South Korean ERP Vendor’s Server Hacked to Spread Xctdoor Malware

An unnamed South Korean company source setting up (ERP) vendor’s product or service update server has been found to be compromised to deliver a Go-dependent backdoor dubbed Xctdoor.

The AhnLab Security Intelligence Centre (ASEC), which recognized the attack in Could 2024, did not attribute it to a known risk actor or team, but noted that the practices overlap with that of Andariel, a sub-cluster within just the infamous Lazarus Group.

The similarities stem from the North Korean adversary’s prior use of ERP solution to distribute malware like HotCroissant – which is similar to Rifdoor – in 2017 by inserting a malicious routine into a program update software.

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In the the latest incident analyzed by ASEC, the same executable is reported to have been tampered with to execute a DLL file from a precise route working with the regsvr32.exe process as opposed to launching a downloader.

The DLL file, Xctdoor, is able of thieving program facts, like keystrokes, screenshots, and clipboard written content, and executing instructions issued by the danger actor.

“Xctdoor communicates with the [command-and-control] server using the HTTP protocol, when the packet encryption employs the Mersenne Twister (MT19937) algorithm and the Base64 algorithm,” ASEC said.

Also employed in the attack is a malware named XcLoader, which serves as an injector malware liable for injecting Xctdoor into respectable procedures (e.g., “explorer.exe”).

ASEC claimed it even more detected circumstances where by poorly secured web servers have been compromised to put in XcLoader given that at minimum March 2024.

The improvement will come as the a further North Korea-joined risk actor referred to as Kimusky has been observed applying a earlier undocumented backdoor codenamed HappyDoor that has been set to use as considerably again as July 2021.

Attack chains distributing the malware leverage spear-phishing emails as a starting issue to disseminate a compressed file, which has an obfuscated JavaScript or dropper that, when executed, creates and operates HappyDoor alongside a decoy file.

HappyDoor, a DLL file executed by means of regsvr32.exe, is geared up to talk with a remote server in excess of HTTP and aid details theft, down load/upload files, as perfectly as update and terminate alone.

It also follows a “substantial” malware distribution campaign orchestrated by the Konni cyber espionage team (aka Opal Sleet, Osmium, or TA406) concentrating on South Korea with phishing lures impersonating the countrywide tax service to supply malware capable of thieving sensitive facts, security researcher Idan Tarab explained.

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