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!
1 Sep 2017

Angelfire framework used by CIA on Windows machines

Anti-secrecy organization Wikileaks published Thursday another collection of files purportedly from the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the latest of which focuses on a framework used to infect machines using Windows operating systems.

The release unveiled a CIA program called Angelfire, which consists of a five-part framework that can maintain a persistent backdoor on an infected machine and execute custom implants that give the agency additional access to the device.

Angelfire operates in five parts, each of which allowing the intelligence agency to lodge itself deeper into an infected machine to maintain access to files and information on the targeted device. The first component of the Angelfire framework is called Solartime. This tool is used to modify the boot sector partition of a machine’s hard drive—effectively giving the CIA access to the part of the drive that is accessed every time the computer boots up.

Solartime is used to provide access to Wolfcreek, a kernel code that is executed after Solartime has modified the boot drive. Wolfcreek is a self-loading driver that implants drivers and other applications that can be used by CIA agents to manipulate the machine.

Part of the Wolfcreek driver is another component known as Keystone. Keystone uses a dynamic-link library (DLL) injection to execute malicious code directly on the computer system’s memory without accessing the file system. This allows the attack to evade security tools that scan file systems and allows the CIA to execute malicious applications.

Another component of Angelfire is BadMFS, a library used to create an undetected file system on the machine’s drive. The file system is used as a repository for other CIA drivers and implants that can be executed by Wolfcreek. Files in BadMFS are encrypted and obfuscated to avoid detection.

The final component of Angelfire is the Windows Transitory File system, which is used by a CIA operator to create files for specific actions within the framework. It can be used for adding or removing files without being noticed by the user.

According to the documents, the CIA implant could be used to infect the 32-bit version of Windows XP and Windows 7. A version designed to compromise 64-bit machines could be used to infect Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7.

The user guide for the tools published by WikiLeaks have a change log but it contains no dates, so it is unclear what period the Angelfire tools were active. The most recent version was compatible with Windows 7, released in 2009. It is also not clear if the tool has undergone additional updates or is still in use by the CIA.

The release is the latest from WikiLeaks as part of its Vault 7 series, which has focused on releasing leaked documents from the CIA detailing the government agency’s technical capabilities.

Earlier, another revelation published by WikiLeaks revealed the CIA created a program used to spy on other intelligence agencies that participated in the CIA’s biometric data collection system.


Download SafeUM — communicate privately, without advertising and spam.

Tags:
WikiLeaks CIA information leaks surveillance
Source:
IBTimes
1864
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