Rewterz Threat Advisory – The SeedWorm APT targeting more than 30 organizations across continents

The SeedWorm APT group, aka MuddyWater, resurfaced with cyber-attacks across continents, mostly infecting Telecommunications and IT services.

IMPACT:  MEDIUM

PUBLISH DATE:  12-DEC-2018

OVERVIEW

Using new variants of their Powermud backdoor called Backdoor.Powemuddy, the SeedWorm APT steals passwords, creates reverse shells, escalates privilege, and uses native Windows cabinet creation tool makecab.exe, for compressing stolen data to be uploaded.

ANALYSIS

Backdoor.Powemuddy is a Trojan horse that opens a backdoor on the compromised computer. It may also download potentially malicious files.

Once compromised a machine with its backdoors, threat actors deploy a tool to steal passwords saved in browsers, email accounts, social media, and chat access.

The Seedworm group controls its Powermud backdoor from behind a proxy network to hide the ultimate command-and-control (C&C) location.

The threat actors dig up actionable information about their targets, meanwhile preferring speed over operational security. The first trace of this threat actor was a public Github repository containing scripts that very closely match those observed in Seedworm operations.

One of the PowerShell scripts in the Github repository has been run on victim hosts in activity attributed to Seedworm. Many Crackmapexec PowerShell commands matching the victim host activity have also been found.

ATTACK TARGETS

Based on Country:

Following is a break-down of countries that have been affected by SeedWorm.

Based on Industry:

Following is a break down of industries that have been affected by SeedWorm.

INDICATORS OF COMPROMISE

When the Trojan is executed, it creates the following files:

• %Temp%\svchost[.]html
• %Temp%\svchost[.]zip
• %Temp%\svchosts[.]exe

The Trojan opens a backdoor on the compromised computer and connects to the following command and control (C&C) servers:

• 104[.]237[.]233[.]60 (IP used for reverse shell C&C)
• 78[.]129[.]222[.]56 (Powemuddy/Powermud delivery IP)
• 78[.]129[.]139[.]148 (Powemuddy C&C)
• 31[.]171[.]154[.]67 (Powemuddy C&C)
• 99.148.96 former (Powemudddy C&C)
• 106.224.203 (Powemuddy C&C)
• 34.16.82 (Powemuddy C&C)

File names

• f5dee1f9cd47dc7bae468da9732c862e (lisfonservice[.]exe)
• 2ae299e3693518104bf194d6257d5be6 (lisfonservice[.]exe)
• 54982c616098f6c6fbc48703922f15f4 (Lisfon[.]exe)
• fa200e715e856550c76f729604ebaf57 (lisfon[.]exe)
• e75443a5e825f69c75380b6dc76c6b50 (TestService[.]exe)
• 8e3a42371d7af2c7d0bb4036c9fb0fe3 (LisfonService[.]exe)
• f041f96ed1abdcc84157488aa51b62af (Win7LisfonService[.]exe)
• e6e7661efb60b9aea7969a30e17ace19 (svchosts[.]exe)
• a750e2885ed3c294de148864723f73e3 (svchosts[.]exe)
• e2ed0be977ab9e50055337ec8eb0ddf4 (la[.]exe)
• 989e9dcc2182e2b5903b9acea03be11d (cr[.]exe)
• 488723b8e56dbaac8ccdc79499037d5f (dopass[.]exe), (dodo[.]exe)
• 837eaad1187fe9fbf91f9bc7c054f5d9 (dopass[.]exe)
• ddba713c20c232bcd60daf0ffabeffb8 (nt[.]exe), (rc[.]exe)
• 8e94d1cb1ec6ea5b2c29353eb7bb5787 (nt[.]exe), (rc[.]exe)
• f8902df9fe49a04f101d0bfb41a33028 (losi[.]exe)
• 9bea3eb68ea0c215a17fa69f632d9020 (gg[.]exe), (dadi[.]exe)
• 35c310a1f88e41e777bc2ac4bc5284d9 (osport[.]exe)

MITIGATION

Below are some Symantec recommendations against the SeedWorm APT.

• Use a firewall to block all incoming connections from the Internet to services that should not be publicly available. Deny all incoming connections and only allow services you explicitly want to offer to the outside world.
• Enforce a password policy. Complex passwords make it difficult to crack password files on compromised computers. This helps to prevent or limit damage when a computer is compromised.
• Grant lowest level of privileges to programs and users of the computer, necessary to complete a task.
• When prompted for a root or UAC password, ensure that the program asking for administration-level access is a legitimate application.
• Disable AutoPlay to prevent the automatic launching of executable files on network and removable drives, and disconnect the drives when not required. If write access is not required, enable read-only mode if the option is available.
• Turn off file sharing if not needed. If file sharing is required, use ACLs and password protection to limit access. Disable anonymous access to shared folders. Grant access only to user accounts with strong passwords to folders that must be shared.
• Turn off and remove unnecessary services. By default, many operating systems install auxiliary services that are not critical. These services are avenues of attack. If they are removed, threats have less avenues of attack.
• If a threat exploits one or more network services, disable, or block access to, those services until a patch is applied.
• Always keep your patch levels up-to-date, especially on computers that host public services and are accessible through the firewall, such as HTTP, FTP, mail, and DNS services.
• Configure your email server to block or remove email that contains file attachments that are commonly used to spread threats, such as .vbs, .bat, .exe, .pif and .scr files.
• Isolate compromised computers quickly to prevent threats from spreading further. Perform a forensic analysis and restore the computers using trusted media.
• Train employees not to open attachments unless they are expecting them. Also, do not execute software that is downloaded from the Internet unless it has been scanned for viruses. Simply visiting a compromised Web site can cause infection if certain browser vulnerabilities are not patched.
• If Bluetooth is not required for mobile devices, it should be turned off. If you require its use, ensure that the device’s visibility is set to “Hidden” so that it cannot be scanned by other Bluetooth devices. If device pairing must be used, ensure that all devices are set to “Unauthorized”, requiring authorization for each connection request. Do not accept applications that are unsigned or sent from unknown sources.

If you think you’re a victim of a cyber-attack, immediately send an e-mail to soc@rewterz.com.