All news with #backdoor found tag

Malware Distributed Through Trusted Gaming Resources

🎮 Several incidents show attackers distributing malware via trusted gaming channels, including a compromised Endgame Gear OP1w utility, infected early-access Steam titles, and malicious skins on the official Minecraft site. The Endgame Gear installer likely contained the XRed backdoor, while Steam cases involved infostealers such as Trojan.Win32.Lazzzy.gen that harvested cookies and credentials. Users suffered account takeovers and data loss; recommended defenses include up-to-date antivirus, cautious vetting of downloads, and using gaming security modes that minimize disruption.

Malicious PyPI Packages Deliver SilentSync Remote RAT

⚠️ Zscaler ThreatLabz researchers discovered two malicious Python packages, sisaws and secmeasure, that were designed to deliver the SilentSync remote access trojan to Windows hosts. Both packages, uploaded by a user identified as 'CondeTGAPIS' and since removed from PyPI, contained downloader logic that retrieved a second-stage Python payload (via Pastebin) and executed code in memory. SilentSync can execute commands, harvest browser credentials and cookies, capture screenshots, and exfiltrate files, while offering persistence mechanisms across Windows, Linux and macOS.

TA558 Deploys AI-Generated Scripts to Install Venom RAT

⚠️Kaspersky tracked TA558, operating under the cluster known as RevengeHotels, using AI-generated JavaScript and PowerShell loaders in summer 2025 to deliver Venom RAT to hotels in Brazil and Spanish-speaking markets. Phishing emails in Portuguese and Spanish used reservation and job-application lures to coax users into running a WScript payload that chains to a PowerShell downloader fetching 'cargajecerrr.txt' and subsequent loaders. The Venom RAT, based on Quasar, includes data-stealing, reverse-proxy, persistence and aggressive anti-kill features aimed at harvesting payment card data from hotel systems and OTAs.

Chinese TA415 Abuses VS Code Remote Tunnel for Espionage

🔒 Proofpoint reported that a China-aligned threat actor tracked as TA415 conducted spear-phishing in July–August 2025, impersonating U.S. policy officials and the U.S.-China Business Council to target government, think tank, and academic personnel focused on trade and economic policy. The messages delivered password-protected archives on public cloud services that contained a Windows shortcut which executed a hidden batch script and an obfuscated Python loader named WhirlCoil while displaying a decoy PDF. The loader establishes a VS Code Remote Tunnel to enable persistent backdoor access, harvests system and user data, exfiltrates it via base64-encoded HTTP posts to free request-logging services, and establishes scheduled tasks (e.g., GoogleUpdate) for persistence.

Vulnerabilities Found in Securam Prologic Electronic Safes

🔓 Two security researchers, Omo and Rowley, disclosed critical vulnerabilities in Securam Prologic electronic safe locks that can be abused to open many devices without specialized tools. One flaw exploits a legitimate locksmith unlock feature and, according to the researchers, can expose codes remotely or with trivial access. The pair delayed public disclosure after receiving legal threats from Securam and only proceeded after securing pro bono counsel from the EFF’s Coders’ Rights Project. Securam says it will update its locks by year’s end but will not patch units already sold.

Mustang Panda Uses SnakeDisk USB Worm to Deliver Yokai

🐍 IBM X-Force reports that China-aligned Mustang Panda is deploying a new USB worm, SnakeDisk, to propagate the Yokai backdoor against machines geolocated to Thailand. The actor also introduced updated TONESHELL variants (TONESHELL8/9) with proxy-aware C2 and parallel reverse shells. SnakeDisk abuses DLL side-loading and USB volume masquerading—moving user files into a subfolder and presenting a deceptive 'USB.exe' lure before restoring originals—to spread selectively on Thailand-based public IPs.

