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Vietnamese Threat Actor’s Multi-Layered Strategy on Digital Marketing Professionals

Key takeaways


Cyble Research and Intelligence Labs (CRIL) uncovered a sophisticated multi-stage malware attack originating from an archive file that contains a malicious LNK file.

The lure document observed in the campaign indicates that the Threat Actor (TA) is targeting job seekers and digital marketing professionals, especially those involved with Meta Ads.

The malware employs several techniques to detect virtual machine environments, evading detection and analysis in sandboxed or emulated environments.

The malware uses multiple anti-debugging techniques to detect if it is being debugged, making analysis or reverse engineering more challenging.

The malware employs defense evasion techniques, including disabling event tracing and altering in-memory functions, to evade detection by security tools.

The malware attempts to escalate privileges to administrative levels using different approaches and sets up persistence by hiding in system directories, ensuring continued execution even after system reboots.

The malware employs AES encryption in several phases of execution to conceal the malicious payload, which is only decrypted in memory after passing anti-virtualization and anti-debugging checks. This strategy makes it difficult for static analysis engines to detect the threat, as the payload remains hidden until runtime.

The final stage of the attack deploys Quasar RAT, a well-known open-source remote access trojan, granting attackers full control over the compromised system. This access enables activities such as data theft, surveillance, and further exploitation of the system, making it a versatile tool for malicious purposes.

This campaign has been attributed to a Vietnamese Threat Actor based on its specific targeting of Meta Ads digital marketing professionals and the tools employed. The tactics and techniques used in this attack closely align with a previous campaign identified in July 2022, reinforcing the connection to the same threat group.

Overview

Cyble Research and Intelligence Lab (CRIL) has uncovered an advanced attack campaign that likely originates from spam emails containing phishing attachments. These emails include an archive file with an LNK file disguised as a PDF file. The attack begins when the LNK file triggers PowerShell-based commands, which proceed to download and execute additional scripts hosted externally. These scripts are highly encoded and obfuscated to evade detection by security tools. The TAs use a variety of evasion techniques, including checks for virtual machines, sandbox environments, and debugging tools, ensuring that the malicious code can remain undetected and function stealthily in non-virtualized environments while bypassing standard security defenses.

Once the environment is confirmed to be free from sandboxing or analysis, the payload is decrypted using hardcoded keys, resulting in the execution of Quasar RAT. In this final stage, attackers gain complete control over the compromised system, allowing them to conduct a range of malicious activities, including data exfiltration, persistent access, data theft, and even deploying additional malware.

In July 2022, a Vietnamese threat group began spreading Ducktail malware, an info-stealer targeting digital marketing professionals. Over time, the group expanded its operations, distributing additional information stealers and remote access trojans (RATs). They also leveraged Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS) to facilitate payload delivery, making their campaigns more versatile and scalable.

This campaign is attributed to the Vietnamese threat group due to several indicators: the choice of target victims, the tools employed in the attacks, the payload delivery mechanisms, and the creation of lure documents. These elements closely mirror the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) observed in previous campaigns identified by WithSecure, further linking this campaign to the same group. We have observed that the TA behind this campaign is also delivering malware families such as Stromkitty. The figure below shows the execution flow of this campaign.

Technical Analysis

Cyble Research and Intelligence Lab (CRIL) has identified a campaign that leverages a malicious LNK file containing a PowerShell command designed to download and execute an additional PowerShell script hosted on Dropbox using the link: hxxps://www.dropbox[.]com/scl/fi/b9diosgl68vg9xlaytsbz/sav3_encrypt[.]txt?rlkey=k2ojylfvks6xyef3vb21n45gp&st=suprpdhv&dl=1. This is done by using the Invoke-Expression (IEX) and Invoke-RestMethod (irm) PowerShell commands from the LNK file

Once downloaded, the script contains two components encoded in base64: a lure PDF file and a batch file. These are decoded and saved to the Downloads folder as “PositionApplied_VoyMedia.pdf” and “output.bat.” The script then executes these files using the “Start-Process” PowerShell command.

Lure Document Analysis:

The potential target of this attack is likely job seekers or professionals in the digital marketing, e-commerce, or performance marketing sectors, particularly those specializing in Meta (Facebook, Instagram) Ads within the United States. Figures 4 and 5 below show the lure document used in this campaign.

