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Suspected O
Russian O
Activity O
Targeting O
Government O
and O
O
Business O
Entities O
Around O
the O
Globe O
O
mandiant.com/resources/blog/russian-targeting-gov-business O
O
Blog O
O
Luke O
Jenkins O
, O
Sarah O
Hawley O
, O
Parnian O
Najafi O
, O
Doug O
Bienstock O
O
Dec B-DATE
06 I-DATE
, I-DATE
2021 I-DATE
O
16 O
min O
read O
O
| O
Last O
updated O
: O
Nov O
29 O
, O
2022 O
O
Uncategorized O
Groups O
( O
UNC O
Groups O
) O
O
Cloud O
O
Threat O
Research O
O
Malware O
O
Russia B-GEO_LOCATION
O
UPDATE O
( O
May B-DATE
2022 I-DATE
): O
We O
have O
merged O
UNC2452 B-THREAT_ACTOR
with O
APT29 B-THREAT_ACTOR
. O
The O
UNC2452 B-THREAT_ACTOR
activity O
O
described O
in O
this O
post O
is O
now O
attributed O
to O
APT29 B-THREAT_ACTOR
. O
O
1/14 O
O
As O
the O
one O
- O
year O
anniversary O
of O
the O
discovery O
of O
the O
SolarWinds O
supply O
chain O
compromise O
O
passes O
, O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
remains O
committed O
to O
tracking O
one O
of O
the O
toughest O
actors O
we O
have O
O
encountered O
. O
These O
suspected O
Russian O
actors O
practice O
top O
- O
notch O
operational O
security O
and O
O
advanced O
tradecraft O
. O
However O
, O
they O
are O
fallible O
, O
and O
we O
continue O
to O
uncover O
their O
activity O
and O
O
learn O
from O
their O
mistakes O
. O
Ultimately O
, O
they O
remain O
an O
adaptable O
and O
evolving O
threat O
that O
must O
O
be O
closely O
studied O
by O
defenders O
seeking O
to O
stay O
one O
step O
ahead O
. O
O
Summary O
O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
continues O
to O
track O
multiple O
clusters O
of O
suspected O
Russian O
intrusion O
activity O
that O
O
have O
targeted O
business O
and O
government O
entities O
around O
the O
globe O
. O
Based O
on O
our O
O
assessment O
of O
these O
activities O
, O
we O
have O
identified O
two O
distinct O
clusters O
of O
activity O
, O
UNC3004 O
O
and O
UNC2652 O
. O
We O
associate O
both O
groups O
with O
UNC2452 B-THREAT_ACTOR
also O
referred O
to O
as O
Nobelium O
by O
O
Microsoft B-ORGANIZATION
. O
O
Some O
of O
the O
tactics O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
has O
recently O
observed O
include O
: O
O
Compromise O
of O
multiple O
technology O
solutions O
, O
services O
, O
and O
reseller O
companies O
since O
O
2020 O
. O
O
Use B-TTP
of I-TTP
credentials I-TTP
likely I-TTP
obtained I-TTP
from I-TTP
an I-TTP
info I-TTP
- I-TTP
stealer I-TTP
malware I-TTP
campaign I-TTP
by O
a O
thirdparty O
actor O
to O
gain O
initial O
access O
to O
organizations O
. O
O
Use B-TTP
of I-TTP
accounts I-TTP
with I-TTP
Application I-TTP
Impersonation I-TTP
privileges I-TTP
to O
harvest O
sensitive O
mail O
O
data O
since O
Q1 B-DATE
2021 I-DATE
. O
O
Use O
of O
both O
residential O
IP O
proxy O
services O
and O
newly O
provisioned O
geo O
located O
O
infrastructure O
to O
communicate O
with O
compromised O
victims O
. O
O
Use B-TTP
of I-TTP
novel I-TTP
TTPs I-TTP
to I-TTP
bypass I-TTP
security I-TTP
restrictions I-TTP
within O
environments O
including O
, O
but O
not O
O
limited O
to O
the O
extraction O
of O
virtual O
machines O
to O
determine O
internal O
routing O
configurations O
. O
O
Use O
of O
a O
new O
bespoke O
downloader O
we O
call O
CEELOADER O
. O
O
Abuse O
of O
multi O
- O
factor O
authentication O
leveraging O
O
push O
O
notifications O
on O
smartphones O
O
In O
most O
instances O
, O
post O
compromise O
activity O
included O
theft O
of O
data O
relevant O
to O
Russian O
O
interests O
. O
In O
some O
instances O
, O
the O
data O
theft O
appears O
to O
be O
obtained O
primarily O
to O
create O
new O
O
routes O
to O
access O
other O
victim O
environments O
. O
The O
threat O
actors O
continue O
to O
innovate O
and O
O
identify O
new O
techniques O
and O
tradecraft O
to O
maintain O
persistent O
access O
to O
victim O
environments O
, O
O
hinder O
detection O
, O
and O
confuse O
attribution O
efforts O
. O
O
The O
following O
sections O
highlight O
intrusion O
activity O
from O
multiple O
incident O
response O
efforts O
that O
O
are O
currently O
tracked O
as O
multiple O
uncategorized O
clusters O
. O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
suspects O
the O
multiple O
O
clusters O
to O
be O
attributable O
to O
a O
common O
Russian O
threat O
. O
The O
information O
covers O
some O
of O
the O
O
tactics O
, O
techniques O
, O
and O
procedures O
( O
TTPs O
) O
used O
by O
the O
threat O
actors O
for O
initial O
compromise O
, O
O
establishing O
a O
foothold O
, O
data O
collection O
, O
and O
lateral O
movement O
; O
how O
the O
threat O
actors O
O
provision O
infrastructure O
; O
and O
indicators O
of O
compromise O
. O
The O
information O
is O
being O
shared O
to O
O
raise O
awareness O
