Cracking the Code: How Banshee Stealer Targets macOS Users
Executive Summary: Since September, Check Point Research (CPR) has been monitoring a new version of the Banshee macOS Stealer, a malware that steals
FunkSec – Alleged Top Ransomware Group Powered by AI
- The FunkSec ransomware group emerged in late 2024 and published over 85 victims in December, surpassing every other ransomware group that month. FunkSec operators appear to use AI-assisted malware development which can enable even inexperienced actors to quickly produce and refine advanced tools. The group’s activities straddle the line between hacktivism and cybercrime, complicating efforts to understand their true motivations. Many of the group’s leaked datasets are recycled from previous hacktivism campaigns, raising doubts about the authenticity of their disclosures. Current methods of assessing ransomware group threats often rely on the actors’ own claims, highlighting the need for more objective evaluation techniques.
Gaming Engines: An Undetected Playground for Malware Loaders
- Check Point Research discovered a new technique taking advantage of Godot Engine, a popular open-source game engine, to execute crafted GDScript, code which triggers malicious commands and delivers malware. The technique remains undetected by almost all antivirus engines in VirusTotal. Check Point identified GodLoader, a loader that employs this new technique. The threat actor behind this malware has been utilizing it since June 29, 2024, infecting over 17,000 machines The malicious GodLoader is distributed by the Stargazers Ghost Network, a GitHub network that distributes malware as a service. Throughout September and October, approximately 200 repositories and over 225 Stargazers were used to legitimize the repositories distributing the malware. This new technique allows threat actors to target and infect devices across multiple platforms, such as Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS. Check Point Research demonstrates how this multi-platform technique can successfully drop payloads in Linux and MacOS. * A potential attack can target over 1.2 million users of Godot-developed games. These scenarios involve taking advantage of legitimate Godot executables to load malicious scripts in the form of mods or other downloadable content.
CopyRh(ight)adamantys Campaign: Rhadamantys Exploits Intellectual Property Infringement Baits
- Check Point Research is tracking an ongoing, large scale and sophisticated phishing campaign deploying the newest version of the Rhadamanthys stealer (0.7). We dubbed this campaign CopyRh(ight)adamantys. This campaign utilizes a copyright infringement theme to target various regions, including the United States, Europe, East Asia, and South America. The campaign impersonates dozens of companies, while each email is sent to a specific targeted entity from a different Gmail account, adapting the impersonated company and the language per targeted entity. Almost 70% of the impersonated companies are from Entertainment /Media and Technology/Software sectors. Analysis of the lures and targets in this campaign suggests the threat actor uses automation for lures distribution. Due to the scale of the campaign and the variety of the lures and sender emails, there is a possibility that the threat actor also utilized AI tools. One of the main updates in the Rhadamanthys stealer version according to claims by the author, is AI-powered text recognition. However, we discovered that the component introduced by Rhadamanthys does not incorporate any of the modern AI engines, but instead uses much older classic machine learning, typical for OCR software.
Check Point - Wrong Check Point (CVE-2024-24919)
Gather round, gather round - it’s time for another blogpost tearing open an SSLVPN appliance and laying bare a recent in-the-wild exploited bug. This time, it is Check Point who is the focus of our penetrative gaze. Check Point, for those unaware, is the vendor responsible for the 'CloudGuard Network Security' appliance, yet another device claiming to be secure and hardened. Their slogan - "you deserve the best security" - implies they are a company you can trust with the security of your network. A bold claim.
Rhadamanthys v0.5.0 - a deep dive into the stealer’s components
- The Rhadamanthys stealer is a multi-layer malware, sold on the black market, and frequently updated. Recently the author released a new major version, 0.5.0. In the new version, the malware expands its stealing capabilities and also introduces some general-purpose spying functions. A new plugin system makes the malware expandable for specific distributor needs. The custom executable formats, used for modules, are unchanged since our last publication (XS1 and XS2 formats are still in distribution). Check Point Research (CPR) provides a comprehensive review of the agent modules, presenting their capabilities and implementation, with a focus on how the stealer components are loaded and how they work.
Into the Trash: Analyzing LitterDrifter
Gamaredon, also known as Primitive Bear, ACTINIUM, and Shuckworm, is a unique player in the Russian espionage ecosystem that targets a wide variety of almost exclusively Ukrainian entities. While researchers often struggle to uncover evidence of Russian espionage activities, Gamaredon is notably conspicuous. The group behind it conducts large-scale campaigns while still primarily focusing on regional targets. The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) identified the Gamaredon personnel as Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officers.
Queuejumper: Critical Unauthorized RCE Vulnerability In MSMQ Service
Check Point Research recently discovered three vulnerabilities in the “Microsoft Message Queuing” service, commonly known as MSMQ. These vulnerabilities were disclosed to Microsoft and patched in the April Patch Tuesday update. The most severe of these, dubbed QueueJumper by CPR (CVE-2023-21554), is a critical vulnerability that could allow unauthorized attackers to remotely execute arbitrary code in the context of the Windows service process mqsvc.exe.
Pulling the Curtains on Azov Ransomware: Not a Skidsware but Polymorphic Wiper - Check Point Research
- Check Point Research (CPR) provides under-the-hood details of its analysis of the infamous Azov Ransomware * Investigation shows that Azov is capable of modifying certain 64-bit executables to execute its own code * Azov is designed to inflict impeccable damage to the infected machine it runs on * CPR sees over 17K of Azov-related samples submitted to VirusTotal
Bumblebee: increasing its capacity and evolving its TTPs
The spring of 2022 saw a spike in activity of Bumblebee loader, a recent threat that has garnered a lot of attention due to its many links to several well-known malware families.
Queuejumper: Critical Unauthorized RCE Vulnerability In MSMQ Service
Check Point Research recently discovered three vulnerabilities in the “Microsoft Message Queuing” service, commonly known as MSMQ. These vulnerabilities were disclosed to Microsoft and patched in the April Patch Tuesday update. The most severe of these, dubbed QueueJumper by CPR (CVE-2023-21554), is a critical vulnerability that could allow unauthorized attackers to remotely execute arbitrary code in the context of the Windows service process mqsvc.exe.
Pulling the Curtains on Azov Ransomware: Not a Skidsware but Polymorphic Wiper - Check Point Research
* Check Point Research (CPR) provides under-the-hood details of its analysis of the infamous Azov Ransomware * Investigation shows that Azov is capable of modifying certain 64-bit executables to execute its own code * Azov is designed to inflict impeccable damage to the infected machine it runs on * CPR sees over 17K of Azov-related samples submitted to VirusTotal
Bumblebee: increasing its capacity and evolving its TTPs
The spring of 2022 saw a spike in activity of Bumblebee loader, a recent threat that has garnered a lot of attention due to its many links to several well-known malware families.