Output.bat

Upon execution, the “output.bat” file retrieves the disk drive type and manufacturer name using WMIC commands to detect if the system is running in a virtual machine. It checks for disk types such as “DADY HARDDISK”, “WDS100T2B0A” or “QEMU HARDDISK” and manufacturers like “BOCHS_”, “BXPC___”, “QEMU“, or “VirtualBox“. If any of these checks indicate a virtual environment, the script exits without further execution. However, if no virtual machine is detected, it proceeds to execute another obfuscated PowerShell script. The process tree below illustrates how malware checks the virtual environment.

 The de-obfuscated PowerShell code is shown below

The PowerShell script reads the content of the “output.bat” file by scanning each line that begins with “:: “ and extracts a substring. A separator is used to split the line into two sets of base64 strings. These base64 strings are then decoded and passed through an AES decryption process using a hardcoded key and IV, both of which are base64 encoded. After decryption, the data is decompressed using a GZip stream, and the resulting output is executed using Invoke-Expression through PowerShell.exe, as shown in Figure 7.

The decrypted payload results in a .NET executable, which is executed in memory via Invoke-Expression. It then carries out a series of detection-evasion checks using various methods defined within the .NET loader.

Triage environment check

This method performs a check for a Triage sandbox by querying the disk drive model using the command “SELECT * FROM Win32_DiskDrive”. It retrieves the model of the disk drive and compares it with “DADY HARDDISK” or “QEMU HARDDISK”. Additionally, it checks the Triage sandbox VM’s desktop wallpaper by comparing the bytes of the current wallpaper image file with a hardcoded set of bytes. If either of these checks detects the presence of Triage, the program throws an exception and halts execution.

Checks for Qemu

This method checks if the system is running in a QEMU virtual environment by searching for specific QEMU-related files in the system directory. It iterates through all the files in the system folder and checks if any file names contain the strings “qemu-ga” or “qemuwmi”. If a match is found, the method returns true; otherwise, it returns false.

Checks for Parallels

This method checks if the system is running in a Parallels virtual environment by searching for specific Parallels-related files in the system directory. It looks for file names containing the strings “prl_sf”, “prl_tg”, or “prl_eth”. If any of these strings are found in the system folder, the method returns true; otherwise, it returns false.

Sandbox Detection

These methods are designed to detect the presence of various sandboxing solutions by checking if specific DLL modules are loaded in the system. The malware detects Sandboxie by looking for the “SbieDll.dll” module, and if found, the method is designed to crash the Sandboxie environment. Similarly, the Comodo sandbox is identified by searching for either the “cmdvrt32.dll” or “cmdvrt64.dll” modules, while the Qihoo 360 sandbox is detected by checking for the “SxIn.dll” module. For Cuckoo sandbox detection, the system searches for the “cuckoomon.dll” module. If any of these modules are found, the system returns true, indicating a sandbox environment. In the case of Sandboxie, it intentionally crashes the environment.

Emulation environment checks

This method checks for emulation by measuring the system’s tick count before and after a 500-millisecond pause. If the time difference is less than 500 milliseconds, it suggests the system may be running in an emulated environment, returning true. Otherwise, it returns false.

Username checks

This method checks if the current system’s username matches any common usernames often associated with virtual machines, sandboxes, or test environments. It converts the current username to lowercase and compares it against a predefined list, which includes names like “Johnson,” “Miller,” “malware,” “Sandbox,” ”virus,” ”John Doe,” “test user,” “sand box,” “WDAGUtilityAccount,” “DefaultUser,”  If a match is found, it returns true, indicating that the system is running under virtual environment. Otherwise, it returns false.

Wine Emulator check

This method checks if the system is running in a Wine environment by looking for the presence of the “wine_get_unix_file_name” function in the kernel32.dll module. If the function is found, it returns true, indicating Wine is present; otherwise, it returns false.

VMWare check

This method checks if the system is running in a VMware or VirtualBox virtual environment by querying the “Select * from Win32_ComputerSystem”. It retrieves the manufacturer and model information of the system. If the manufacturer is “Microsoft Corporation” and the model contains “VIRTUAL,” or if the manufacturer contains “vmware,” it returns `true`, indicating the presence of a virtual environment. If no such conditions are met, it returns false.

KVM check

This method checks if the system is running in a KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) environment by searching for specific KVM-related drivers in the system directory. It looks for file names such as “balloon.sys“, “netkvm.sys“, “vioinput“, “viofs.sys”, and “vioser.sys”. If any of these files are found, it returns true, indicating a KVM environment.

Hyper-V check

This method checks if the system is running in a Hyper-V environment by inspecting the services currently running. It looks for services with names that contain “vmbus”, “VMBusHID”, or “hyperkbd”. If any of these services are found, it returns true, indicating the presence of Hyper-V.