and O
allow O
organizations O
to O
better O
defend O
themselves O
. O
O
2/14 O
O
Initial O
Compromise O
O
Compromise B-TTP
of I-TTP
Cloud I-TTP
Services I-TTP
Providers I-TTP
O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
has O
identified O
multiple O
instances O
where O
the O
threat O
actor O
compromised O
service O
O
providers O
and O
used O
the O
privileged O
access O
and O
credentials O
belonging O
to O
these O
providers O
to O
O
compromise O
downstream O
customers O
. O
O
In O
at O
least O
one O
instance O
, O
the O
threat O
actor O
identified O
and O
compromised O
a O
local O
VPN O
account O
O
and O
made O
use O
of O
this O
VPN O
account O
to O
perform O
reconnaissance O
and O
gain O
further O
access O
to O
O
internal O
resources O
within O
the O
victim O
CSP O
s O
environment O
, O
which O
ultimately O
led O
to O
the O
O
compromise O
of O
internal O
domain O
accounts O
. O
O
Access O
Obtained O
from O
Info O
- O
stealer O
Malware O
Campaign O
O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
identified O
a O
campaign O
where O
the O
threat O
actors O
gained O
access O
to O
the O
target O
O
organization O
s O
Microsoft B-ORGANIZATION
365 O
environment O
using O
a O
stolen O
session O
token O
. O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
analyzed O
O
the O
workstations O
belonging O
to O
the O
end O
user O
and O
discovered O
that O
some O
systems O
had O
been O
O
infected O
with O
CRYPTBOT O
, O
an O
info O
- O
stealer O
malware O
, O
shortly O
before O
the O
stolen O
session O
token O
O
was O
generated O
. O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
observed O
that O
in O
some O
cases O
the O
user O
downloaded O
the O
malware O
O
after O
browsing O
to O
low O
reputation O
websites O
offering O
free O
, O
or O
O
cracked O
O
, O
software O
. O
O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
assesses O
with O
moderate O
confidence O
that O
the O
threat O
actor O
obtained O
the O
session O
O
token O
from O
the O
operators O
of O
the O
info O
- O
stealer O
malware O
. O
These O
tokens O
were O
used O
by O
the O
actor O
O
via O
public O
VPN O
providers O
to O
authenticate O
to O
the O
target O
s O
Microsoft B-ORGANIZATION
365 O
environment O
. O
O
Abuse B-TTP
of I-TTP
Repeated I-TTP
MFA I-TTP
Push I-TTP
Notifications I-TTP
O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
has O
also O
observed O
the O
threat O
actor O
executing O
multiple O
authentication O
attempts O
in O
O
short O
succession O
against O
accounts O
secured O
with O
multi O
- O
factor O
authentication O
( O
MFA O
) O
. O
In O
these O
O
cases O
, O
the O
threat O
actor O
had O
a O
valid O
username O
and O
password O
combination O
. O
Many O
MFA O
O
providers O
allow O
for O
users O
to O
accept O
a O
phone O
app O
push O
notification O
or O
to O
receive O
a O
phone O
call O
O
and O
press O
a O
key O
as O
a O
second O
factor O
. O
The O
threat O
actor O
took O
advantage O
of O
this O
and O
issued O
O
multiple O
MFA O
requests O
to O
the O
end O
user O
s O
legitimate O
device O
until O
the O
user O
accepted O
the O
O
authentication O
, O
allowing O
the O
threat O
actor O
to O
eventually O
gain O
access O
to O
the O
account O
. O
O
Post O
Compromise O
Activity O
Via O
Cloud O
Solution O
Provider O
Compromise O
O
Establish O
Foothold O
O
In O
at O
least O
one O
case O
, O
the O
threat O
actor O
compromised O
a O
Microsoft B-ORGANIZATION
Azure O
AD O
account O
within O
a O
O
Cloud O
Service O
Provider O
s O
( O
CSP O
) O
tenant O
. O
The O
account O
held O
a O
specific O
Azure O
AD O
role O
that O
O
allowed O
it O
to O
use O
the O
Admin O
on O
Behalf O
Of O
( O
AOBO O
) O
feature O
. O
With O
AOBO O
, O
users O
with O
a O
specific O
O
role O
in O
the O
CSP O
tenant O
have O
Azure O
Role O
Based O
Access O
Control O
( O
RBAC O
) O
Owner O
access O
to O
O
3/14 O
O
Azure O
subscriptions O
in O
their O
customer O
s O
tenants O
that O
were O
created O
through O
the O
reseller O
O
relationship O
. O
RBAC O
Owner O
access O
gives O
the O
role O
holder O
complete O
control O
over O
all O
resources O
O
within O
the O
Azure O
subscription O
. O
The O
threat O
actor O
leveraged O
the O
compromised O
csp O
s O
credentials O
O
and O
the O
AOBO O
feature O
to O
gain O
privileged O
access O
to O
Azure O
subscriptions O
used O
to O
host O
and O
O
manage O
downstream O
customer O
systems O
. O
The O
actor O
executed O
commands O
with O
NT O
O
AUTHORITY\SYSTEM O
privileges O
within O
Azure O
VMs O
using O
the O
Azure O
Run O
Command O
feature O
. O
O
The O
Azure O
Run O
Command O
feature O
allows O
a O
user O
to O
run O
PowerShell O
scripts O
within O
an O
Azure O
O
VM O
using O
the O
Azure O
Portal O
, O
REST O
API O
, O
or O
PowerShell O
without O
knowledge O
of O
Windows O
O
credentials O
that O
are O