AI-Powered Villager Pen Testing Tool Raises Abuse Concerns

⚠️ The AI-driven penetration testing framework Villager, attributed to China-linked developer Cyberspike, has attracted nearly 11,000 PyPI downloads since its July 2025 upload, prompting warnings about potential abuse. Marketed as a red‑teaming automation platform, it integrates Kali toolsets, LangChain, and AI models to convert natural‑language commands into technical actions and orchestrate tests. Researchers found built‑in plugins resembling remote access tools and known hacktools, and note Villager’s use of ephemeral Kali containers, randomized ports, and an AI task layer that together lower the bar for misuse and complicate detection and attribution.

HiddenGh0st, Winos and kkRAT Abuse SEO and GitHub Pages

🚨 Fortinet and Zscaler researchers describe an SEO poisoning campaign that targets Chinese-speaking users by surfacing spoofed download pages and GitHub Pages that host trojanized installers. Attackers manipulated search rankings and registered lookalike domains to trick victims into downloading installers bundling legitimate applications with hidden malware such as HiddenGh0st and Winos. Delivery chains use scripts (for example, nice.js), multi-stage JSON redirects, malicious DLLs and DLL sideloading to evade detection and establish persistence.

Fileless AsyncRAT infection leverages in-memory loaders

🔍 Security researchers at LevelBlue Labs identified an open-source Remote Access Trojan, AsyncRAT, being deployed via a multi-stage, fileless in-memory loader that avoids writing executables to disk. Attackers gained initial access through a compromised ConnectWise ScreenConnect client, executing a VBScript which invoked PowerShell to fetch two staged .NET assemblies. The first-stage assembly decodes payloads into byte arrays and uses reflection to run the secondary assembly directly in memory, while operators disabled AMSI and tampered with ETW to evade runtime detection. Persistence was achieved with a scheduled task disguised as "Skype Update," and the RAT used an AES-256 encrypted configuration to connect to a DuckDNS-based C2.

Fileless Malware Uses Legitimate Tools to Deploy AsyncRAT

🔍 Researchers uncovered a sophisticated fileless campaign that executes malicious code entirely in memory to deliver AsyncRAT. The attack began via a compromised ScreenConnect client and a VBScript that used WScript and PowerShell to download two payload blobs saved to C:\Users\Public\, which were never written as executables but loaded into memory via reflection. A .NET launcher (Obfuscator.dll) was used to orchestrate persistence, disable security logging and load the RAT, which exfiltrates credentials, browser artifacts and keystrokes.

Chinese APT Uses Fileless 'EggStreme' Against Military Firm

🔒 Bitdefender tracked a Chinese APT intrusion that used a novel, fileless framework dubbed EggStreme to compromise a Philippines-based military contractor. The multi-stage toolkit injects code directly into memory, leverages DLL sideloading and abuses legitimate Windows services for persistence, and delivers a gRPC-enabled backdoor, EggStremeAgent, with extensive reconnaissance and exfiltration capabilities. Bitdefender advises limiting use of high-risk binaries and deploying advanced detection and response to detect living-off-the-land operations and anomalous behavior.

Cryptominer targets exposed Docker APIs, installs backdoors

🔒 Akamai researchers reported a June–August 2025 variant that no longer drops a cryptominer but instead leverages exposed Docker APIs to gain persistent host access. The campaign launches lightweight containers that mount the host filesystem and fetch Base64-encoded scripts over Tor to install tools such as curl and tor. Once inside, the malware appends SSH keys, creates cron jobs, and attempts to modify firewall rules to deny others access to port 2375. Akamai also observed dormant logic to probe Telnet and Chrome remote debugging (9222), suggesting future botnet expansion.

Largest npm Supply Chain Attack Injects Crypto Malware

🛡️ On September 8, 2025, a sophisticated phishing campaign led to the compromise of a trusted maintainer account and the insertion of cryptocurrency-stealing malware into more than 18 foundational npm packages. The malicious versions collectively represented over 2 billion weekly downloads and affected millions of applications from personal projects to enterprise systems. The debug package was among those compromised and alone exceeds 357 million weekly downloads. npm has removed several malicious package versions and is coordinating ongoing remediation.

