Cybersecurity researchers have specific an up-to-date variation of the malware HeadCrab that’s identified to goal Redis databases servers across the entire world due to the fact early September 2021.
The advancement, which arrives precisely a calendar year right after the malware was initially publicly disclosed by Aqua, is a indicator that the economically-inspired risk actor guiding the marketing campaign is actively adapting and refining their techniques and methods to stay ahead of the detection curve.
The cloud security business said that “the marketing campaign has pretty much doubled the quantity of contaminated Redis servers,” with an extra 1,100 compromised servers, up from 1,200 documented at the begin of 2023.
HeadCrab is intended to infiltrate internet-exposed Redis servers and wrangle them into a botnet for illicitly mining cryptocurrency, even though also leveraging the accessibility in a fashion that enables the risk actor to execute shell commands, load fileless kernel modules, and exfiltrate info to a distant server.
When the origins of the danger actor are presently not identified, they make it a level to be aware in a “mini weblog” embedded into the malware that the mining action is “authorized in my state” and that they do it due to the fact “it just about would not damage human lifetime and emotions (if finished proper).”
The operator, nevertheless, acknowledges that it is a “parasitic and inefficient way” of creating revenue, incorporating their goal is to make $15,000 for each yr.
“An integral facet of the sophistication of HeadCrab 2. lies in its state-of-the-art evasion approaches,” Aqua researchers Asaf Eitani and Nitzan Yaakov explained. “In distinction to its predecessor (named HeadCrab 1.), this new model employs a fileless loader mechanism, demonstrating the attacker’s motivation to stealth and persistence.”
It is really really worth noting that the former iteration utilized the SLAVEOF command to download and help save the HeadCrab malware file to disk, thereby leaving artifact traces on the file procedure.
HeadCrab 2., on the other hand, receives the malware’s content above the Redis conversation channel and stores it in a fileless spot in a bid to reduce the forensic trail and make it significantly extra tough to detect.
Also changed in the new variant is the use of the Redis MGET command for command-and-command (C2) communications for included covertness.
“By hooking into this normal command, the malware gains the means to control it throughout certain attacker-initiated requests,” the researchers said.
“Individuals requests are reached by sending a special string as an argument to the MGET command. When this unique string is detected, the malware acknowledges the command as originating from the attacker, triggering the malicious C2 interaction.”
Describing HeadCrab 2. as an escalation in the sophistication of Redis malware, Aqua mentioned its potential to masquerade its destructive routines underneath the guise of legitimate commands poses new complications for detection.
“This evolution underscores the necessity for continual study and progress in security instruments and practices,” the scientists concluded. “The engagement by the attacker and the subsequent evolution of the malware highlights the critical have to have for vigilant checking and intelligence gathering.”
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Some parts of this article are sourced from:
thehackernews.com