valid O
on O
the O
VM O
itself O
. O
O
Privilege O
Escalation O
O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
found O
evidence O
that O
the O
threat O
actor O
used O
RDP O
to O
pivot O
between O
systems O
that O
had O
O
limited O
internet O
access O
. O
The O
threat O
actor O
accessed O
numerous O
devices O
using O
RDP B-SOFTWARE
and O
O
executed O
several O
native O
Windows O
commands O
. O
On O
one O
device O
, O
the O
threat O
actors O
made O
use O
of O
O
the O
Windows O
Task O
Manager O
to O
dump O
the O
process O
memory O
belonging O
to O
LSASS O
. O
The O
threat O
O
actor O
also O
obtained O
the O
Azure B-SOFTWARE
AD B-SOFTWARE
Connect B-SOFTWARE
configuration O
, O
the O
associated O
AD O
service O
account O
, O
O
and O
the O
key O
material O
used O
to O
encrypt O
the O
service O
account O
credentials O
. O
The O
Azure O
AD O
Connect O
O
account O
is O
used O
to O
replicate O
the O
on O
- O
premise O
instance O
of O
Active O
Directory O
into O
Azure O
AD O
. O
In O
O
addition O
to O
this O
, O
the O
threat O
actor O
obtained O
the O
Active B-SOFTWARE
Directory B-SOFTWARE
Federation B-SOFTWARE
Services B-SOFTWARE
( O
ADFS O
) O
O
signing O
certificate O
and O
key O
material O
. O
This O
allowed O
the O
threat O
actor O
to O
forge O
a O
SAML O
token O
O
which O
could O
be O
used O
to O
bypass O
2FA O
and O
conditional O
access O
policies O
to O
access O
Microsoft B-ORGANIZATION
365 O
. O
O
The O
actor O
stopped O
Sysmon O
and O
Splunk O
logging O
on O
these O
devices O
and O
cleared O
Windows O
O
Event O
Logs O
. O
O
The O
threat O
actors O
leveraged O
compromised O
privileged O
accounts O
and O
used O
SMB O
, O
remote O
WMI O
, O
O
remote O
scheduled O
tasks O
registration O
, O
and O
PowerShell O
to O
execute O
commands O
within O
victim O
O
environments O
. O
The O
threat O
actor O
used O
the O
protocols O
mainly O
to O
perform O
reconnaissance O
O
( O
notably O
using O
the O
native O
command O
tasklist.exe O
to O
inspect O
remote O
systems O
) O
, O
distribute O
O
BEACON B-MALWARE
around O
the O
network O
, O
as O
well O
as O
run O
native O
Windows O
commands O
for O
credential O
O
harvesting O
. O
In O
some O
cases O
, O
the O
actors O
passed O
in O
a O
specific O
Kerberos O
ticket O
during O
the O
WMIC O
O
execution O
using O
the O
/authority O
: O
Kerberos O
flag O
to O
authenticate O
as O
computer O
accounts O
. O
Computer O
O
accounts O
by O
design O
have O
local O
administrator O
rights O
over O
the O
computer O
for O
which O
they O
are O
O
named O
. O
O
Lateral O
Movement O
Between O
CSP O
and O
Downstream O
Clients O
O
CSPs O
have O
network O
filtering O
layers O
in O
place O
between O
their O
on O
- O
premises O
environment O
and O
O
downstream O
customer O
environments O
as O
an O
added O
security O
layer O
. O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
identified O
that O
the O
O
threat O
actor O
used O
the O
vSphere O
PowerCLI O
and O
custom O
PowerShell O
scripts O
configured O
to O
target O
O
the O
vCenter O
Web O
endpoint O
to O
export O
the O
virtual O
disk O
image O
of O
a O
specific O
networking O
device O
O
and O
copy O
it O
off O
the O
service O
provider O
s O
infrastructure O
. O
To O
authenticate O
to O
vCenter O
the O
threat O
O
actor O
used O
a O
stolen O
session O
cookie O
for O
a O
Privileged O
Access O
Management O
( O
PAM O
) O
account O
. O
O
4/14 O
O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
believes O
the O
threat O
actor O
was O
able O
to O
analyze O
this O
virtual O
machine O
and O
identify O
O
devices O
within O
the O
CSP O
s O
network O
that O
were O
specifically O
allowed O
to O
communicate O
with O
O
targeted O
downstream O
customers O
. O
O
Using O
this O
knowledge O
, O
the O
actor O
compromised O
the O
authorized O
source O
jump O
hosts O
that O
O
circumvented O
the O
network O
security O
restrictions O
of O
the O
service O
provider O
and O
downstream O
victim O
O
network O
. O
The O
actor O
compromised O
a O
customer O
administration O
account O
from O
one O
of O
the O
O
administration O
jump O
hosts O
used O
for O
customer O
administration O
within O
the O
CSP O
s O
environment O
. O
O
The O
CSP O
would O
connect O
via O
these O
jump O
hosts O
using O
dedicated O
customer O
admin O
accounts O
to O
O
interact O
with O
a O
downstream O
customer O
s O
infrastructure O
. O
The O
actor O
then O
performed O
lateral O
O
movement O
through O
RDP O
and O
the O
stolen O
target O
credentials O
towards O
the O
victim O
customer O
O
network O
. O
O
In O
another O
case O
, O
the O
threat O
actor O
used O
Azure O
s O
built O
- O
in O
Run O
Command O
feature O
to O
execute O
O
commands O
on O
numerous O
downstream O
devices O
. O
The O
threat O
actor O
used O
native O
Windows O
tools O
O
to O
perform O
initial O
reconnaissance O
, O
