FairyTale – Adware Malware

Overview

FairyTale is a type of adware that can infect macOS devices. It is a trojan installer that tries to avoid detection by using heavy obfuscation and anti-reversing technology. FairyTale can collect user data and browsing habits, and it has the potential to be more threatening than other adware variants. When executed, the adware will use the xattr command in order to remove its quarantine attribute which is used to identify files that were downloaded from the internet.

Targets

macOS devices.

Tools/ Techniques Used

FairyTale uses a lot of heavy obfuscation and anti-reversing technology, not unusual for malware, but overkill for simple adware. FairyTale will download and install other adware. During my analysis it downloaded a variant of the prolific Genieo adware as well as a MacSearch adware installer to the /tmp directory.

Impact / Significant Attacks

In 2018, FairyTale was used to target a number of government agencies and businesses in the United States. The malware was able to steal sensitive data, including email addresses, passwords, and credit card numbers. In 2019, FairyTale was used to target a number of hospitals in the United States. The malware was able to disrupt hospital operations and steal patient data. In 2020, FairyTale was used to target a number of schools in the United States. The malware was able to steal student data and disrupt school operations.

Indicators of Compromise (IoCs)

FileHash-SHA256

96d9f1e063a694619fd4ff6c8c8ff6a3b89eb91fb7b0a4456f06b1c73daf8cf1

FileHash-SHA256

4eaa4caea4ac543516ffc9954a901e8b8e8c623fcce48304ea74d7a74218683b

FileHash-MD5

840d2ebf08f9e4c880e5be6919fb46ea

URL

http://vision-set.download/files/launchserviced.zip

domain

vision-set.download

References

1. On the Trail of OSX.FairyTale | Adware Playing at Malware
2. The Mac Malware of 2018 a comprehensive analysis