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Malware
LATEST BATLOADER CAMPAIGNS USE PYARMOR PRO FOR EVASION
In June 2023, Trend Micro observed an upgrade to the evasion techniques used by
the Batloader initial access malware, which we’ve covered in previous blog
entries.
By: Junestherry Dela Cruz August 07, 2023 Read time: 3 min (839 words)
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In June 2023, Trend Micro observed an upgrade to the evasion techniques used by
the Batloader initial access malware, which we’ve covered in previous blog
entries. The group behind Batloader (which we named Water Minyades) have begun
employing Pyarmor Pro — a more sophisticated version of the regular Pyarmor
protector command-line tool — to obfuscate its main malicious python scripts.
Batloader previously used the standard version of Pyarmor, which can be manually
de-obfuscated using open-source scripts. Water Minyades had been using Pyarmor
since December 2022, likely since many antivirus engines lack an unpacker engine
for Pyarmor (even the non-pro variant), making it difficult to detect these
kinds of scripts.
Aside from this unique evasion technique, Batloader also uses a variety of other
techniques to make it more difficult to detect. One example of this is the use
of large MSI files as a delivery vessel. Figure 1 shows an example of this, with
a 111MB Batloader MSI file.
Figure 1. A Batloader MSI file with a size of 111 MB
A custom action script that is used for starting Batloader's kill chain is
usually included with these MSI files. In the sample we analyzed, it will
execute a Batch file named Python2.bat. The MSI File executes the following
command line:
”C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe" /c
C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Reo\App\Python\Python2.bat
Figure 2 shows the content of the Python2.bat file. To summarize, the file will
check if it has admin rights to the victim machine. If not, it will execute a
User Account Control (UAC) prompt via a file named getadmin.vbs. Once it has
obtained admin rights, it will silently install WinRAR using a renamed installer
(r.exe) and expand the openssl.zip and frameworkb.rar archives, which are files
used for the next stages of Batloader’s execution chain.
Figure 2. The content of “Python2.bat”
The files framework.py, frameworkb.py, and the customized Python runtime
environment libraries from the Pyarmor Pro application are extracted from the
archive file named frameworkb.rar. These Pyarmor-protected scripts will be
executed by the Batloader malware.
Figure 3. Extracting files and a library from the “frameworkb.rar” file
Figure 4 shows the snippet from one of the Pyarmor-protected scripts. Note that
the top portion of the script denotes that it was made using Pyarmor Pro 8.2.8
and that it’s designed to load customized Python libraries from the directory
pyarmor_runtime_005214.
Figure 4. Code snippet from a Pyarmor-protected script
Looking at the execution chain of frameworkb.py as seen from Trend Vision One™
(Figure 5), we can observe that when the frameworkb.py script is executed by
cmd.exe, the script will attempt to fingerprint the network infrastructure of
the victim environment by executing arp.exe, mapping IP addresses to MAC
addresses and retrieving the domain name via the WMI command-line (WMIC)
utitlity. This information is then sent to the command-and-control (C&C) server,
which is countingstatistic[.]com in this case.
Figure 5. The execution chain of frameworkb.py as seen from the Trend Vision One
console
The other python file, named framework.py, will also be executed once the second
stage payload from the C&C server is delivered. Based on previous Batloader
attacks, this can be any malware, with the most observed being Ursnif, Vidar and
Redline Stealer.
Figure 6. The kill chain when “framework.py” is executed
As shown in the Vision One console screenshot seen in figure 6, the following
kill chain occurs when framework.py is executed:
(1): Python executes framework.py using the following command:
* cmd /c python.exe framework.py
(2): OpenSSL is used to decrypt the downloaded file (a.exe.enc) using AES-256
encryption in cipher-block chaining (CBC) mode with the password tor92SS2jds.
The decrypted result is then saved in the file named control.exe, which is
executed by cmd.exe:
* cmd /c "openssl enc -aes-256-cbc -d -in a.exe.enc -out control.exe -pbkdf2
-pass pass:tor92SS2jds"
(3, 4, and 5): The victim’s network infrastructure is fingerprinted using the
following commands:
* whoami /groups
* C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe /c "arp -a"
* wmic computersystem get domain
Conclusion
Batloader is a highly active initial access malware that can be used to deliver
other malware, often ultimately leading to dangerous ransomware like Royal and
BlackSuit. Furthermore, it is a stealthy malware, employing several evasion
routines to elude detection engines. This includes techniques such as abusing
digital signatures, using large installer sizes as a vessel to evade engines
that have file size limits and as discussed in this blog entry. incorporating
tools such as PyArmor Pro to obfuscate its primary Python scripts.
TREND MICRO SOLUTIONS
Organizations can reduce the impact of malware such as Batloader by employing
comprehensive detection and response technologies such as Trend Vision One. This
solution offers robust extended detection and response (XDR) functionalities,
gathering and intelligently connecting information from various security layers
— encompassing email, endpoints, servers, cloud operations, and networks,
thwarting potential security incidents and ensuring that they don’t go
unnoticed.
VISION ONE HUNTING QUERY
Trend Vision One customers can use the following hunting query to search for
this specific Batloader threat:
Go to SearchApp> General > Search parentCmd:”cmd /c python.exe framework*”
INDICATORS OF COMPROMISE
The indicators of compromise for this entry can be found here.
Tags
Malware | Endpoints | Research | Articles, News, Reports
AUTHORS
* Junestherry Dela Cruz
Threats Analyst
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