Rewterz Threat Alert – Qakbot (Qbot) Malware – Active IOCs

Severity

High

Analysis Summary

QBot, often known as QakBot, is modular information malware. It has been operational since 2007. This banking Trojan, QakBot steals financial data from infected systems, and a loader using C2 servers for payload targeting and download. Qakbot can propagate to other computers on the same network and allow it to mask its existence and build persistence on infected computers. A malware attachment to a phishing email is commonly used in QakBot attacks. This particular campaign includes an xls file that contains macros. These macros run a script that fetches the Qakbot payload from a list of URLs. To get the victim to activate macros, the attackers employ a common trick, like when the target downloads the file, it is asked to allow changes and then content before viewing the document.

Recently, it is observed that attackers are employing a number of strategies to avoid detection, using Excel (XLM) 4.0 and ZIP file extensions. They are utilizing sophisticated strategies to evade automated detection and increase the likelihood that their attack will succeed, such as obfuscating code, using numerous URLs to deliver the payload and others. Threat actors are disguising attachments intended to spread malware using a variety of different common file names with typical keywords for finance and business operations. 

Impact

• Unauthorized Access
• Financial Theft 
• Information Theft

Indicators of Compromise

IP

• 173[.]218[.]180[.]91
• 134[.]35[.]13[.]43
• 197[.]94[.]84[.]128
• 70[.]51[.]132[.]197

MD5

• ce4dc943f152db98cbc526d45d705688
• a57ffd6724b8b316f9d14d9940650274
• e22a4ef15b7c6c9eb884e445cefa2ef9

SHA-256

• a6e65142f62d40f6d619e569e8498b631e92d07351fdfa61c9b13cdd5d4f6b37
• 4367ef10c26ce4b66be5a31f39529d7eb0a167da0321be894e43d4ed577385cf
• 5e5c55c133d644de044f5bcb782b618fd188a1c6ca707298815ab23295fb43c1

SHA-1

• 592001a6d891869e67f09217255fcde2e2a7fd01
• 7bfea40e9a4a99c925d814fc6323947249f62ab3
• b9da48940ae7e41de7bc6c0909ab53465d05e3c7

Remediation

• Block the threat indicators at their respective controls.
• Search for IOCs in your environment.