Chinese APT Uses EggStreme Fileless Framework in Espionage

🛡️ Bitdefender attributed a campaign against a Philippines-based military contractor to a China-linked APT that deployed a previously undocumented fileless framework named EggStreme. The multi-stage operation begins with EggStremeFuel (mscorsvc.dll), which profiles systems, opens a C2 channel, stages loaders, and triggers in-memory execution of the core backdoor via DLL sideloading. EggStremeAgent functions as a central backdoor, injecting a session-specific keylogger (EggStremeKeylogger), communicating over gRPC, and exposing a 58-command toolkit for discovery, lateral movement, privilege escalation and data theft. An auxiliary implant, EggStremeWizard (xwizards.dll), provides reverse-shell access and resilient C2 options; Bitdefender warned that fileless execution and heavy DLL sideloading make detection and forensics difficult.

CHILLYHELL macOS Backdoor and ZynorRAT Cross-Platform RAT

🔍 Researchers have identified two malware strains: a modular macOS backdoor named CHILLYHELL and a Go-based cross-platform RAT called ZynorRAT. Jamf Threat Labs links CHILLYHELL to UNC4487, noting extensive host profiling, multiple persistence techniques, timestomping, and multi-protocol C2 over HTTP and DNS. The notarized CHILLYHELL sample (uploaded to VirusTotal on May 2, 2025) underscores that signed binaries can be malicious. Sysdig analysis shows ZynorRAT is managed via a Telegram bot and supports file exfiltration, screenshots, system enumeration, and persistence on Linux and Windows.

Open Source Community Stops Large npm Supply-Chain Attack

🔒 A rapid open source response contained a supply-chain compromise after maintainer Josh Junon (known as 'qix') reported his npm account was hijacked on September 8. Malicious versions of widely used packages including chalk, strip-ansi and color-convert were published embedding an crypto-clipper that swaps wallet addresses and hijacks transactions. The community and npm removed tainted releases within hours, limiting financial impact and exposure.

Popular npm packages trojanized to mine cryptocurrency

⚠️ Several widely used npm packages were trojanized after attackers phished maintainers, injecting obfuscated JavaScript that turns affected web applications into cryptodrainers. The malicious code executes in visitors' browsers, intercepting network traffic and API requests to rewrite cryptocurrency wallet addresses for Ethereum, Bitcoin, Solana, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash and Tron and redirect funds to attacker-controlled wallets. npm removed infected packages about three hours after the attack began, but total downloads during that window remain unknown. Developers are advised to audit dependencies, pin safe versions with overrides in package.json, and use anti-phishing protections.

Phished Maintainer Leads to Compromise of 20 npm Packages

⚠️ A maintainer of widely used npm packages was phished, allowing attackers to publish malicious updates to 20 modules that together exceed two billion weekly downloads. Researchers from Aikido Security and Socket found the injected payload hooks browser APIs (window.fetch, XMLHttpRequest, window.ethereum.request) to intercept and rewrite cryptocurrency transactions. The malware substitutes recipient addresses by computing Levenshtein distance to closely match intended wallets, putting end users and developers who connect wallets at risk. The incident highlights the persistent supply-chain threat to package ecosystems.

Attackers Inject Malware into Popular npm Packages

🚨 Attackers phished and hijacked a package maintainer's account via a fake support domain, then updated index.js files in multiple npm packages to inject a browser-based interceptor. The malicious code targets web clients, monitoring Ethereum, Bitcoin, Solana, Tron, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash transactions and replacing wallet destinations to redirect funds. Affected packages collectively account for over 2.6 billion weekly downloads, making this a substantial supply-chain compromise. Investigation and remediation are ongoing.

MostereRAT Targets Windows with Layered Stealth Tactics

🔒 FortiGuard Labs has uncovered MostereRAT, a Remote Access Trojan targeting Microsoft Windows that uses layered evasion and persistence techniques. Written in Easy Programming Language, the malware deploys a multi-stage chain, uses mutual TLS for C2 communication, and can disable Windows Update and antivirus processes. The campaign, aimed largely at Japanese users, begins with phishing emails that lead to a malicious Word download and installs services running at SYSTEM-level, while deploying remote access tools such as AnyDesk and TightVNC.