installed it will deploy python and then execute the module “probe.py” and obfuscates with “pyminifier” and it downloads zipped files for internal network propagation. For Technical details.

zealot.py — the main script executing the EternalBlue and EternalSynergy exploits
a0.py — EternalSynergy exploit with built-in shellcode for Windows 7
a1.py — EternalBlue exploits for Windows 7. Receives a shellcode as an argument.
a2.py — EternalBlue exploits for Windows 8. Receives a shellcode as an argument.
m.py — SMB protocol wrapper
data — folder including 2 shellcode files:
shellcode_win7 — used with a1.py
shellcode_win8 — used with a2.py

Also Read Still More than 50,000 hosts are vulnerable to ETERNAL BLUE Exploit

DotNetNuke CVE-2017-9822 – Zealot

Another request sent by the Zealot attacker is exploiting DotNetNuke, a content management system based on ASP.NET, by sending a serialized object via a vulnerable DNNPersonalization cookie (CVE-2017-9822).

Mule malware mines the most Anonymous cryptocurrency Monero and the specific miner address paid approximately USD 8,500.

The Zealot campaign, however, seems to be opening new attack vector doors, automatically delivering malware on internal networks via web application vulnerabilities. The level of sophistication we are currently observing in the Zealot campaign is leading us to believe that the attack was developed and is being run by threat actors several levels above ordinary bot herders.Concludes researchers.

Gurubaran

Gurubaran is a co-founder of Cyber Security News and GBHackers On Security. He has 10+ years of experience as a Security Consultant, Editor, and Analyst in cybersecurity, technology, and communications.

Recent Posts

Researchers Uncover Hacking Tools and Techniques Shared on Russian-Speaking Cybercrime Forums

Trend Micro, a cybersecurity firm, has released its 50th installment report on the Russian-speaking cybercriminal…

10 hours ago

SideCopy APT Hackers Impersonate Government Officials to Deploy Open-Source XenoRAT Tool

The Pakistan-linked Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) group known as SideCopy has significantly expanded its targeting…

11 hours ago

Russian APT Hackers Use Device Code Phishing Technique to Bypass MFA

Russian state-backed advanced persistent threat (APT) group Storm-2372 has exploited device code phishing to bypass…

11 hours ago

Threat Actors Exploit Messaging Services as Lucrative Cybercrime Platforms

Threat actors are exploiting weaknesses in SMS verification systems to generate massive, fraudulent message traffic,…

12 hours ago

Scattered Spider Launches Sophisticated Attacks to Steal Login Credentials and MFA Tokens

The cyber threat landscape has witnessed remarkable adaptation from the notorious hacker collective known as…

12 hours ago

North Korean Hackers Use Social Engineering and Python Scripts to Execute Stealthy Commands

North Korean threat actors have demonstrated their adept use of social engineering techniques combined with…

12 hours ago