credential O
theft O
and O
deploy O
Cobalt O
Strike O
BEACON O
to O
O
devices O
via O
PowerShell O
. O
O
The O
actor O
then O
used O
this O
BEACON O
implant O
to O
persistently O
install O
CEELOADER O
as O
a O
O
Scheduled O
Task O
that O
ran O
on O
login O
as O
SYSTEM O
on O
specific O
systems O
. O
CEELOADER O
is O
O
downloader O
that O
decrypts O
a O
shellcode O
payload O
to O
execute O
in O
memory O
on O
the O
victim O
device O
. O
O
Data O
Collection O
O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
identified O
multiple O
attempts O
by O
the O
threat O
actor O
to O
dump O
the O
Active O
Directory O
O
database O
( O
ntds.dit O
) O
using O
the O
built O
- O
in O
ntdsutil.exe O
command O
. O
There O
was O
also O
evidence O
that O
the O
O
threat O
actor O
used O
Sysinternals O
ProcDump O
to O
dump O
the O
process O
memory O
of O
the O
LSASS O
O
process O
. O
In O
addition O
to O
this O
, O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
discovered O
that O
the O
threat O
actor O
had O
stolen O
the O
AD O
FS O
O
token O
signing O
certificate O
and O
the O
DKM O
key O
material O
. O
This O
would O
allow O
the O
threat O
actor O
to O
O
perform O
Golden O
SAML O
attacks O
and O
authenticate O
as O
any O
user O
into O
federated O
environments O
that O
O
used O
AD O
FS O
for O
authentication O
, O
such O
as O
Microsoft B-ORGANIZATION
365 O
. O
O
The O
threat O
actors O
performed O
data O
theft O
through O
several O
PowerShell O
commands O
, O
uploading O
O
several O
sequential O
archive O
files O
ending O
with O
the O
.7z O
extension O
. O
The O
threat O
actor O
uploaded O
O
these O
files O
to O
a O
webserver O
they O
presumably O
controlled O
. O
O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
identified O
binaries O
that O
were O
configured O
to O
upload O
data O
to O
the O
Mega O
cloud O
storage O
O
provider O
. O
The O
threat O
actor O
deployed O
the O
tool O
in O
the O
% O
TEMP%\d O
folder O
as O
mt.exe O
and O
mtt.exe O
. O
O
Owing O
to O
several O
mistakes O
made O
by O
the O
threat O
actor O
, O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
was O
able O
to O
identify O
that O
the O
O
execution O
of O
the O
renamed O
tool O
failed O
. O
Upon O
investigation O
, O
it O
appears O
that O
the O
Megatools O
binary O
O
used O
by O
the O
threat O
actors O
fails O
to O
execute O
if O
renamed O
. O
Due O
to O
this O
it O
is O
unclear O
whether O
the O
O
actor O
was O
able O
to O
successfully O
exfiltrate O
data O
to O
Mega O
using O
this O
method O
. O
O
5/14 O
O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
also O
observed O
the O
threat O
actor O
access O
a O
victim O
s O
on O
- O
premises O
SharePoint O
server O
O
looking O
for O
sensitive O
technical O
documentation O
and O
credentials O
. O
The O
threat O
actor O
then O
used O
the O
O
gathered O
credentials O
to O
move O
laterally O
around O
the O
network O
. O
O
Application O
Impersonation O
O
Microsoft B-ORGANIZATION
Exchange O
and O
Exchange O
Online O
provide O
an O
impersonation O
role O
( O
titled O
O
ApplicationImpersonation O
) O
that O
grants O
an O
account O
the O
ability O
to O
access O
another O
account O
s O
O
mailbox O
and O
O
act O
as O
O
that O
mailbox O
owner O
. O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
identified O
that O
the O
threat O
actor O
was O
able O
to O
O
authenticate O
to O
an O
existing O
account O
that O
was O
previously O
granted O
the O
ApplicationImpersonation O
O
role O
; O
it O
is O
unclear O
how O
the O
actor O
obtained O
this O
initial O
access O
. O
O
Through O
this O
account O
, O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
witnessed O
the O
threat O
actor O
use O
impersonation O
to O
access O
O
multiple O
mailboxes O
belonging O
to O
users O
within O
the O
victim O
organization O
. O
The O
threat O
actor O
also O
O
created O
a O
new O
account O
within O
the O
Microsoft B-ORGANIZATION
365 O
environment O
which O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
deems O
was O
for O
O
backup O
access O
in O
the O
event O
of O
detection O
. O
O
Threat O
Actor O
Infrastructure O
O
Residential O
Internet O
Access O
O
In O
some O
campaigns O
, O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
identified O
that O
the O
threat O
actor O
was O
using O
residential O
IP O
O
address O
ranges O
to O
authenticate O
to O
victim O
environments O
. O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
believes O
that O
this O
access O
O
was O
obtained O
through O
residential O
and O
mobile O
IP O
address O
proxy O
providers O
. O
The O
providers O
proxy O
O
traffic O
through O
actual O
mobile O
devices O
such O
as O
phones O
and O
tablets O
by O
legitimately O
bundling O
a O
O
proxy O
application O
in O
return O
for O
free O
applications O
and/or O
services O
. O
O
The O