Check for VMWare-related files

This method checks for the presence of virtual machine/Virtual box-related files and directories to detect a virtual environment. It searches the system directory for specific files like “VBoxMouse.sys”, “VBoxGuest.sys”, “VBoxSF.sys”, “VBoxVideo.sys”, “vmmouse.sys”, “vboxogl.dll”, and “vmmouse.sys” that are associated with VMware or VirtualBox. Additionally, it checks for the existence of directories like “C:\Program Files\VMware” or “C:\Program Files\oracle\virtualbox guest additions”. If any of these files or directories are found, it returns true, indicating the system is running in a virtual machine.

VMProcess Checks

This Method checks for the presence of processes associated with virtual machine environments by searching for specific process names, such as “vboxservice,” “VGAuthService,” “vmusrvc,” and “qemu-ga.” If any of these processes are found running on the system, it returns true, indicating the presence of a virtual machine. If none of these processes are detected, it returns false.

Device Check

This method checks for the presence of specific virtual machine-related device files by attempting to open paths such as \.pipecuckoo, \.HGFS, \.vmci, \.VBoxMiniRdrDN, \.VBoxGuest , \.pipeVBoxMiniRdrDN , \.VBoxTrayIPC. If any of these device files are successfully opened, it closes the file and returns true, indicating the system is likely running in a virtual machine.

Operating System Edition check

This method checks if the operating system is an Enterprise, Business, or Server edition by querying the Win32_OperatingSystem class and retrieving the OS name from the “Caption” field. If the OS name contains the words “Enterprise,” “Business,” or “Server,” it returns true, indicating that the system is running one of these editions.

If any of the above-mentioned methods return “True”, the program triggers an exception, halting the execution and preventing the intended malicious activity from being executed.

After these environmental checks, the program proceeds to assess whether it is being debugged. This stage typically involves additional scrutiny for signs of a debugging process or sandbox environment, such as monitoring for attached debuggers or identifying system artifacts that suggest the program is running under observation.

DebuggerAttached

This method performs various checks to detect if a debugger is attached to the current process. It checks for a debugger using standard .NET methods and by querying system information via the “NtQueryInformationProcess” function. These checks look for specific flags, ports, and object handles that indicate the presence of a debugger. If any of these conditions are met, the methods return `true`, indicating that the process is being debugged.

Using NtSetInformationThread

This method attempts to hide threads from a debugger by iterating through the current process’s threads. It opens each thread and uses the “NtSetInformationThread” function to hide it. If the operation succeeds for all threads, it returns “Success”; otherwise, if an error occurs, it returns “Failed.”

Using PageGuard

This method allocates a block of memory using “VirtualAlloc” and sets specific protections to detect if a debugger is present. It writes data to the allocated memory and changes its protection to include guard pages. If an exception is triggered when executing code from this memory block, it indicates the presence of a debugger, returning false. If no exception occurs, the memory is freed, and it returns true, indicating no debugger is detected.

Using Hardware Breakpoints

This code checks for hardware breakpoints by retrieving the current thread’s context, specifically the debug registers. If any of the debug registers (Dr1, Dr2, Dr3, Dr4, Dr5, Dr6, or Dr7) contain non-zero values, it indicates the presence of a hardware breakpoint, returning true. If no breakpoints are detected, it returns false.

Debugger attach

This method attempts to prevent debugging by modifying the behavior of specific functions in ntdll.dll. It retrieves the addresses of DbgUiRemoteBreakin and DbgBreakPoint and overwrites them with custom instructions (0xCC for DbgUiRemoteBreakin and 0xC3 for DbgBreakPoint). If the memory modification is successful, it returns “Success”; otherwise, it returns “Failed.”

If any of the above methods detect that the process is being debugged, the program immediately triggers an exception. This action effectively halts further execution and prevents the program from continuing its operations.

Antivirus check

Upon execution, the program specifically checks for antivirus products like Kaspersky, BitDefender, or Avast Antivirus. However, the presence of these security products on the system does not interfere with or halt the program’s execution. It continues running as intended.

Privilege Escalation

Once the .NET executable completes its checks, it verifies if it has administrative privileges. If not, it modifies the Process Environment Block (PEB) of the current process to change its image path and command line to “C:Windowsexplorer.exe“. After modifying the PEB, it initiates a new instance of the current process using a PowerShell command with the “-Verb runas” option, running the process in hidden mode with elevated admin privileges.

If the PowerShell method fails for any reason, the process switches to an alternative approach by invoking a COM object (CMSTPLUA) using the CLSID “3E5FC7F9-9A51-4367-9063-A120244FBEC7” with the prefix “Elevation:Administrator!new:”. It then calls ShellExec to launch a new instance of the current process with elevated administrative privileges.

