PlugX | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

Security vulnerabilities in remote desktop programs such as Sunlogin and AweSun are being exploited by threat actors to deploy the PlugX malware. AhnLab Security Emergency Response Center (ASEC), in a  new analysis , said it marks the continued abuse of the flaws to deliver a variety of payloads on compromised systems. This  includes  the Sliver post-exploitation framework, XMRig cryptocurrency miner, Gh0st RAT, and Paradise ransomware . PlugX is the latest addition to this list. The  modular malware  has been extensively put to use by threat actors based in China, with new features continuously added to help perform system control and information theft. In the attacks observed by ASEC, successful exploitation of the flaws is followed by the execution of a PowerShell command that retrieves an executable and a DLL file from a remote server. This executable is a legitimate HTTP Server Service from cybersecurity company ESET, which is used to load the DLL file by means of a techni

The  PlugX  remote access trojan has been observed masquerading as an open source Windows debugger tool called x64dbg in an attempt to circumvent security protections and gain control of a target system. "This file is a legitimate open-source debugger tool for Windows that is generally used to examine kernel-mode and user-mode code, crash dumps, or CPU registers," Trend Micro researchers Buddy Tancio, Jed Valderama, and Catherine Loveria  said  in a report published last week. PlugX, also known as  Korplug , is a post-exploitation  modular implant , which, among other things, is known for its multiple functionalities such as data exfiltration and its ability to use the compromised machine for nefarious purposes. Although first documented a decade ago in 2012, early samples of the malware date as far as February 2008, according to a  Trend Micro report  at the time. Over the years, PlugX has been used by threat actors with a Chinese nexus as well as cybercrime groups. On

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Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered a PlugX sample that employs sneaky methods to infect attached removable USB media devices in order to propagate the malware to additional systems. "This PlugX variant is wormable and infects USB devices in such a way that it conceals itself from the Windows operating file system," Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 researchers Mike Harbison and Jen Miller-Osborn  said . "A user would not know their USB device is infected or possibly used to exfiltrate data out of their networks." The cybersecurity company said it uncovered the artifact during an incident response effort following a Black Basta ransomware attack against an unnamed victim. Among other tools discovered in the compromised environment include the  Gootkit  malware loader and the  Brute Ratel C4  red team framework. The use of Brute Ratel by the Black Basta group was previously  highlighted  by Trend Micro in October 2022, with the software delivered as a second-stage

A Chinese hacking group has been attributed to a new campaign aimed at infecting government officials in Europe, the Middle East, and South America with a modular malware known as PlugX. Cybersecurity firm Secureworks said it identified the intrusions in June and July 2022, once again demonstrating the adversary's continued focus on espionage against governments around the world. "PlugX is modular malware that contacts a command and control (C2) server for tasking and can download additional plugins to enhance its capability beyond basic information gathering," Secureworks Counter Threat Unit (CTU) said in a report shared with The Hacker News. Bronze President is a China-based threat actor active since at least July 2018 and is likely estimated to be a state-sponsored group that leverages a mix of proprietary and publicly available tools to compromise and collect data from its targets. It's also publicly documented under other names such as HoneyMyte, Mustang P

A Chinese-aligned cyberespionage group has been observed striking the telecommunication sector in Central Asia with versions of malware such as ShadowPad and PlugX. Cybersecurity firm SentinelOne tied the intrusions to an actor it tracks under the name "Moshen Dragon," with tactical overlaps between the collective and another threat group referred to as Nomad Panda (aka  RedFoxtrot ). "PlugX and ShadowPad have a well-established history of use among Chinese-speaking threat actors primarily for espionage activity," SentinelOne's Joey Chen  said . "Those tools have flexible, modular functionality and are compiled via shellcode to easily bypass traditional endpoint protection products." ShadowPad , labeled a "masterpiece of privately sold malware in Chinese espionage," emerged as a successor to PlugX in 2015, even as variants of the latter have continually popped up as part of different campaigns associated with Chinese threat actors. Alth

A China-linked government-sponsored threat actor observed striking European diplomatic entities in March may have been targeting Russian government officials with an updated version of a remote access trojan called  PlugX . Secureworks attributed the attempted intrusions to a threat actor it tracks as Bronze President, and by the wider cybersecurity community under the monikers Mustang Panda, TA416, HoneyMyte, RedDelta, and PKPLUG. "The war in Ukraine has prompted many countries to deploy their cyber capabilities to gain insight about global events, political machinations, and motivations," the cybersecurity firm  said  in a report shared with The Hacker News. "This desire for situational awareness often extends to collecting intelligence from allies and 'friends.'" Bronze President, active since at least July 2018, has a history of conducting espionage operations by leveraging custom and publicly available tools to compromise, maintain long-term access,