actor O
used O
these O
services O
to O
access O
mailboxes O
in O
victim O
Microsoft B-ORGANIZATION
365 O
tenants O
. O
By O
doing O
O
so O
, O
the O
source O
logon O
IP O
address O
belongs O
to O
a O
major O
Internet O
Service O
Provider O
that O
serves O
O
customers O
in O
the O
same O
country O
as O
the O
victim O
environment O
. O
These O
tactics O
showcase O
the O
O
complexity O
of O
the O
attacker O
's O
operations O
and O
is O
rarely O
seen O
executed O
by O
other O
threat O
actors O
. O
O
Accomplishing O
this O
can O
make O
it O
very O
difficult O
for O
investigators O
to O
differentiate O
between O
normal O
O
user O
activity O
and O
the O
threat O
actor O
's O
activity O
. O
O
Geo O
- O
located O
Azure O
Infrastructure O
O
In O
another O
campaign O
, O
the O
threat O
actor O
provisioned O
a O
system O
within O
Microsoft B-ORGANIZATION
Azure O
that O
was O
O
within O
close O
proximity O
to O
a O
legitimate O
Azure O
- O
hosted O
system O
belonging O
to O
the O
CSP O
that O
they O
O
used O
to O
access O
their O
customer O
s O
environment O
. O
This O
allowed O
the O
actor O
to O
establish O
geoproximity O
with O
the O
victims O
which O
resulted O
in O
the O
recorded O
source O
IP O
address O
for O
the O
activity O
O
originating O
from O
within O
legitimate O
Azure O
IP O
ranges O
. O
Similar O
to O
the O
technique O
of O
using O
O
residential O
IP O
addresses O
, O
using O
Azure O
infrastructure O
within O
close O
proximity O
to O
victim O
networks O
O
makes O
it O
difficult O
for O
investigators O
to O
differentiate O
between O
normal O
user O
activity O
and O
the O
threat O
O
actor O
s O
activity O
. O
O
6/14 O
O
Compromised O
WordPress O
Sites O
Hosting O
Second O
Stage O
Payloads O
O
In O
several O
campaigns O
by O
the O
actor O
, O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
and O
our O
partners O
identified O
that O
the O
actor O
was O
O
hosting O
second O
stage O
payloads O
as O
encrypted O
blobs O
on O
legitimate O
websites O
running O
O
WordPress O
. O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
observed O
at O
least O
two O
separate O
malware O
families O
attributed O
to O
the O
O
threat O
actor O
hosted O
on O
compromised O
WordPress O
sites O
. O
O
TOR O
, O
VPS O
and O
VPN O
Providers O
O
In O
multiple O
campaigns O
by O
the O
threat O
actor O
, O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
witnessed O
the O
actor O
use O
a O
mixture O
of O
O
TOR O
, O
Virtual O
Private O
Servers O
( O
VPS O
) O
and O
public O
Virtual O
Private O
Networks O
( O
VPN O
) O
to O
access O
O
victim O
environments O
. O
In O
a O
particular O
campaign O
, O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
identified O
that O
the O
threat O
actor O
O
performed O
initial O
reconnaissance O
via O
a O
VPS O
provider O
located O
in O
the O
same O
region O
as O
the O
victim O
. O
O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
believes O
a O
misconfiguration O
by O
the O
threat O
actor O
meant O
that O
the O
VPN O
services O
O
running O
on O
the O
VPS O
stopped O
functioning O
after O
8 O
hours O
. O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
was O
then O
able O
to O
identify O
O
numerous O
TOR O
exit O
nodes O
that O
the O
threat O
actor O
used O
based O
on O
new O
authentication O
events O
. O
O
Operational O
Security O
and O
Planning O
O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
identified O
attempts B-TTP
to I-TTP
compromise I-TTP
multiple I-TTP
accounts I-TTP
within I-TTP
an I-TTP
environment I-TTP
and O
O
kept O
use O
of O
each O
account O
separated O
by O
function O
. O
This O
reduced O
the O
likelihood O
that O
detecting O
O
one O
activity O
could O
expose O
the O
entire O
scope O
of O
the O
intrusion O
. O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
found O
evidence O
that O
the O
O
actor O
compromised O
multiple O
accounts O
and O
used O
one O
for O
the O
sole O
purpose O
of O
reconnaissance O
, O
O
while O
the O
others O
were O
reserved O
for O
lateral O
movement O
within O
the O
organization O
. O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
O
previously O
observed O
this O
threat O
actor O
using O
strict O
operational O
security O
to O
use O
specific O
accounts O
O
and O
systems O
in O
victim O
environments O
for O
activities O
that O
are O
often O
higher O
risk O
, O
such O
as O
data O
theft O
O
and O
large O
- O
scale O
reconnaissance O
. O
O
Once O
within O
an O
environment O
, O
the O
threat O
actor O
was O
able O
to O
quickly O
pivot O
to O
on O
- O
premises O
O
servers O
and O
crawl O
these O
servers O
for O
technical O
documentation O
and O
credentials O
. O
From O
this O
O
documentation O
, O
the O
actor O
was O
able O
to O
identify O
a O
route O
to O
gain O
access O
to O
their O
ultimate O
target O
s O
O
network O