Persistence

After achieving privilege escalation, the .NET executable checks the process’s origin to determine whether it is running from the “Windows” directory. If the process is not operating from this directory, it sets up persistence by creating a hidden folder named “$rbx-onimai” in the “C:Windows” directory and copies itself into this folder as “$rbx-CO2.bat”. The original file located in the “Downloads” folder is then deleted. Afterward, it initiates a new instance from the “C:Windows$rbx-onimai” folder using the following command.

Command : cmd.exe /C echo Start-Process -FilePath C:Windows$rbx-onimal$rbx-CO2.bat -WindowStyle Hidden | powershell.exe -WindowStyle Hidden

It also creates a run entry by modifying the registry key of “SOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun$rbx-XVR” to point to the newly copied file, ensuring it runs automatically after restart.

Defense Evasion

Upon Execution, the .Net executable modifies the “EtwEventWrite” function in ntdll.dll to disable event tracing by inserting specific opcode code.


On 32-bit systems, it replaces the function with the opcodes “0xC2, 0x14”, which translates to the assembly instruction RETN 20. This causes the function to return early and bypass its normal operations.

On 64-bit systems, it uses the opcode “0xC3”, which corresponds to the instruction RET, making the function return immediately.

After this, it decrypts data from its resource section labeled “1789d7d0-48bf-48f5-bad6-e0262117d577.tmp” using AES decryption with a hardcoded base64 key and IV. The decrypted data is subsequently decompressed using GZip.

Quasar RAT

In the final step, the .NET executable runs the decompressed payload using the Invoke command. The payload has been identified as Quasar RAT, but the threat actor has made several modifications, such as changing the certificate name and other references where “Quasar RAT” typically appears. These alterations are likely intended to evade detection and attribution.

Quasar RAT configuration:

Field
Value

Tag
 Team

version
 1.7.3

Hosts
 “144.76.68.248:4782;”

Sub-Directory
 “$cnt-onimai2”

Install Name
 “$cnt-CO2.exe”

Mutex
 “928569f3-e524-4f67-936e-0d7f0a47cfad”

Startup Key
 “$cnt-Onimai”

Log Directory name
 “$cnt-Logs”

Additional Information:

Additionally, the program includes several checks designed to detect debuggers and evaluate the system’s environment, though these specific methods are not directly called. This suggests that the TA may have implemented these checks as part of a more extensive anti-debugging or evasion mechanism. By leaving these methods dormant, the TA retains the option to enable further checks in the future, enhancing the program’s ability to evade detection or analysis in debugging or virtualized environments.

Analysis Tools check

This method checks for debugging or reverse engineering tools by searching for specific process window titles or the foreground window’s title. It looks for tools like x32dbg, x64dbg, windbg, ollydbg, dnspy, immunity debugger, hyperdbg, cheat engine, cheatengine, ida, and wireshark. If any of these tools are detected in the process list or as the current foreground window, it either closes the process or flags their presence by returning true. If none are found, it returns false.

OutputDebug string

This code attempts to detect a debugger by logging a message and checking the result of “GetLastWin32Error()”, returning true if no error is found. Additionally, it logs a specially crafted format string to potentially exploit vulnerabilities in certain debuggers like OllyDbg by flooding it with “%s” format specifiers.

Drivers Execution check

These two methods check whether unsigned drivers and test-signed drivers are allowed to run on the system by querying the system’s Code Integrity settings using NtQuerySystemInformation. This is done to evaluate if the machine could be a potential malware-testing environment. If unsigned drivers are allowed, the method returns True. Similarly, if test-signed drivers are permitted, it also returns True.

Kernel Debugging check

The method checks if kernel debugging is active on the system. It does so by querying the system information using the “NtQuerySystemInformation” function (with a specific system information class ‘35’). It retrieves the status of the kernel debugger through the “SYSTEM_KERNEL_DEBUGGER_INFORMATION” structure. The method returns true if either the kernel debugger is enabled or present but not active. Otherwise, it returns false.

This check helps determine if the system is being debugged, which can be useful in detecting potential test environments.

SecureBoot Check

The method checks if Secure Boot is enabled on the system. It queries system information using NtQuerySystemInformation with a system information class 145 to retrieve Secure Boot status via the SYSTEM_SECUREBOOT_INFORMATION structure. The method returns true if the system is Secure Boot capable and Secure Boot is enabled. Otherwise, it returns false.

