Hackers Attack Administrative Organizations Using PowerMagic and CommonMagic Malware

Important numbers of cyberattacks are accomplished in a political or geopolitical context that Kaspersky researchers and the enviornment neighborhood are identifying.

In contemporary weeks, reports rep surfaced of attacks implemented by an developed threat actor the utilization of a previously unknown malicious framework, CommonMagic, and a brand contemporary backdoor, PowerMagic.

A minimal of 1 malware portion has been outdated as share of operations since September 2021, which is believed to be the case.

Which means, this intention of malware continues to be developed, and it continues to give consideration to organizations within the administrative, agricultural, and transportation sectors for the reason of espionage.

Infection Chain

The malicious LNK comprises a hyperlink to a malicious MSI file hosted remotely, downloaded, and started by the Home windows Installer executable when it is escape.

No doubt, the MSI file is a dropper kit that comprises a decoy doc that is presupposed to display to the victim, blended with an encrypted next-stage payload (service_pack.dat), a dropper script (runservice_pack.vbs), and the payload itself.

A folder named %APPDATA%/WinEventCom houses the encrypted payload and the decoy.

After the decoy doc is displayed to the user, the following stage script creates a Assignment Scheduler job, WindowsActiveXTaskTrigger, which executes the script[.]exe%APPDATA%/WinEventCom/manutill[.]vbs expose every day, writes two files named config and manutill[.]vbs to %APPDATA%/WinEventCom.

PowerMagic Backdoor

Within the initial kit, the script manutill[.]vbs is dropped by default and is a loader written in PowerShell for a previously unknown backdoor named PowerMagic.

The significant physique of the backdoor is contained within the file %APPDATA%/WinEventCom/config, which is then decrypted the utilization of a straightforward XOR algorithm.

As soon as the backdoor is started, it creates a mutex – WinEventCom – outdated for communication.

Following this, it enters a huge loop right thru which it communicates with its C&C server, receiving instructions and importing the consequences basically basically based totally on those instructions.

CommonMagic Framework

As neatly as to PowerMagic, the actor outdated a quantity of more than just a few malicious toolkits to conduct his prison exercise. As neatly as to PowerMagic, every victim of PowerMagic modified into once additionally contaminated with one other malicious framework that is extra advanced, previously unknown, and modular, named CommonMagic.

Several executable modules are share of the CommonMagic framework, all located within the checklist C:ProgramDataCommonCommand. Every module runs as a standalone executable file and communicates with each and each varied thru named pipes.

Hiding Below Authentic Tactics

CommonMagic attacks employ a quantity of recommendations that are neither advanced nor modern. Multiple threat actors were seen to rep engaged in an infection chain that entails malicious LNK files in ZIP archives as share of an infection chain.

On the more than just a few hand, Cisco Talos reported that a threat actor a lot like CommonMagic’s technique modified into once YoroTrooper, which outdated phishing emails containing malicious LNK files and decoy PDF files encased in ZIP or RAR archives to conduct cyber espionage.

The hackers could well well construct it not possible at this expose keep with varied campaigns by combining unsophisticated tactics outdated by a complete lot of actors with contemporary malicious code that had by no methodology been viewed prior to.

While the CommonMagic appears to were packed with life since 2021, the adversary intensified its efforts ideal year and continues to be packed with life this present day.

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