. O
This O
reconnaissance O
shows O
that O
the O
threat O
actor O
had O
a O
clear O
end O
goal O
in O
mind O
and O
O
were O
able O
to O
identify O
and O
exploit O
an O
opportunity O
to O
obtain O
required O
intelligence O
to O
further O
their O
O
goals O
. O
O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
also O
observed O
efforts O
to O
avoid O
detection O
by O
circumventing O
or O
deleting O
system O
O
logging O
within O
the O
victim O
s O
environment O
. O
Namely O
, O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
identified O
the O
threat O
actor O
disabling O
O
SysInternals O
Sysmon O
and O
Splunk O
Forwarders O
on O
victim O
machines O
that O
they O
accessed O
via O
O
Microsoft B-ORGANIZATION
Remote O
Desktop O
in O
addition O
to O
clearing O
Windows O
Event O
Logs O
. O
O
Malware O
Descriptions O
O
7/14 O
O
Cobalt O
Strike O
BEACON O
: O
Backdoor O
written O
in O
C O
/ O
C++ O
that O
is O
part O
of O
the O
Cobalt O
Strike O
O
framework O
. O
Supported O
backdoor O
commands O
include O
shell O
command O
execution O
, O
file O
transfer O
, O
O
file O
execution O
, O
and O
file O
management O
. O
BEACON O
can O
also O
capture O
keystrokes O
and O
screenshots O
O
as O
well O
as O
act O
as O
a O
proxy O
server O
. O
BEACON O
may O
also O
be O
tasked O
with O
harvesting O
system O
O
credentials O
, O
port O
scanning O
, O
and O
enumerating O
systems O
on O
a O
network O
. O
BEACON O
communicates O
O
with O
a O
command O
and O
control O
( O
C2 O
) O
server O
via O
HTTP(S O
) O
or O
DNS O
. O
O
CEELOADER O
: O
Downloader O
written O
in O
C O
programing O
language O
. O
It O
supports O
shellcode O
O
payloads O
that O
are O
executed O
in O
memory O
. O
An O
obfuscation O
tool O
has O
been O
used O
to O
hide O
the O
code O
O
in O
CEELOADER O
in O
between O
large O
blocks O
of O
junk O
code O
with O
meaningless O
calls O
to O
the O
Windows O
O
API O
. O
The O
meaningful O
calls O
to O
the O
Windows O
API O
are O
hidden O
within O
obfuscated O
wrapper O
O
functions O
that O
decrypt O
the O
name O
of O
the O
API O
and O
dynamically O
resolve O
it O
before O
calling O
. O
O
CEELOADER O
communicates O
via O
HTTP O
and O
the O
C2 O
response O
is O
decrypted O
using O
AES-256 O
in O
O
CBC O
mode O
. O
Additionally O
, O
the O
HTTP O
request O
contains O
a O
statically O
defined O
i O
d O
that O
may O
vary O
from O
O
sample O
to O
sample O
. O
CEELOADER O
does O
not O
contain O
a O
persistence O
mechanism O
. O
O
Attribution O
O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
assesses O
that O
some O
of O
this O
activity O
is O
UNC2652 O
, O
a O
cluster O
of O
activity O
observed O
O
targeting O
diplomatic O
entities O
with O
phishing O
emails O
containing O
HTML O
attachments O
with O
O
malicious O
JavaScript O
, O
ultimately O
dropping O
a O
BEACON O
launcher O
. O
O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
also O
assesses O
that O
some O
of O
this O
activity O
is O
UNC3004 O
, O
a O
cluster O
of O
activity O
observed O
O
targeting O
both O
government O
and O
business O
entities O
through O
gaining O
access O
to O
Cloud O
Solution O
O
Providers O
/ O
Managed O
Service O
Providers O
to O
gain O
access O
to O
downstream O
customers O
. O
O
Microsoft B-ORGANIZATION
has O
previously O
reported O
on O
both O
UNC2652 O
and O
UNC3004 O
activity O
and O
links O
it O
to O
O
UNC2452 B-THREAT_ACTOR
, O
the O
group O
behind O
the O
SolarWinds O
compromise O
, O
under O
the O
name O
O
Nobelium O
O
. O
While O
O
it O
is O
plausible O
that O
they O
are O
the O
same O
group O
, O
currently O
, O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
does O
not O
have O
enough O
O
evidence O
to O
make O
this O
determination O
with O
high O
confidence O
. O
O
Outlook O
and O
Implications O
O
This O
intrusion O
activity O
reflects O
a O
well O
- O
resourced O
threat O
actor O
set O
operating O
with O
a O
high O
level O
of O
O
concern O
for O
operational O
security O
. O
The O
abuse O
of O
a O
third O
party O
, O
in O
this O
case O
a O
CSP O
, O
can O
facilitate O
O
access O
to O
a O
wide O
scope O
of O
potential O
victims O
through O
a O
single O
compromise O
. O
Though O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
O
can O
not O
currently O
attribute O
this O
activity O
with O
higher O
confidence O
, O
the O
operational O
security O
O
associated O
with O
this O
intrusion O
and O
exploitation O
of O
a O
third O
party O
is O
consistent O
with O
the O
tactics O
O
employed O
by O
the O
actors O
behind O
the O
SolarWinds O
compromise O
and O
highlights O
the O
effectiveness O
O
of O
leveraging O
third O
parties O
and O
trusted O
vendor O
relationships O
to O
carry O
out O
nefarious O
operations O
. O
O
Acknowledgements O
O
8/14 O
O
Hundreds O
of O
consultants O
, O
analysts O
and O
reverse O
