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O + +Their O +targets O +have O +also O +included O +the O +governments O +of O +members O +of O +the O +Commonwealth B-IDTY +of I-IDTY +Independent I-IDTY +States E-IDTY +; O +Asian O +, O +African O +, O +and O +Middle O +Eastern O +governments O +; O +organizations O +associated O +with O +Chechen O +extremism O +; O +and O +Russian O +speakers O +engaged O +in O +the O +illicit O +trade O +of O +controlled O +substances O +and O +drugs O +. O + +The O +Dukes S-APT +are O +known O +to O +employ O +a O +vast O +arsenal O +of O +malware O +toolsets O +, O +which O +we O +identify O +as O +MiniDuke S-MAL +, O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +, O +OnionDuke S-MAL +, O +CozyDuke S-MAL +, O +CloudDuke S-MAL +, O +SeaDuke S-MAL +, O +HammerDuke S-MAL +, O +PinchDuke S-MAL +, O +and O +GeminiDuke S-MAL +. O + +In O +recent O +years O +, O +the O +Dukes S-APT +have O +engaged O +in O +apparently O +biannual O +large-scale O +spear-phishing S-ACT +campaigns O +against O +hundreds O +or O +even O +thousands O +of O +recipients O +associated O +with O +governmental O +institutions O +and O +affiliated O +organizations O +. O + +The O +earliest O +activity O +we O +have O +been O +able O +to O +definitively O +attribute O +to O +the O +Dukes S-APT +are O +two O +PinchDuke S-MAL +campaigns O +from O +November B-TIME +2008 E-TIME +. O + +These O +campaigns O +use O +PinchDuke S-MAL +samples O +that O +were O +, O +according O +to O +their O +compilation O +timestamps O +, O +created O +on O +the O +5th B-TIME +and I-TIME +12th I-TIME +of I-TIME +November I-TIME +2008 E-TIME +. O + +The O +campaign O +identifiers O +found O +in O +these O +two O +samples O +are O +respectively O +, O +“ O +alkavkaz.com20081105 S-ACT +” O +and O +“ O +cihaderi.net20081112 S-ACT +” O +. O + +The O +first O +campaign O +identifier O +, O +found O +in O +the O +sample O +compiled O +on O +the O +5th S-TIME +, O +references O +alkavkaz.com S-DOM +, O +a O +domain O +associated O +with O +a O +Turkish O +website O +proclaiming O +to O +be O +the O +“ O +Chechan S-LOC +[sic] O +Informational O +Center O +” O +. O + +The O +second O +campaign O +identifier O +, O +from O +the O +sample O +compiled O +on O +the O +12th S-TIME +, O +references O +cihaderi.net S-DOM +, O +another O +Turkish O +website O +that O +claims O +to O +provide O +“ O +news O +from O +the O +jihad O +world O +” O +and O +which O +dedicates O +a O +section O +of O +its O +site O +to O +Chechnya S-LOC +. O + +Due O +to O +a O +lack O +of O +other O +PinchDuke S-MAL +samples O +from O +2008 S-TIME +or O +earlier O +, O +we O +are O +unable O +to O +estimate O +when O +the O +Duke S-APT +operation O +originally O +began O +. O + +Based O +on O +our O +technical O +analysis O +of O +the O +known O +PinchDuke S-MAL +samples O +from O +2008 S-TIME +however O +, O +we O +believe O +PinchDuke S-MAL +to O +have O +been O +under O +development O +by O +the O +summer B-TIME +of I-TIME +2008 E-TIME +. O + +In O +fact O +, O +we O +believe O +that O +by O +the O +autumn O +of O +2008 O +, O +the O +Dukes O +were O +already O +developing O +not O +one O +but O +at O +least O +two O +distinct O +malware O +toolsets O +. O + +This O +assertion O +is O +based O +on O +the O +oldest O +currently O +known O +sample O +of O +another O +Duke S-APT +related O +toolset O +, O +GeminiDuke S-MAL +, O +which O +was O +compiled O +on O +the O +26th B-TIME +of I-TIME +January I-TIME +2009 E-TIME +. O + +This O +sample O +, O +like O +the O +early O +PinchDuke S-MAL +samples O +, O +appears O +to O +already O +be O +a O +“ O +fully-grown O +” O +sample O +, O +which O +is O +why O +we O +believe O +GeminiDuke S-MAL +was O +under O +development O +by O +the O +autumn B-TIME +of I-TIME +2008 E-TIME +. O + +That O +the O +Dukes S-APT +were O +already O +developing O +and O +operating O +at O +least O +two O +distinct O +malware O +toolsets