Virtualization Check

This method checks if Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) is enabled on the system. It queries the system using WMI to check the encryption status of the system volume (C: drive) through the Win32_EncryptableVolume class. The method returns true if the volume’s “ProtectionStatus” is 1, indicating that encryption is enabled (suggesting VBS is active). If any errors occur during the query, the method catches the exception and returns false.

Memory Integrity check

This method checks if Memory Integrity (also known as Hypervisor-Enforced Code Integrity) is enabled on the system. It reads a specific registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlDeviceGuardScenariosHypervisorEnforcedCodeIntegrity. If the Enabled value in the registry key is set to 1, the method returns true, indicating that Memory Integrity is enabled. If the key or value is not present or an error occurs, the method returns false.

Invoke Assembly check

This method checks whether the currently executing assembly (the program) is running from a different location than the application’s expected executable path. It does this by comparing the location of the executing assembly (Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location) with the application’s executable path (Application.ExecutablePath). If they differ, the method returns true, indicating that the assembly may have been invoked or loaded from an unusual or external location.

The code performs several security checks to determine if the system is potentially insecure or used for malware testing. It checks conditions like whether unsigned drivers are permitted, whether Secure Boot is disabled, kernel debugging is active, and whether key security features like Virtualization-Based Security and Memory Integrity are turned off. It also verifies if the program is running from an unexpected location. Additionally, it cross-checks the username against a list of blacklisted names commonly associated with testing environments. If any of these checks trigger a flag, and the username matches a blacklisted name, the program throws an exception, stopping any malicious activity from proceeding.

Conclusion

This attack demonstrates a sophisticated, multi-layered approach to deploying the Quasar RAT, using a seemingly benign LNK file as the initial entry point. Through the use of sandbox evasion, anti-virtualization checks, and privilege escalation techniques (such as PowerShell and CMSTP), the TA ensures that the payload bypasses detection and establishes persistent control over compromised systems.

The employment of AES encryption for the payload, along with anti-debugging techniques and advanced .NET-based obfuscation, illustrates the attackers’ strong focus on evading traditional security solutions and complicating the analysis and reverse engineering process. The modular structure of the attack, with some evasion techniques left unused but ready to deploy based on the target environment, underscores the threat actor’s adaptability and capability to overcome varying levels of defense.

This campaign aligns closely with the ongoing operations of a Vietnamese threat group that has been active since July 2022. The group initially spread Ducktail malware, targeting digital marketing professionals. Over time, the group has evolved, expanding its operations through the use of Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS) and replicating its tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) across multiple campaigns.

Recommendations


Ensure robust email security tools are in place to detect and block malicious email attachments, such as LNK files or suspicious links. Advanced filtering systems with AI and machine learning can help detect unusual patterns and phishing attempts that may bypass traditional security filters.

PowerShell is a common tool leveraged in attacks. Monitor its usage via logging, restrict execution policies to signed scripts, and enforce strict policies on script execution to prevent unauthorized scripts from running. Disable or limit PowerShell on systems where it is unnecessary to mitigate risk.

Implement security solutions that utilize behavioral analysis to detect unusual system activities, such as process injection, sandbox evasion techniques, or modifications to critical functions like EtwEventWrite. These tools can flag abnormal behavior in real time and prevent attacks before they escalate.

Ensure that users operate with the least privileges necessary for their roles. Limit administrative access and restrict execution of potentially harmful scripts or processes, like PowerShell, to reduce the risk of privilege escalation.

Keep all systems, software, and antivirus solutions updated with the latest patches. Regular updates help protect against vulnerabilities that threat actors often exploit to deliver malicious payloads or execute privilege escalation techniques.

MITRE ATT&CK® Techniques

Tactic
Technique
Procedure

Initial Access (TA0001)
Phishing (T1566)
The LNK file in a RAR archive may be delivered through phishing or spam emails.

Execution (TA0002)
Command and Scripting Interpreter: PowerShell (T1059.001)
The LNK file executes PowerShell commands

Execution (TA0002)
Windows Command Shell (T1059.003)
Uses cmd.exe to execute wmic and findstr commands

Persistence (TA0003)
Boot or Logon Autostart Execution: Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder (T1547.001)
Added Run entry by modifying the Registry key

Privilege Escalation (TA0004)
CMSTP (T1218.003)
CMSTPLUA is used for UAC bypass

Defense Evasion (TA0005)
Obfuscated Files or Information: LNK Icon Smuggling (T1027.012)  
LNK file comes with PDF Icon

Defense Evasion (TA0005)
Obfuscated Files or Information: Encrypted/Encoded File (T1027.013)
TA decrypts the payload using AES decryption

Defense Evasion (TA0005)
Disabling Security Tools (T1562.001)
EtwEventWrite function in ntdll.dll is modified to disable event tracing

Defense Evasion (TA0005)
Virtualization/Sandbox Evasion (T1497)
Checks for virtual environments (e.g., QEMU, VirtualBox, VMware, Sandboxie)

Defense Evasion (TA0005)
Process Injection (T1055)
Invoke-Expression is used to invoke decrypted payloads

Discovery (TA0007)
Query Registry (T1012)
The script queries registry keys to gather system information for further checks, including checks related to virtualization.

