CowerSnail — Windows Backdoor from the Creators of SambaCry Linux Malware
Jul 27, 2017
Last month, we reported about a group of hackers exploiting SambaCry —a 7-year-old critical remote code execution vulnerability in Samba networking software—to hack Linux computers and install malware to mine cryptocurrencies. The same group of hackers is now targeting Windows machines with a new backdoor, which is a QT-based re-compiled version of the same malware used to target Linux. Dubbed CowerSnail , detected by security researchers at Kaspersky Labs as Backdoor.Win32.CowerSnail, is a fully-featured windows backdoor that allows its creators to remotely execute any commands on the infected systems. Wondering how these two separate campaigns are connected? Interestingly, the CowerSnail backdoor uses the same command and control (C&C) server as the malware that was used to infect Linux machines to mine cryptocurrency last month by exploiting the then-recently exposed SambaCry vulnerability. Common C&C Server Location — cl.ezreal.space:20480 SambaCry vulnerabi