O +by O +the O +second B-TIME +half I-TIME +of I-TIME +2008 E-TIME +suggests O +to O +us O +that O +either O +the O +size O +of O +their O +cyberespionage O +operation O +was O +already O +large O +enough O +to O +warrant O +such O +an O +arsenal O +of O +tools O +, O +or O +that O +they O +expected O +their O +operation O +to O +grow O +significantly O +enough O +in O +the O +foreseeable O +future O +to O +warrant O +the O +development O +of O +such O +an O +arsenal O +. O + +The O +origins O +of O +the O +Duke S-APT +toolset O +names O +can O +be O +traced O +back O +to O +when O +researchers O +at O +Kaspersky B-SECTEAM +Labs E-SECTEAM +coined O +the O +term O +“ O +MiniDuke S-MAL +” O +to O +identify O +the O +first O +Duke S-APT +related O +malware O +they O +found O +. O + +As O +explained O +in O +their O +whitepaper O +, O +the O +researchers O +observed O +the O +surprisingly O +small O +MiniDuke B-MAL +backdoor E-MAL +being O +spread O +via O +the O +same O +exploit O +that O +was O +being O +used O +by O +a O +malware O +that O +they O +had O +already O +named O +ItaDuke S-MAL +; O +the O +“ O +Duke S-APT +” O +part O +of O +this O +malware O +’s O +name O +had O +in O +turn O +come O +about O +because O +it O +reminded O +the O +researchers O +of O +the O +notable O +Duqu S-MAL +threat O +. O + +Despite O +the O +shared O +history O +of O +the O +name O +itself O +however O +, O +it O +is O +important O +to O +note O +that O +there O +is O +no O +reason O +to O +believe O +that O +the O +Duke S-APT +toolsets O +themselves O +are O +in O +any O +way O +related O +to O +the O +ItaDuke S-MAL +malware O +, O +or O +to O +Duqu S-MAL +for O +that O +matter O +. O + +As O +researchers O +continued O +discovering O +new O +toolsets O +that O +were O +created O +and O +used O +by O +the O +same O +group O +that O +had O +been O +operating O +MiniDuke S-MAL +, O +the O +new O +toolsets O +were O +also O +given O +“ O +Duke S-APT +” O +-derived O +names O +, O +and O +thus O +the O +threat O +actor O +operating O +the O +toolsets O +started O +to O +be O +commonly O +referred O +to O +as O +“ O +the O +Dukes S-APT +” O +. O + +The O +only O +other O +publicly O +used O +name O +for O +the O +threat O +actor O +that O +we O +are O +aware O +of O +is O +“ O +APT29 S-APT +” O +. O + +Based O +on O +the O +campaign O +identifiers O +found O +in O +PinchDuke S-MAL +samples O +discovered O +from O +2009 S-TIME +, O +the O +targets O +of O +the O +Dukes S-APT +group O +during O +that O +year O +included O +organizations O +such O +as O +the O +Ministry B-IDTY +of I-IDTY +Defense E-IDTY +of O +Georgia S-LOC +and O +the O +ministries O +of O +foreign O +affairs O +of O +Turkey S-LOC +and O +Uganda S-LOC +. O + +Campaign O +identifiers O +from O +2009 S-TIME +also O +reveal O +that O +by O +that O +time O +, O +the O +Dukes S-APT +were O +already O +actively O +interested O +in O +political O +matters O +related O +to O +the O +United B-LOC +States E-LOC +( O +US S-LOC +) O +and O +the O +North B-IDTY +Atlantic I-IDTY +Treaty I-IDTY +Organization E-IDTY +( O +NATO S-IDTY +) O +, O +as O +they O +ran O +campaigns O +targeting O +( O +among O +other O +organizations O +) O +a O +US S-LOC +based O +foreign O +policy O +think O +tank O +, O +another O +set O +of O +campaigns O +related O +to O +a O +NATO S-IDTY +exercise O +held O +in O +Europe S-LOC +, O +and O +a O +third O +set O +apparently O +targeting O +what O +was O +then O +known O +as O +the O +Georgian S-LOC +“ O +Information O +Centre O +on O +NATO S-IDTY +” O +. O + +Of O +these O +campaigns O +, O +two O +clusters O +in O +particular O +stand O +out O +. O + +The O +first O +is O +a O +set O +of O +campaigns O +from O +the O +16th B-TIME +and I-TIME +17th I-TIME +of I-TIME +April I-TIME +, I-TIME +2009 E-TIME +, O +that O +targeted O +a O +US S-LOC +based O +foreign O +policy O +think O +tank O +, O +as O +well O +as O +government O +institutions O +in O +Poland