engineers O
have O
been O
working O
together O
to O
O
understand O
and O
track O
these O
security O
incidents O
over O
the O
past O
year O
. O
This O
larger O
group O
has O
built O
O
a O
baseline O
of O
knowledge O
that O
enables O
us O
to O
continue O
tracking O
this O
actor O
. O
We O
would O
like O
to O
O
specifically O
thank O
Luis O
Rocha O
, O
Marius O
Fodoreanu O
, O
Mitchell O
Clarke O
, O
Manfred O
Erjak O
, O
Josh O
O
Madeley O
, O
Ashraf O
Abdalhalim O
and O
Juraj O
Sucik O
from O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
Consulting O
and O
Wojciech O
O
Ledzion O
, O
Gabriella O
Roncone O
, O
Jonathan O
Leathery O
and O
Ben O
Read O
from O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
Intelligence O
O
for O
their O
assistance O
in O
writing O
and O
reviewing O
this O
blog O
post O
. O
O
Also O
special O
thanks O
to O
the O
Microsoft B-ORGANIZATION
DART O
and O
MSTIC O
teams O
for O
their O
ongoing O
collaboration O
. O
O
Remediation O
O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
recommends O
that O
organizations O
review O
and O
implement O
the O
changes O
suggested O
in O
O
the O
following O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
white O
paper O
which O
was O
recently O
updated O
to O
include O
advice O
around O
the O
O
Application O
Impersonation O
role O
and O
trust O
relationships O
with O
Cloud O
Service O
Providers O
and O
their O
O
customers O
. O
O
Technical O
Highlights O
to O
Aid O
Investigations O
or O
Hunting O
O
Recent O
Staging O
Directories O
: O
O
% O
PROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft O
SQL O
Server\ms O
O
% O
WINDIR%\Temp O
O
% O
WINDIR%\Temp\d O
O
Recent O
Staging O
Names O
: O
O
d.7z O
O
vcredist.ps1 O
O
fc.r O
O
out O
O
d.ps1 O
O
d.z O
O
megatools.exe O
O
mt.exe O
O
mtt.exe O
O
ntds.dit O
O
handle64.exe O
O
movefile.exe O
O
diagview.dll O
O
diag.ps1 O
O
diag.bat O
O
Recent O
Scheduled O
Task O
Names O
: O
O
9/14 O
O
Microsoft B-ORGANIZATION
Diagnostics O
O
Microsoft B-ORGANIZATION
Azure O
Diagnostics O
O
Google O
Chrome O
Update O
O
Recent O
Administrative O
or O
Utility O
Tools O
: O
O
Azure O
Run O
Command O
O
Sysinternals O
Handle O
O
Sysinternals O
MoveFile O
O
ntdsutil O
O
netstat O
O
net O
O
tasklist O
O
RAR O
/ O
7zip O
O
AADInternals O
O
vSphere O
PowerCLI O
O
Sysinternals O
Procdump O
O
Windows O
Task O
Manager O
O
Indicators O
of O
Compromise O
O
Hashes O
for O
Known O
Activity O
: O
O
diag.ps1 O
( O
MD5 O
: O
1d3e2742e922641b7063db8cafed6531 O
) O
O
BEACON.SMB O
malware O
connecting O
to O
O
\\.\pipe\chrome.5687.8051.183894933787788877a1 O
O
vcredist.ps1 O
( O
MD5 O
: O
273ce653c457c9220ce53d0dfd3c60f1 O
) O
O
BEACON O
malware O
connecting O
via O
HTTPS O
to O
nordicmademedia[.]com O
O
logo.png O
( O
MD5 O
: O
3304036ac3bbf6cb2205e30226c89a1a O
) O
O
Hosted O
on O
http://23.106.123[.]15 O
/ O
logo.png O
O
BEACON O
malware O
connected O
via O
HTTPS O
to O
stonecrestnews.com O
O
LocalData.dll O
( O
MD5 O
: O
3633203d9a93fecfa9d4d9c06fc7fe36 O
) O
O
CEELOADER O
malware O
that O
obtains O
a O
payload O
from O
O
http://theandersonco[.]com O
/ O
wp_info.php O
O
Unknown O
( O
MD5 O
: O
e5aacf3103af27f9aaafa0a74b296d50 O
) O
O
BEACON O
malware O
connecting O
via O
HTTPS O
to O
nordicmademedia[.]com O
O
DiagView.dll O
( O
MD5 O
: O
f3962456f7fc8d10644bf051ddb7c7ef O
) O
O
CEELOADER O
malware O
that O
obtains O
a O
payload O
from O
O
http://tomasubiera[.]com O
/ O
wp_getcontent.php O
O
IP O
Addresses O
Used O
for O
Authenticating O
Through O
Public O
VPN O
Providers O
: O
O
10/14 O
O
Note O
: O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
have O
removed O
anonymized O
addresses O
from O
this O
list O
, O
the O
remaining O
addresses O
O
are O
from O
legitimate O
hosting O
providers O
. O
O
20.52.144[.]179 O
O
20.52.156[.]76 O
O
20.52.47[.]99 O
O
51.140.220[.]157 O
O
51.104.51[.]92 O
O
176.67.86[.]130 O
O
176.67.86[.]52 O
O
IP O
Addresses O
Used O
for O
Authenticating O
From O
the O
Mobile O
Proxy O
Providers O
: O
O
216.155.158[.]133 O
O
63.75.244[.]119 O
O
63.162.179[.]166 O
O
63.162.179[.]94 O
O
63.75.245[.]144 O
O
63.75.245[.]239 O
O
63.75.247[.]114 O
O
IP O
Addresses O
Used O
for O
Command O
and O
Control O
: O
O
91.234.254[.]144 O
O
23.106.123[.]15 O
O
URL O
Addresses O
Used O
for O
Command O
and O
Control O
: O
O
nordicmademedia[.]com O
O
stonecrestnews[.]com O
O
URL O
Addresses O
of O
Compromised O
WordPress O
Sites O
Hosting O
CEELOADER O
Payloads O
: O
O
Note O
: O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
believes O
the O
actor O
hosted O
a O
malicious O
payload O
on O
the O
following O
domains O
. O
O
tomasubiera[.]com O
O
theandersonco[.]com O
O
MITRE O
ATT&CK O
Techniques O
Observed O
O
ATT&CK O
Tactic O
Category O
O
Techniques O
O
11/14 O
O
Resource O
Development O
O
