Malicious certificates can be highly dangerous as they can be used to deceive users into trusting malicious websites or software.
This can lead to various security threats, including:-
- Data breaches
- Malware infections
- Phishing attacks
- Compromise user privacy
- Compromise system integrity
Cybersecurity researchers at ASEC (AhnLab Security Emergency Response Center) recently identified that threat actors are exploiting abnormal certificates to deliver info-stealing malware.
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Technical Analysis
Malicious code mimics certificates with randomly entered info, causing unusually long Subject and Issuer Names.
Certificate info remains hidden in Windows, which is only detectable with specific tools. So, the incorrect certificate and its information are useless for signature verification.
The signature uses non-English languages and special characters and shows little variation for over two months, suggesting a specific intention.
The distributed sample is a URL-encoded malicious script that fails to download and execute Powershell commands, remaining inactive in the infection process.
Two distinct malware types with this distinctive appearance are distributed. And here below, we have mentioned them:
- LummaC2: LummaC2 is the most adaptable malware in this distribution. Originally, it had self-contained malicious actions, but now it downloads configs from C2 and can install other malware like Amadey and Clipbanker.
- RecordBreaker: RecoreBreaker, aka Raccoon Stealer V2, spreads through YouTube and other malware. It employs a unique User-Agent value like ‘GeekingToTheMoon’ when connecting to C2, but its functionality remains largely unchanged.
Both malware types excel in information theft, potentially exposing sensitive user data like browser accounts, documents, and cryptocurrency wallets, and may install more malicious code for ongoing damage.
Malware on easily found malicious pages via search engines (SEO poisoning) threatens many users, often linked to illegal software keywords.
“The initial sample of LummaC2 sent info to ‘/c2sock,’ then modified versions downloaded config from ‘/c2conf’ and used ‘/api’ for both.
All the major changes are tracked by the ‘ver’ parameter, and besides this, the current version is 4.0.
Amadey downloads and installs malware via C2, ClipBanker changes copied wallet addresses, and LummaC2 can host added malware for ongoing C2 communication or wallet manipulation.
Users are seriously threatened by information-stealing malware that is continually changing, which emphasizes the crucial relevance of exercising vigilance and the necessity of taking strong cybersecurity measures to protect personal data and digital assets.
IOCs
eae39f18a51c151601eaf430245d3cb4
3c39098b93eb02c664d09e0f94736d95
89644b879046b97dccf71c68c88bcf42
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6b5ad8f456dc6704638d5b3e38135a2b
dbee35748bd993f3bd4a822d362f309d
331031e51a9816db6aa48a7dcff41c28
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e6facedba218387d24d6908a59f1730b
8329b54e5b8921825579c3eae37ee8b4
6260a3ea150744248ed0a155d079d2c8
a998f8d64d6953e1fdaafba655c84120
cbc06399af416c6b5a5aec73890a15a1
613425d8623f118e45fb65619f71c387
5d2359723a3acac158320a48f1930e08
05ab72ab29765fa803a9a88e940cc826
b484fdc3953f4d84e24ba8dd309accf2
7974df61d5906ca20e146c1b8b8b3aaa
0970196d074cbf7221f5be8208c7cba3
63a0789d8bfa599da31a7620947d7a24
d8b5732afb4897035043ea05ad84f928
a82d9b679c0df2a62939ee21939e7e7a
4cf108debe0314357431525f01376a56
de9cb5f942d9f73a1a5659172372b099
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b64c3663718228679df20e9282727110
0ece25acd98b2cd0beebd20d3fc11fd1
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