S-LOC +and O +the O +Czech B-LOC +Republic E-LOC +. O + +These O +campaigns O +utilized O +specially-crafted O +malicious O +Microsoft S-IDTY +Word S-TOOL +documents O +and O +PDF S-TOOL +files O +, O +which O +were O +sent O +as O +e-mail S-TOOL +attachments O +to O +various O +personnel O +in O +an O +attempt O +to O +infiltrate O +the O +targeted O +organizations O +. O + +We O +believe O +this O +cluster O +of O +campaigns O +had O +a O +joint O +goal O +of O +gathering O +intelligence O +on O +the O +sentiments O +of O +the O +targeted O +5 O +countries O +with O +respect O +to O +the O +plans O +being O +discussed O +at O +the O +time O +for O +the O +US S-LOC +to O +locate O +their O +“ O +European O +Interceptor O +Site O +” O +missile O +defense O +base O +in O +Poland S-LOC +, O +with O +a O +related O +radar O +station O +that O +was O +intended O +to O +be O +located O +in O +the O +Czech B-LOC +Republic E-LOC +. O + +Regarding O +the O +timing O +of O +these O +campaigns O +, O +it O +is O +curious O +to O +note O +that O +they O +began O +only O +11 O +days O +after O +President O +Barack O +Obama O +gave O +a O +speech O +on O +the O +5th B-TIME +of I-TIME +April E-TIME +declaring O +his O +intention O +to O +proceed O +with O +the O +deployment O +of O +these O +missile O +defenses O +. O + +The O +second O +notable O +cluster O +comprises O +of O +two O +campaigns O +that O +were O +possibly O +aimed O +at O +gathering O +information O +on O +Georgia S-LOC-NATO S-IDTY +relations O +. O + +The O +first O +of O +these O +runs O +used O +the O +campaign O +identifier O +“ O +natoinfo_ge S-ACT +” O +, O +an O +apparent O +reference O +to O +the O +www.natoinfo.ge S-DOM +website O +belonging O +to O +a O +Georgian O +political O +body O +that O +has O +since O +been O +renamed O +“ O +Information O +Centre O +on O +NATO S-IDTY +and O +EU S-LOC +” O +. O + +Although O +the O +campaign O +identifier O +itself O +doesn’t O +contain O +a O +date O +, O +we O +believe O +the O +campaign O +to O +have O +originated O +around O +the O +7th B-TIME +of I-TIME +June I-TIME +2009 E-TIME +, O +which O +was O +when O +the O +PinchDuke S-MAL +sample O +in O +question O +was O +compiled O +. O + +This O +belief O +is O +based O +on O +the O +observation O +that O +in O +all O +of O +the O +other O +PinchDuke S-MAL +samples O +we O +have O +analyzed O +, O +the O +date O +of O +the O +campaign O +identifier O +has O +been O +within O +a O +day O +of O +the O +compilation O +date O +. O + +The O +second O +campaign O +identifier O +, O +which O +we O +suspect O +may O +be O +related O +, O +is O +“ O +mod_ge_2009_07_03 S-ACT +” O +from O +a O +month O +later O +and O +apparently O +targeting O +the O +Ministry B-IDTY +of I-IDTY +Defense E-IDTY +of O +Georgia S-LOC +. O + +The O +spring B-TIME +of I-TIME +2010 E-TIME +saw O +continued O +PinchDuke S-MAL +campaigns O +against O +Turkey S-LOC +and O +Georgia S-LOC +, O +but O +also O +numerous O +campaigns O +against O +other O +members O +of O +the O +Commonwealth B-LOC +of I-LOC +Independent I-LOC +States E-LOC +such O +as O +Kazakhstan S-LOC +, O +Kyrgyzstan S-LOC +, O +Azerbaijan S-LOC +and O +Uzbekistan S-LOC +. O + +Of O +these O +, O +the O +campaign O +with O +the O +identifier O +“ O +kaz_2010_07_30 S-ACT +” O +, O +which O +possibly O +targeted O +Kazakhstan S-LOC +, O +is O +of O +note O +because O +it O +is O +the O +last O +PinchDuke S-MAL +campaign O +we O +have O +observed O +. O + +We O +believe O +that O +during O +the O +first B-TIME +half I-TIME +of I-TIME +2010 E-TIME +, O +the O +Dukes S-APT +slowly O +migrated O +from O +PinchDuke S-MAL +and O +started O +using O +a O +new O +infostealer O +malware O +toolset O +that O +we O +call O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +. O + +The O +first O +known O +sample O +of O +the O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +toolset O +was O +compiled O +on O +the O +16th B-TIME +of