A sophisticated phishing campaign leveraging the Snake Keylogger malware has emerged, exploiting legitimate Java debugging utilities to bypass security. The Russian-originated .NET malware is distributed through a Malware as a Service model, representing a significant tactical evolution. The campaign employs spear-phishing emails themed around petroleum product sales, capitalizing on heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. These malicious communications impersonate major oil companies, particularly targeting organizations in the global energy sector during a period of concern. This operation targets diverse victims, including companies, governments, and individuals, with a particular focus on the oil industry.
The campaign employs a cunning technique by embedding malicious code within compressed attachments in its spear-phishing emails.
These attachments include a renamed legitimate Java debugging tool, now observed for the first time in malicious contexts. By exploiting the DLL sideloading vulnerability in jsadebugd.exe, attackers load a malicious DLL file named jli.dll. This subsequently injects the Snake Keylogger malware into the legitimate InstallUtil.exe process to avoid immediate security detection. This innovative abuse of a Java utility marks a significant evolution in the attackers’ overall methods.
To evade detection by security software, the malware binary is housed in a file named concrt141.dll. It strategically prepends malicious data immediately before the standard MZ header, a tactic designed to confuse security scanners. This placement allows the payload to remain hidden from conventional signature-based detection systems that rely on PE analysis. For persistence on the compromised system, the malicious payload is copied to a specific user profile directory.
A registry key is then created to ensure that the malware executes every time the system starts up.
Snake Keylogger is a formidable data thief that is capable of extracting a wide range of sensitive information. It steals credentials from an extensive list of browsers, including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. It also harvests Windows product keys and other system data, transmitting the stolen information via the SMTP protocol. The geopolitical backdrop of Middle Eastern conflicts appears to be a deliberate theme in the campaign’s strategy. This blend of technical sophistication and exploitation of current events underscores the adaptability of the threat actors.
Reference:
