UNC6384 Deploys PlugX via Captive Portal Hijacks and Valid Certificates Targeting Diplomats
Aug 25, 2025
Malware / Cyber Espionage
A China-nexus threat actor known as UNC6384 has been attributed to a set of attacks targeting diplomats in Southeast Asia and other entities across the globe to advance Beijing's strategic interests. "This multi-stage attack chain leverages advanced social engineering including valid code signing certificates, an adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) attack, and indirect execution techniques to evade detection," Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) researcher Patrick Whitsell said . UNC6384 is assessed to share tactical and tooling overlaps with a known Chinese hacking group called Mustang Panda , which is also tracked as BASIN, Bronze President, Camaro Dragon, Earth Preta, HoneyMyte, RedDelta, Red Lich, Stately Taurus, TEMP.Hex, and Twill Typhoon. The campaign, detected by GTIG in March 2025, is characterized by use of a captive portal redirect to hijack web traffic and deliver a digitally signed downloader called STATICPLUGIN. The downloader then paves the way for the...