I-TIME +January I-TIME +2010 E-TIME +. O + +Back O +then O +, O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +still O +lacked O +most O +of O +the O +credential-stealing O +functionality O +found O +in O +later O +samples O +. O + +We O +believe O +that O +during O +the O +spring B-TIME +of I-TIME +2010 E-TIME +, O +the O +credential O +and O +file O +stealing O +capabilities O +of O +PinchDuke S-MAL +were O +slowly O +ported O +to O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +, O +effectively O +making O +PinchDuke S-MAL +obsolete O +. O + +During O +this O +period O +of O +transition O +, O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +would O +often O +embed O +PinchDuke S-MAL +so O +that O +, O +upon O +execution O +, O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +would O +write O +to O +disk O +and O +execute O +PinchDuke S-MAL +. O + +Both O +PinchDuke S-MAL +and O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +would O +then O +operate O +independently O +on O +the O +same O +compromised O +host O +, O +including O +performing O +separate O +information O +gathering O +, O +data O +Exfiltration S-ACT +and O +communication O +with O +a O +command B-TOOL +and I-TOOL +control E-TOOL +( O +C&C S-TOOL +) O +server O +- O +although O +both O +malware O +would O +often O +use O +the O +same O +C&C S-TOOL +server O +. O + +We O +believe O +the O +purpose O +of O +this O +parallel O +use O +was O +to O +‘ O +fieldtest O +’ O +the O +new O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +tool O +, O +while O +at O +the O +same O +time O +ensuring O +operational O +success O +with O +the O +tried-and-tested O +PinchDuke S-MAL +. O + +During O +this O +period O +of O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +testing O +and O +development O +, O +the O +Duke S-APT +authors O +also O +started O +experimenting O +with O +the O +use O +of O +privilege O +escalation O +vulnerabilities O +. O + +Specifically O +, O +on O +the O +19th B-TIME +of I-TIME +January I-TIME +2010 E-TIME +security O +researcher O +Tavis O +Ormandy O +disclosed O +a O +local O +privilege O +escalation O +vulnerability O +( O +CVE-2010-0232 S-VULID +) O +affecting O +Microsoft S-IDTY +Windows S-OS +. O + +As O +part O +of O +the O +disclosure O +, O +Ormandy O +also O +included O +the O +source O +code O +for O +a O +proof-of- O +concept O +exploit O +for O +the O +vulnerability O +. O + +Just O +7 O +days O +later O +, O +on O +the O +26th B-TIME +of I-TIME +January E-TIME +, O +a O +component O +for O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +was O +compiled O +that O +exploited O +the O +vulnerability O +and O +allowed O +the O +tool O +to O +operate O +with O +higher O +privileges O +. O + +During O +2011 S-TIME +, O +the O +Dukes S-APT +appear O +to O +have O +significantly O +expanded O +both O +their O +arsenal O +of O +malware O +toolsets O +and O +their O +C&C S-TOOL +infrastructure O +. O + +While O +the O +Dukes S-APT +employed O +both O +hacked O +websites O +and O +purposely O +rented O +servers O +for O +their O +C&C S-TOOL +infrastructure O +, O +the O +group O +rarely O +registered O +their O +own O +domain O +names O +, O +preferring O +instead O +to O +connect O +to O +their O +self- O +operated O +servers O +via O +IP O +addresses O +. O + +The O +beginning B-TIME +of I-TIME +2011 E-TIME +however O +saw O +a O +significant O +break O +from O +that O +routine O +, O +when O +a O +large O +grouping O +of O +domain O +names O +was O +registered O +by O +the O +Dukes S-APT +in O +two O +batches O +; O +the O +first O +batch O +was O +registered O +on O +the O +29th B-TIME +of I-TIME +January E-TIME +and O +the O +second O +on O +the O +13th B-TIME +of I-TIME +February E-TIME +. O + +All O +the O +domains O +in O +both O +batches O +were O +initially O +registered O +with O +the O +same O +alias O +: O +“ O +John O +Kasai O +of O +Klagenfurt S-LOC +, O +Austria S-LOC +” O +. O + +These O +domains O +were O +used O +by O +the O +Dukes S-APT +in O +campaigns O +involving O +many O +of O +their O +different O +malware O +toolsets O +all O +the O +way O +until O +2014 S-TIME +. O + +Like O +the O +“ O +MiniDuke S-MAL +loader O +” O +, O +these O +“ O +John O +Kasai O +” O +domains O +also O +provide O +a O +common O +thread O +tying O +together O +much O +of O +the O +tools O +and O +infrastructure O +of O +the O +Dukes S-APT +. O + +By O +2011 S-TIME +, O +the O +Dukes S-APT +had O +already O +developed O +at O +least O +3 O +distinct O +malware O +toolsets O +, O +including O +a O +plethora O +of O +supporting O +components O +such O +as O +loaders O +and O +persistence O +modules O +. O + +In O +fact O +, O +as O +a O +sign O +of O +their O +arsenal O +’s O +breadth O +, O +they O +had O +already O +decided O +to O +retire O +one O +of O +these O +malware O +toolsets O +as O +obsolete O +after O +developing O +a O +replacement O +for O +it O +, O +seemingly O +from O +scratch O +. O + +The O +Dukes S-APT +continued O +the O +expansion O +of O +their O +arsenal O +in O +2011 S-TIME +with O +the O +addition O +of O +two O +more O +toolsets O +: O +MiniDuke S-MAL +and O +CozyDuke S-MAL +. O + +While O +all O +of O +the O +earlier O +toolsets O +– O +GeminiDuke S-MAL +, O +PinchDuke S-MAL +, O +and O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +– O +were O +designed O +around O +a O +core O +infostealer O +component O +, O +MiniDuke S-MAL +is O +centered O +on O +a O +simplistic O +backdoor O +component O +whose O +purpose O +is O +to O +enable O +the O +remote O +execution O +of O +commands O +on O +the O +compromised O +system O +. O + +The O +first O +observed O +samples O +of O +the O +MiniDuke B-MAL +backdoor E-MAL +component O +are O +from O +May B-TIME +2011 E-TIME +. O + +This O +backdoor O +component O +however O +is O +technically O +very O +closely O +related O +to O +GeminiDuke S-MAL +, O +to O +the O +extent O +that O +we O +believe O +them O +to O +share O +parts O +of O +their O +source O +code O +. O + +The O +origins O +of O +MiniDuke S-MAL +can O +thus O +be O +traced O +back O +to O +the O +origins O +of O +GeminiDuke S-MAL +, O +of O +which O +the O +earliest O +observed O +sample O +was O +compiled O +in O +January B-TIME +of I-TIME +2009 E-TIME +. O + +Unlike O +the O +simplistic O +MiniDuke S-MAL +toolset O +, O +CozyDuke S-MAL +is O +a O +highly O +versatile O +, O +modular O +, O +malware O +“ O +platform O +” O +whose O +functionality O +lies O +not O +in O +a O +single O +core O +component O +but O +in O +an O +array O +of O +modules O +that O +it O +may O +be O +instructed O +to O +download O +from O +its O +C&C S-TOOL +server O +. O + +These O +modules O +are O +used O +to O +selectively O +provide O +CozyDuke S-MAL +with O +just O +the O +functionality O +deemed O +necessary O +for O +the O +mission O +at O +hand O +. O + +CozyDuke S-MAL +’s O +modular O +platform O +approach O +is O +a O +clear O +break O +from O +the O +designs O +of O +the O +previous O +Duke S-APT +toolsets O +. O + +The O +stylistic O +differences O +between O +CozyDuke S-MAL +and O +its O +older O +siblings O +are O +further O +exemplified O +by O +the O +way O +it O +was O +coded O +. O + +All O +of O +the O +4 O +previously O +mentioned O +toolsets O +were O +written O +in O +a O +minimalistic O +style O +commonly O +seen O +with O +malware O +; O +MiniDuke S-MAL +even O +goes O +as O +far O +as O +having O +many O +components O +written O +in O +Assembly O +language O +. O + +CozyDuke S-MAL +however O +represents O +the O +complete O +opposite O +. O + +Instead O +of O +being O +written O +in O +Assembly O +or O +C S-TOOL +, O +it O +was O +written O +in O +C++ S-TOOL +, O +which O +provides O +added O +layers O +of O +abstraction O +for O +the O +developer O +’s O +perusal O +, O +at O +the O +cost O +of O +added O +complexity O +. O + +Contrary O +to O +what O +might O +be O +expected O +from O +malware O +, O +early O +CozyDuke S-MAL +versions O +also O +lacked O +any O +attempt O +at O +obfuscating O +or O +hiding O +their O +true O +nature O +. O + +In O +fact O +, O +they O +were O +extremely O +open O +and O +verbose O +about O +their O +functionality O +- O +for O +example O +, O +early O +samples O +contained O +a O +plethora O +of O +logging O +messages O +in O +unencrypted O +form O +. O + +In O +comparison O +, O +even O +the O +earliest O +known O +GeminiDuke S-MAL +samples O +encrypted O +any O +strings O +that O +might O +have O +given O +away O +the O +malware O +’s O +true O +nature O +. O + +Finally O +, O +early O +CozyDuke S-MAL +versions O +also O +featured O +other O +elements O +that O +one O +would O +associate O +more O +with O +a O +traditional O +software O +development O +project O +than O +with O +malware O +. O + +For O +instance O +, O +the O +earliest O +known O +CozyDuke S-MAL +version O +utilized O +a O +feature O +of O +the O +Microsoft S-IDTY +Visual S-TOOL +C++ S-TOOL +compiler O +known O +as O +run-time O +error O +checking O +. O + +This O +feature O +added O +automatic O +error O +checking O +to O +critical O +parts O +of O +the O +program O +’s O +execution O +at O +the O +cost O +, O +from O +a O +malware O +perspective O +, O +of O +providing O +additional O +hints O +that O +make O +the O +malware O +’s O +functionality O +easier O +for O +reverse O +engineers O +to O +understand O +. O + +Based O +on O +these O +and O +other O +similar O +stylistic O +differences O +observed O +between O +CozyDuke S-MAL +and O +its O +older O +siblings O +, O +we O +speculate O +that O +while O +the O +older O +Duke S-APT +families O +appear O +to O +be O +the O +work O +of O +someone O +with O +a O +background O +in O +malware O +writing O +( O +or O +at O +the O +least O +in O +hacking O +) O +, O +CozyDuke S-MAL +’s O +author O +or O +authors O +more O +likely O +came O +from O +a O +software O +development O +background O +. O + +We O +still O +know O +surprisingly O +few O +specifics O +about O +the O +Dukes S-APT +group O +’s O +activities O +during O +2012 S-TIME +. O + +Based O +on O +samples O +of O +Duke S-APT +malware O +from O +2012 S-TIME +, O +the O +Dukes S-APT +do O +appear O +to O +have O +continued O +actively O +using O +and O +developing O +all O +of O +their O +tools O +. O + +Of O +these O +, O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +and O +MiniDuke S-MAL +appear O +to O +have O +been O +in O +more O +active O +use O +, O +while O +receiving O +only O +minor O +updates O +. O + +GeminiDuke S-MAL +and O +CozyDuke S-MAL +on O +the O +other O +hand O +appear O +to O +have O +been O +less O +used O +in O +actual O +operations O +, O +but O +did O +undergo O +much O +more O +significant O +development O +. O + +On O +the O +12th B-TIME +of I-TIME +February I-TIME +2013 E-TIME +, O +FireEye S-SECTEAM +published O +a O +blogpost O +alerting O +readers O +to O +a O +combination O +of O +new O +Adobe B-TOOL +Reader E-TOOL +0-day S-VULNAME +vulnerabilities O +, O +CVE-2013-0640 S-VULID +and O +CVE-2013-0641 S-VULID +, O +that O +were O +being O +actively O +exploited O +in O +the O +wild O +. O +8 O +days O +after O +FireEye S-SECTEAM +’s O +initial O +alert O +, O +Kaspersky S-SECTEAM +spotted O +the O +same O +exploit O +being O +used O +to O +spread O +an O +entirely O +different O +malware O +family O +from O +the O +one O +mentioned O +in O +the O +original O +report O +. O + +On O +27th B-TIME +February E-TIME +, O +Kaspersky S-SECTEAM +and O +CrySyS B-SECTEAM +Lab E-SECTEAM +published O +research O +on O +this O +previously O +unidentified O +malware O +family O +, O +dubbing O +it O +MiniDuke S-MAL +. O + +As O +we O +now O +know O +, O +by O +February B-TIME +2013 E-TIME +the O +Dukes S-APT +group O +had O +been O +operating O +MiniDuke S-MAL +and O +other O +toolsets O +for O +at O +least O +4 B-TIME +and I-TIME +a I-TIME +half