Discovery (TA0007)
System Information Discovery (T1082)
Using Windows Management Instrumentation Control gathers system information.

Command and Control (TA0011)
Encrypted Channel (T1573)
The final payload, Quasar RAT, establishes C2 communication over an encrypted channel (AES encryption used in earlier stages).

Command and Control (TA0011)
Application Layer Protocol (T1071)
After the payload is executed, the Quasar RAT communicates with its C2 server over standard HTTP or other application layer protocols.

Indicators Of Compromise

Indicators
Indicator Type
Description

dc616cc55a345e448a058368aea7c99ab9dd2a9c8ec42674312b66dbc29b7878
SHA-256
Career_Development_Plan_for_Meta_Ads_Specialist_Hotpoint_With_Numerical.rar

3de5e0b27c69c93b4c4b4812ed4453d4b81e99b7d407640a752e62e33b1ede2a
SHA-256
Career_Development_Plan_for_Meta_Ads_Specialist_Hotpoint_With_Numerical/Career_Development_Plan_for_Meta_Ads_Specialist_Hotpoint_With_Numerical.lnk

hxxps://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/9p8no6tz85e09vg59kfwk/sav2_encrypt.txt?rlkey=hw7c83mq8uws216q3d4b1cfyi&st=4oycb9or&dl=1
URL
URL from LNK

9a00d0859bc7a81d6e289a414c39aa2bd95319fa3d1d0e5f1be6d348604d640c
SHA-256
payload_1.ps1 (downloaded from Dropbox)

b35452610c2cbc5a6a2bebd82af7c3883037b40be7072e43fc5989298bb26ea5
SHA-256
PositionApplied_VoyMedia.pdf <space>  .lnk

d8bc59a1acf2f9a14a2fb96de979672dbed27d798eecc9454021f352f2bf973a
SHA-256
PositionApplied_VoyMedia.rar

16ef774020e5754e4a8890789b7c798376a9521823c8897f9c97af5b33b27013
SHA-256
payload_1.bin

8229f281a93f18612a47843aa69e94312b52180e7f775fd58e5ea04608e23bd0
SHA-256
LNK file delivers stromkitty

The post Vietnamese Threat Actor’s Multi-Layered Strategy on Digital Marketing Professionals appeared first on Cyble.

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IT Vulnerability Weekly Report: Cyble Urges Fixes for Fortinet, Palo Alto & More

Overview

Cyble Research and Intelligence Labs (CRIL) investigated 27 vulnerabilities during the week of October 9-15 and identified 11 as high-priority fixes for security teams.

Cyble researchers also observed 14 vulnerability exploits discussed on dark web and cybercrime forums, raising the likelihood that those vulnerabilities will be exploited more frequently.

Of the vulnerabilities highlighted by Cyble threat researchers, two are being actively exploited by state-sponsored threat actors, and five could be chained together to hijack Palo Alto Networks firewalls.

Among the vulnerabilities investigated by Cyble researchers this week, Cyble’s Odin vulnerability exposure search tool detected 427,000 vulnerable Fortinet devices exposed to the internet after CVE-2024-23113, a 9.8-severity Format String Vulnerability, was added to CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on Oct. 9.

Other vulnerable web-facing assets detected by Cyble Odin include 87,000 exposed GitLab and SAML instances, 35,000 vulnerable Zimbra servers, 7,800 vulnerable Ivanti Cloud Services Appliances, and 2,400 exposed Veeam Backup instances (chart below). Cyble issued separate advisories regarding several of those vulnerabilities (see links).

Product & Vulnerability
Internet Exposures

Fortinet (CVE-2024-23113)
427,134

Gitlab EE (CVE-2024-9164)
87,402

SAML Toolkits (CVE-2024-45409)
87,042

Zimbra Web Client (CVE-2024-45519)
35,064

Ivanti CSA (CVE2024-9380, CVE-2024-9379)
7,831

Veeam Backup & Replication (CVE-2024- 40711)
2,408

Below are the 11 high-priority vulnerabilities and 14 dark web exploits in detail.