Acquire O
Infrastructure O
( O
T1583 O
) O
O
Virtual O
Private O
Server O
( O
T1583.003 O
) O
O
Compromise O
Infrastructure O
( O
T1584 O
) O
O
Stage O
Capabilities O
( O
T1608 O
) O
O
Link O
Target O
( O
T1608.005 O
) O
O
Obtain O
Capabilities O
( O
T1588 O
) O
O
Digital O
Certificates O
( O
T1588.004 O
) O
O
Initial O
Access O
O
Phishing O
( O
T1566 O
) O
O
Spearphishing O
Attachment O
( O
T1566.001 O
) O
O
Spearphishing O
Link O
( O
T1566.002 O
) O
O
External O
Remote O
Services O
( O
T1133 O
) O
O
Valid O
Accounts O
( O
T1078 O
) O
O
Trusted O
Relationship O
( O
T1199 O
) O
O
Execution O
O
User O
Execution O
( O
T1204 O
) O
O
Malicious O
Link O
( O
T1204.001 O
) O
O
Malicious O
File O
( O
T1204.002 O
) O
O
Command O
and O
Scripting O
Interpreter O
( O
T1059 O
) O
O
PowerShell O
( O
T1059.001 O
) O
O
Windows O
Command O
Shell O
( O
T1059.003 O
) O
O
JavaScript O
( O
T1059.007 O
) O
O
Scheduled O
Task O
/ O
Job O
( O
T1053 O
) O
O
Scheduled O
task O
( O
T1053.005 O
) O
O
Windows O
Management O
Instrumentation O
( O
T1047 O
) O
O
Persistence O
O
Boot O
or O
Logon O
Autostart O
Execution O
( O
T1547 O
) O
O
Registry O
Run O
Keys O
/ O
Startup O
Folder O
( O
T1547.001 O
) O
O
Shortcut O
Modification O
( O
T1547.009 O
) O
O
Scheduled O
Task O
/ O
Job O
( O
T1053 O
) O
O
Scheduled O
task O
( O
T1053.005 O
) O
O
External O
Remote O
Services O
( O
T1133 O
) O
O
Valid O
Accounts O
( O
T1078 O
) O
O
Privilege O
Escalation O
O
Process O
Injection O
( O
T1055 O
) O
O
Access O
Token O
Manipulation O
( O
T1134 O
) O
O
Token O
Impersonation O
/ O
Theft O
( O
T1134.001 O
) O
O
Boot O
or O
Logon O
Autostart O
Execution O
( O
T1547 O
) O
O
Shortcut O
Modification O
( O
T1547.009 O
) O
O
Valid O
Accounts O
( O
T1078 O
) O
O
Scheduled O
Task O
( O
T1053 O
) O
O
Scheduled O
task O
( O
T1053.005 O
) O
O
12/14 O
O
Defence O
Evasion O
O
Process O
Injection O
( O
T1055 O
) O
O
Access O
Token O
manipulation O
( O
T1145 O
) O
O
Indicator O
Removal O
on O
Host O
( O
T1070 O
) O
O
Hide O
Artifacts O
( O
T1564 O
) O
O
Hidden O
window O
( O
T1564.003 O
) O
O
Indicator O
Removal O
on O
Host O
( O
T1070 O
) O
O
Clear O
Windows O
Event O
Logs O
( O
T1070.001 O
) O
O
File O
Deletion O
( O
T1070.004 O
) O
O
Timestomp O
( O
T1070.006 O
) O
O
Obfuscated O
Files O
or O
information O
( O
T1027 O
) O
O
Indicator O
Removal O
from O
Tools O
( O
T1027.005 O
) O
O
Virtualization O
/ O
Sandbox O
Evasion O
( O
T1497 O
) O
O
System O
Checks O
( O
T1497.004 O
) O
O
Modify O
Registry O
( O
T1112 O
) O
O
Deobfuscate O
/ O
Decode O
Files O
or O
Information O
( O
T1140 O
) O
O
Reflective O
Code O
Loading O
( O
T1620 O
) O
O
Valid O
Accounts O
( O
T1078 O
) O
O
Credential O
Access O
O
OS O
Credential O
Dumping O
( O
T1003 O
) O
O
NTDS O
( O
T1003.003 O
) O
O
Keylogging O
( O
T1003.001 O
) O
O
Discovery O
O
System O
Information O
Discovery O
( O
T1082 O
) O
O
File O
and O
Directory O
Discovery O
( O
T1083 O
) O
O
Account O
Discovery O
( O
T1087 O
) O
O
Local O
Account O
( O
T1087.001 O
) O
O
Domain O
Account O
( O
T1087.002 O
) O
O
System O
Network O
Configuration O
Discovery O
( O
T1016 O
) O
O
Virtualization O
/ O
Sandbox O
Evasion O
( O
T1497 O
) O
O
System O
Checks O
( O
T1497.001 O
) O
O
System O
Owner O
/ O
User O
Discovery O
( O
T1033 O
) O
O
System O
network O
Connections O
Discovery O
( O
T1049 O
) O
O
Network O
Service O
Scanning O
( O
T1046 O
) O
O
Process O
Discovery O
( O
T1057 O
) O
O
System O
Service O
Discovery O
( O
T1007 O
) O
O
Permission O
Groups O
Discovery O
( O
T1069 O
) O
O
Software O
Discovery O
( O
T1518 O
) O
O
Query O
Registry O
( O
T1012 O
) O
O
Lateral O
Movement O
O
Remote O
Services O
( O
T1021 O
) O
O
Remote O
Desktop O
Protocol O
( O
T1021.001 O
) O
O
SSH O
( O
T1021.004 O
) O
O
13/14 O
O
Collection O
O
Archive O
Collected O
Data O
( O
T1560 O
) O
O
Archive O
via O
Utility O
( O
T1560.001 O
) O
O
Data O
from O
Information O
Repositories O
( O
T1213 O
) O
O
Sharepoint O
( O
T1213.002 O
) O
O
Input O
Capture O
( O
T1056 O
) O
O
Keylogging O
( O
T1056.001 O
) O
O
Command O
and O
Control O
O
Web O
Service O
( O
T1102 O
) O
O
Application O
Layer O
Protocol O
( O
T1071 O
) O
O
Web O
Protocols O
( O
T1071.001 O
) O
O
DNS O
( O
T1071.004 O
) O
O
Encrypted O
Channel O
( O
T1573 O
) O
O
Asymmetric O
Cryptography O
( O
T1573.002 O
) O
O
Non O
- O
Application O
layer O
Protocol O
( O
T1095 O
) O
O
Non O
- O
Standard O
Port O
( O
T1571 O
) O
O
Ingress O
Tool O
Transfer O
( O
T1105 O
) O
O
Exfiltration O
O
Data O
Transfer O
Size O
Limits O
( O
T1030 O
) O
O
Impact O
O
Service O
Stop O
( O
T1489 O
) O
O
Discovery O
O
System O
Network O
Configuration O
Discovery O
( O
T1016 O
) O
O
Have O
questions O
? O
Let O
's O
talk O
. O
O
Mandiant B-ORGANIZATION
experts O
are O
ready O
to O
answer O
your O
questions O
. O
O
Contact O
Us O
O
14/14 O