SafeUM
Home Blog Services Download Help About Recharge

Axarhöfði 14, 110 Reykjavik, Iceland

Iceland - 2015
SafeUM
Blog
Services
Download
Help
About
Recharge
Menu
Archive
TOP Security!
24 Mar 2017

Malware that targets both Microsoft, Apple operating systems found

Researchers came across a malicious Word document last week that doesn’t discriminate between OS platforms.

The malicious Word document is designed to spread malware on either Mac OS X or Microsoft Windows, depending on where it’s opened. Like many other strains of malware these days, the sample, which researchers at Fortinet observed on March 16, relies on tricking users into enabling macros.

Once opened and macros are enabled, malicious VBA, or Visual Basic for Applications, code is executed, which runs the AutoOpen() macro. The macro goes on to read a base64-encoded string in the file, which depending on the operating system, executes a certain script. For victims running Mac OS X, the script, is fairly straightforward.

It downloads a malicious file containing another script, written in python, that’s executed and attempts to communicate with the attacker’s server. The downloaded script is a modded version of a Python meterpreter file, researchers say. Meterpreter, part of the Metasploit framework, is extensible payload component that uses in-memory DLL injection stagers. The tool has been adopted by several groups of late, including GCMAN and a group of attackers who have been spotted carrying out fileless malware-based attacks.

The script that triggers the exploit on Windows is a little more involved. Like a Russian nesting doll, one layer of base64-encoded data spawns a powershell script, which decompresses another layer of base-64-encoded code which leads to another powershell script. Once executed, the script finally downloads a 64-bit DLL file, which executes and communicates with the attacker’s server. Researchers with Fortinet believe the Windows side of the malware only affects 64-bit versions of Windows.

While they have a pretty good idea of how the malware spreads, researchers aren’t completely sure what the attackers behind it were after. Peixue Li, senior manager of FortiGuard Service Development and Security Research told Thursday that when they observed TCP sessions to the attacker’s server – both Windows and Apple – the server wasn’t answering. Instead, Wireshark just gave them a TCP retransmission error message.

Macro malware that explicitly targets macOS isn’t necessarily new – but it has been a recent development. Researchers with Synack came across macro malware that executes solely on Mac machines back in February.

That malware, peddled by a group whose IP traces back to Russia, operated in a similar fashion. The victim would have to agree to enable macros for a Word document on the Mac version of Word. After enabled, a macro decodes data, and like the malware Fortinet researchers found, executes it in Python. The malware Synack found relies on leveraging a legitimate python post-exploitation OS X and Linux agent, EmPyre.

Fortinet’s researchers claim they’re still analyzing the malware, but Li says the fact that the malware’s Python post-exploitation agent is different than the one used by the malware seen by Synack separates it from a pack. “The malware we analyzed targets both Mac OS and Windows… the Python post-exploitation agent used by the malware is different. One is EmPyre, the other is Meterpreter, Li said, “Cross-platform Macro-based malware could become a trend, perhaps.”

Tags:
Apple Windows information leaks
Source:
Threatpost
1814
Other NEWS
3 Jul 2020 safeum news imgage An encrypted messaging service has been infiltrated by police
4 May 2020 safeum news imgage Two-Factor Authentication ​What Is It and Why You Should Use It
12 Dec 2019 safeum news imgage Encryption is under threat - this is how it affects you
4 Nov 2019 safeum news imgage Should Big Decisions Be Based on Data or Your Intuition?
7 Jun 2018 safeum news imgage VPNFilter malware infecting 500,000 devices is worse than we thought
4 Jun 2018 safeum news imgage Hackers target Booking.com in criminal bid to steal hundreds of thousands from customers
1 Jun 2018 safeum news imgage Operator of World's Top Internet Hub Sues German Spy Agency
30 May 2018 safeum news imgage US says North Korea behind malware attacks
29 May 2018 safeum news imgage Facebook and Google targeted as first GDPR complaints filed
25 May 2018 safeum news imgage A new reason to not buy these cheap Android devices
24 May 2018 safeum news imgage Flaws in smart pet devices, apps could come back to bite owners
23 May 2018 safeum news imgage Google sued for 'clandestine tracking' of 4.4m UK iPhone users' browsing data
21 May 2018 safeum news imgage LocationSmart reportedly leaked phone location data onto the web
18 May 2018 safeum news imgage The SEC created its own scammy ICO to teach investors a lesson
17 May 2018 safeum news imgage Thieves suck millions out of Mexican banks in transfer heist
All news
SafeUM
Confidential Terms of Use Our technologies Company
Follow us
Download
SafeUM © Safe Universal Messenger

Axarhöfði 14,
110 Reykjavik, Iceland

Iceland - 2015