The Top IT Vulnerabilities

These 11 vulnerabilities should be prioritized by security teams, according to Cyble researchers.

CVE-2024-30088: A high-severity privilege escalation vulnerability in Windows that enables attackers to escalate their privileges to the SYSTEM level, giving them significant control over compromised devices. Researchers disclosed that the Iranian state-sponsored hacking group APT34, aka OilRig, is exploiting the CVE-2024-30088 flaw to elevate their privileges on compromised devices in their new campaigns targeting government and critical infrastructure entities in the United Arab Emirates and the Gulf region.

CVE-2024-9486: This critical vulnerability affects Kubernetes Image Builder, a specialized tool designed for creating virtual machine images that are optimized for Kubernetes environments. The flaw impacts versions <= v0.1.37, where default credentials are enabled during the image build process. The credentials can be used to gain root access. Kubernetes clusters are only affected if their nodes use VM images created via the Image Builder project with its Proxmox provider.

CVE-2024-38178: A high-severity type confusion vulnerability that impacts Internet Explorer. Recently, government agencies disclosed that ScarCruft, a state-sponsored cyber-espionage threat actor known for targeting systems in South Korea and Europe, launched a new campaign dubbed “Code on Toast.” This campaign leveraged toast pop-up ads to perform zero-click malware infections by exploiting the CVE-2024-38178 vulnerability.

CVE-2024-40711: This critical deserialization of untrusted data vulnerability impacts Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR) and can lead to unauthenticated remote code execution (RCE). Recently, researchers discovered that Akira and Fog ransomware groups are now exploiting the vulnerability to gain RCE on vulnerable servers.

CVE-2024-9164: This critical vulnerability impacts GitLab Enterprise Edition (EE). The flaw allows unauthorized users to trigger Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) pipelines on any branch of a repository. An attacker capable of bypassing branch protections could potentially perform code execution or gain access to sensitive information.

CVE-2024-9463, CVE-2024-9464, CVE-2024-9465, CVE-2024-9466, CVE-2024-9467: These vulnerabilities – the first of which carries a 9.9 severity rating – impact Palo Alto Networks Expedition, a migration tool designed to facilitate the transition of network configurations from various vendors to Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS. This tool is particularly useful for organizations looking to switch from competitors, as it helps streamline the migration process and reduce the time and effort required for configuration changes. The flaws can be chained to let attackers hijack PAN-OS firewalls and are being discussed by threat actors (see dark web section below). CVE-2024-9463 and CVE-2024-9464 are OS command injection vulnerabilities allowing an unauthenticated attacker to run arbitrary OS commands as root in Expedition. Upon successful exploitation, the vulnerabilities may result in the disclosure of usernames, cleartext passwords, device configurations, and device API keys of PAN-OS firewalls.

CVE-2024-9465 is an SQL injection vulnerability that allows an unauthenticated attacker to reveal Expedition database contents, such as password hashes, usernames, device configurations, and device API keys. CVE-2024-9466 is a vulnerability in cleartext storage of sensitive information that allows an authenticated attacker to reveal firewall usernames, passwords, and API keys generated using those credentials. CVE-2024-9467 is a reflected XSS vulnerability allowing attackers to execute malicious JavaScript code in the context of an authenticated Expedition user’s browser.

Dark Web and Cybercrime Forum Exploits

Cyble researchers also observed numerous vulnerability exploits discussed in cybercrime forums and on Telegram channels. These vulnerabilities could become increasingly exploited because of these dark web activities, meriting higher priority attention from security teams.

CVE-2024-30052: A remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability affecting Microsoft Visual Studio, particularly versions 2022 prior to 17.8.11 and certain configurations of Visual Studio 2019.

CVE-2024-20353: A critical vulnerability identified in Cisco’s Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) and Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) software, which allows for a Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack. The vulnerability enables an attacker to send crafted HTTP requests that can cause the device to reload unexpectedly, leading to service disruptions.

CVE-2024-7479: A critical security vulnerability affecting TeamViewer’s Remote Client and Remote Host products for Windows. The vulnerability arises from improper verification of cryptographic signatures during the installation of VPN drivers, allowing attackers with local, unprivileged access to escalate their privileges and execute arbitrary code.

CVE-2024-7481: A critical security vulnerability affecting TeamViewer’s Remote Client and Remote Host products for Windows. The vulnerability arises from improper verification of cryptographic signatures during the installation of printer drivers, allowing attackers with local, unprivileged access to escalate their privileges and execute arbitrary code.