I-TIME +years E-TIME +. O + +Their O +malware O +had O +not O +stayed O +undetected O +for O +those O +4 B-TIME +and I-TIME +a I-TIME +half I-TIME +years E-TIME +. O + +In O +fact O +, O +in O +2009 S-TIME +a O +PinchDuke S-MAL +sample O +had O +been O +included O +in O +the O +malware O +set O +used O +by O +the O +AV-Test S-SECTEAM +security O +product O +testing O +organization O +to O +perform O +anti-virus O +product O +comparison O +reviews O +. O + +Until O +2013 S-TIME +however O +, O +earlier O +Duke S-APT +toolsets O +had O +not O +been O +put O +in O +a O +proper O +context O +. O + +That O +finally O +started O +to O +change O +in O +2013 S-TIME +. O + +The O +MiniDuke S-MAL +samples O +that O +were O +spread O +using O +these O +exploits O +were O +compiled O +on O +the O +20th B-TIME +of I-TIME +February E-TIME +, O +after O +the O +exploit O +was O +already O +publicly O +known O +. O + +One O +might O +argue O +that O +since O +this O +took O +place O +after O +the O +exploits O +were O +publicly O +mentioned O +, O +the O +Dukes S-APT +simply O +copied O +them O +. O + +We O +however O +do O +not O +believe O +so O +. O + +As O +mentioned O +by O +Kaspersky S-SECTEAM +, O +even O +though O +the O +exploits O +used O +for O +these O +MiniDuke S-MAL +campaigns O +were O +near-identical O +to O +those O +described O +by O +FireEye S-SECTEAM +, O +there O +were O +nevertheless O +small O +differences O +. O + +Of O +these O +, O +the O +crucial O +one O +is O +the O +presence O +of O +PDB S-TOOL +strings O +in O +the O +MiniDuke S-MAL +exploits O +. O + +These O +strings O +, O +which O +are O +generated O +by O +the O +compiler O +when O +using O +specific O +compilation O +settings O +, O +means O +that O +the O +components O +of O +the O +exploits O +used O +with O +MiniDuke S-MAL +had O +to O +have O +been O +compiled O +independently O +from O +those O +described O +by O +FireEye S-SECTEAM +. O + +We O +do O +not O +know O +whether O +the O +Dukes S-APT +compiled O +the O +components O +themselves O +or O +whether O +someone O +else O +compiled O +the O +components O +before O +handing O +them O +to O +the O +group O +. O + +This O +does O +however O +still O +rule O +out O +the O +possibility O +that O +the O +Dukes S-APT +simply O +obtained O +copies O +of O +the O +exploit O +binaries O +described O +by O +FireEye S-SECTEAM +and O +repurposed O +them O +. O + +In O +our O +opinion O +, O +this O +insistence O +on O +using O +exploits O +that O +are O +already O +under O +heightened O +scrutiny O +suggests O +the O +existence O +of O +at O +least O +one O +of O +three O +circumstances O +. O + +Firstly O +, O +the O +Dukes S-APT +may O +have O +been O +confident O +enough O +in O +their O +own O +abilities O +( O +and O +in O +the O +slowness O +of O +their O +opponents O +to O +react O +to O +new O +threats O +) O +that O +they O +did O +not O +care O +if O +their O +targets O +may O +already O +be O +on O +the O +lookout O +for O +anyone O +exploiting O +these O +vulnerabilities O +. O + +Secondly O +, O +the O +value O +the O +Dukes S-APT +intended O +to O +gain O +from O +these O +MiniDuke S-MAL +campaigns O +may O +have O +been O +so O +great O +that O +they O +deemed O +it O +worth O +the O +risk O +of O +getting O +noticed O +. O + +Or O +thirdly O +, O +the O +Dukes S-APT +may O +have O +invested O +so O +much O +into O +these O +campaigns O +that O +by O +the O +time O +FireEye S-SECTEAM +published O +their O +alert O +, O +the O +Dukes S-APT +felt O +they O +could O +not O +afford O +to O +halt O +the O +campaigns O +. O + +We O +believe O +all O +three O +circumstances O +to O +have O +coexisted O +at O +least O +to O +some O +extent O +. O + +As O +will O +become O +evident O +in O +this O +report O +, O +this O +was O +not O +a O +one-off O +case O +but O +a O +recurring O +theme O +with O +the O +Dukes S-APT +, O +in O +that O +they O +would O +rather O +continue O +with O +their