Monday, November 4, 2024
HomeComputer SecurityBeware of Malicious Word Documents that Downloads the Ursnif Malware and GandCrab...

Beware of Malicious Word Documents that Downloads the Ursnif Malware and GandCrab Ransomware

Published on

Malware protection

A new phishing email campaign contained a malicious word document with macros downloads and executes Ursnif malware and GandCrab ransomware.

Security researchers from Carbon Black observed the campaign in wild and roughly 180 variants detected.

The first stage of attack starts in delivering of weaponized MS word document to deliver the initial stages, according to metadata it appears the documents prepared on December 17, 2018, and continues up to January 21, 2019. Documents found embedded with VBS macros that contain 18 lines of VBScript.

- Advertisement - SIEM as a Service

The Second stage starts with the execution of PowerShell script that creates a web client instances and looks for DownloadString to communicate with C2 server and stores the data in the CommonApplicationData directory.

The attack if successful delivers multiple payloads in the infected machine, “the overall attack leverages several different approaches, which are popular techniques amongst red teamers, espionage focused adversaries, and large scale criminal campaigns,” reads Carbon Black analysis report.

GandCrab Ransomware

The first payload downloaded via the DownloadString method analyzes the system architecture of the compromised system and downloads additional payload from pastebin which is the GandCrab Variant.

The Gandcrab Ransomware is a widespread Ransomware, nowadays it evolves with newly updated futures under constant development to target various countries.

Ursnif Malware

The second payload is the Ursnif executable which harvest the system information, once executed it performs credential harvesting, gathering system and process information, and deploying additional malware samples.

Researchers observed more than 120 different Ursnif variants were hosted and the file name continiously changes in the campaign.

“While researching this campaign approximately 180 variants were located in the wild. Using the VirusTotal Graph functionality these variants could be organized into several groups that were commonly associated by either metadata or document structures.”

Ursnif campaign also spotted by the security researchers from Cisco Talos, the malicious macro contains a single command encoded with base64 and it downloads the Ursnif executable.

You can follow us on Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook for daily Cybersecurity updates also you can take the Best Cybersecurity courses online to keep your self-updated.

Gurubaran
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.

Latest articles

Evasive Panda Attacking Cloud Services To Steal Data Using New Toolkit

The Evasive Panda group deployed a new C# framework named CloudScout to target a...

Massive Midnight Blizzard Phishing Attack Using Weaponized RDP Files

Researchers warn of ongoing spear-phishing attacks by Russian threat actor Midnight Blizzard targeting individuals...

Sophisticated Phishing Attack Targeting Ukraine Military Sectors

The Ukrainian Cyber Emergency Response Team discovered a targeted phishing campaign launched by UAC-0215...

Chinese Hackers Attacking Microsoft Customers With Sophisticated Password Spray Attacks

Researchers have identified a network of compromised devices, CovertNetwork-1658, used by Chinese threat actors...

Free Webinar

Protect Websites & APIs from Malware Attack

Malware targeting customer-facing websites and API applications poses significant risks, including compliance violations, defacements, and even blacklisting.

Join us for an insightful webinar featuring Vivek Gopalan, VP of Products at Indusface, as he shares effective strategies for safeguarding websites and APIs against malware.

Discussion points

Scan DOM, internal links, and JavaScript libraries for hidden malware.
Detect website defacements in real time.
Protect your brand by monitoring for potential blacklisting.
Prevent malware from infiltrating your server and cloud infrastructure.

More like this

SYS01 InfoStealer Malware Attacking Meta Business Page To Steal Logins

The ongoing Meta malvertising campaign, active for over a month, employs an evolving strategy...

A Massive Hacking Toolkit From “You Dun” Threat Group Developed To Lauch Massive Cyber Attack

The "You Dun" hacking group exploited vulnerable Zhiyuan OA software using SQL injection, leveraging...

Russian Hackers Attacking Ukraine Military With Malware Via Telegram

Researchers discovered a Russian-linked threat actor, UNC5812, utilizing a Telegram persona named "Civil Defense....