CVE-2024-42640: A critical vulnerability affecting the angular-base64-upload library, specifically in versions prior to v0.1.21. This vulnerability allows remote code execution (RCE) through the demo/server.php endpoint, enabling attackers to upload arbitrary files to the server.

CVE-2024-9464: A critical OS command injection vulnerability found in Palo Alto Networks’ Expedition tool, which allows an attacker to execute arbitrary OS commands as root, potentially leading to the disclosure of sensitive information.

CVE-2024-45409: A critical vulnerability affecting the Ruby-SAML and OmniAuth-SAML libraries. This flaw allows unauthenticated attackers to bypass Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) authentication mechanisms by exploiting weaknesses in the signature verification process of SAML responses.

CVE-2024-45200: A recently identified vulnerability affecting Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, specifically versions prior to 3.0.3. This security flaw, dubbed “KartLANPwn,” is classified as a stack-based buffer overflow that occurs during the local multiplayer (LAN/LDN) gameplay mode, which allows remote attackers on the same local network to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial-of-service (DoS) condition on the victim’s console without requiring user interaction or elevated privileges.

CVE-2024-6769: This vulnerability affects multiple versions of Microsoft Windows, including Windows 10, Windows 11, and various Windows Server editions. It exploits a combination of DLL Hijacking and Activation Cache Poisoning, allowing an attacker to elevate privileges from a medium to a high-integrity process without triggering a User Account Control (UAC) prompt.

CVE-2024-38816: A high-severity path traversal vulnerability was discovered in the Spring Framework and VMWare Tanzu Spring platform, affecting multiple versions. This vulnerability allows attackers to exploit improper handling of static resources, potentially gaining unauthorized access to sensitive files on the server.

CVE-2024-5830: A critical security vulnerability was discovered in Google Chrome’s V8 JavaScript engine, affecting versions prior to 126.0.6478.54. This vulnerability is a type of confusion bug that an attacker can exploit to execute arbitrary code within the Chrome renderer sandbox simply by enticing a victim to visit a malicious website.

CVE-2024-20404: A medium severity vulnerability affecting the webbased management interface of Cisco Finesse. The issue comes from insufficient validation of user-supplied input for specific HTTP requests, which allows remote attackers to conduct Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) attacks on an affected system.

CVE-2024-0044: A high-severity vulnerability affecting Android versions 12, 12L, 13, and 14 and is present in the createSessionInternal function of the PackageInstallerService.java, allowing attackers to execute a “run-as any app” attack. This exploit can lead to local escalation of privileges without requiring user interaction, primarily due to improper input validation.

CVE-2024-45519: A critical Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability was discovered in the postjournal service of the Zimbra Collaboration Suite, a widely used email and collaboration platform.

Cyble Recommendations

To protect against these vulnerabilities and exploits, organizations should implement the following best practices:


To mitigate vulnerabilities and protect against exploits, regularly update all software and hardware systems with the latest patches from official vendors.

Develop a comprehensive patch management strategy that includes inventory management, patch assessment, testing, deployment, and verification. Automate the process where possible to ensure consistency and efficiency.

Divide your network into distinct segments to isolate critical assets from less secure areas. Use firewalls, VLANs, and access controls to limit access and reduce the attack surface exposed to potential threats.

Create and maintain an incident response plan that outlines procedures for detecting, responding to, and recovering from security incidents. Regularly test and update the plan to ensure its effectiveness and alignment with current threats.

Implement comprehensive monitoring and logging solutions to detect and analyze suspicious activities. Use SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) systems to aggregate and correlate logs for real-time threat detection and response.

Subscribe to security advisories and alerts from official vendors, CERTs, and other authoritative sources. Regularly review and assess the impact of these alerts on your systems and take appropriate actions.

Conduct regular vulnerability assessment and penetration testing (VAPT) exercises to identify and remediate vulnerabilities in your systems. Complement these exercises with periodic security audits to ensure compliance with security policies and standards.

Conclusion

These vulnerabilities highlight the urgent need for security teams to prioritize patching critical vulnerabilities in major products. With increasing discussions of these exploits on dark web forums, organizations must stay vigilant and proactive. Implementing strong security practices is essential to protect sensitive data and maintain system integrity.

The post IT Vulnerability Weekly Report: Cyble Urges Fixes for Fortinet, Palo Alto & More appeared first on Cyble.

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Cyera Acquires Data Loss Prevention Firm Trail Security for $162 Million

Data security company Cyera has acquired stealth mode startup Trail Security for its data loss prevention (DLP) technology. 

The post Cyera Acquires Data Loss Prevention Firm Trail Security for $162 Million appeared first on SecurityWeek.

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