O +operations O +as O +planned O +than O +retreat O +from O +operating O +under O +the O +spotlight O +. O + +As O +originally O +detailed O +in O +Kaspersky S-SECTEAM +’s O +whitepaper O +, O +the O +MiniDuke S-MAL +campaigns O +from O +February B-TIME +2013 E-TIME +employed O +spear-phishing S-ACT +emails S-TOOL +with O +malicious O +PDF S-TOOL +file O +attachments O +. O + +These O +PDFs S-TOOL +would O +attempt O +to O +silently O +infect O +the O +recipient O +with O +MiniDuke S-MAL +, O +while O +distracting O +them O +by O +displaying O +a O +decoy O +document O +. O + +The O +headings O +of O +these O +documents O +included O +“ O +Ukraine S-LOC +’s O +NATO S-IDTY +Membership O +Action O +Plan O +( O +MAP O +) O +Debates O +” O +, O +“ O +The O +Informal O +Asia-Europe O +Meeting O +( O +ASEM O +) O +Seminar O +on O +Human O +Rights O +” O +, O +and O +“ O +Ukraine S-LOC +’s O +Search O +for O +a O +Regional O +Foreign O +Policy O +” O +. O + +The O +targets O +of O +these O +campaigns O +, O +according O +to O +Kaspersky S-SECTEAM +, O +were O +located O +variously O +in O +Belgium S-LOC +, O +Hungary S-LOC +, O +Luxembourg S-LOC +and O +Spain S-LOC +. O + +Kaspersky S-SECTEAM +goes O +on O +to O +state O +that O +by O +obtaining O +log O +files O +from O +the O +MiniDuke S-MAL +command B-TOOL +and I-TOOL +control E-TOOL +servers O +, O +they O +were O +able O +to O +identify O +high-profile O +victims O +from O +Ukraine S-LOC +, O +Belgium S-LOC +, O +Portugal S-LOC +, O +Romania S-LOC +, O +the O +Czech B-LOC +Republic E-LOC +, O +Ireland S-LOC +, O +the O +United B-LOC +States E-LOC +and O +Hungary S-LOC +. O + +After O +the O +February S-TIME +campaigns O +, O +MiniDuke S-MAL +activity O +appeared O +to O +quiet O +down O +, O +although O +it O +did O +not O +fully O +stop O +, O +for O +the O +rest B-TIME +of I-TIME +2013 E-TIME +. O + +The O +Dukes S-APT +group O +as O +a O +whole O +however O +showed O +no O +sign O +of O +slowing O +down O +. O + +In O +fact O +, O +we O +saw O +yet O +another O +Duke S-APT +malware O +toolset O +, O +OnionDuke S-MAL +, O +appear O +first O +in O +2013 S-TIME +. O + +Like O +CozyDuke S-MAL +, O +OnionDuke S-MAL +appears O +to O +have O +been O +designed O +with O +versatility O +in O +mind O +, O +and O +takes O +a O +similarly O +modular O +platform O +approach O +. O + +The O +OnionDuke S-MAL +toolset O +includes O +various O +modules O +for O +purposes O +such O +as O +password O +stealing O +, O +information O +gathering O +, O +denial B-TOOL +of I-TOOL +service E-TOOL +( O +DoS S-TOOL +) O +attacks O +, O +and O +even O +posting O +spam O +to O +the O +Russian O +social O +media O +network O +, O +VKontakte S-TOOL +. O + +The O +OnionDuke S-MAL +toolset O +also O +includes O +a O +dropper O +, O +an O +information O +stealer O +variant O +and O +multiple O +distinct O +versions O +of O +the O +core O +component O +that O +is O +responsible O +for O +interacting O +with O +the O +various O +modules O +. O + +What O +makes O +OnionDuke S-MAL +especially O +curious O +is O +an O +infection O +vector O +it O +began O +using O +during O +the O +summer B-TIME +of I-TIME +2013 E-TIME +. O + +To O +spread O +the O +toolset O +, O +the O +Dukes S-APT +used O +a O +wrapper O +to O +combine O +OnionDuke S-MAL +with O +legitimate O +applications O +, O +created O +torrent O +files O +containing O +these O +trojanized O +applications O +, O +then O +uploaded O +them O +to O +websites O +hosting O +torrent O +files O +. O + +Victims O +who O +used O +the O +torrent O +files O +to O +download O +the O +applications O +would O +end O +up O +getting O +infected O +with O +OnionDuke S-MAL +. O + +For O +most O +of O +the O +OnionDuke S-MAL +components O +we O +observed O +, O +the O +first O +versions O +that O +we O +are O +aware O +of O +were O +compiled O +during O +the O +summer B-TIME +of I-TIME +2013 E-TIME +, O +suggesting O +that O +this O +was O +a O +period O +of O +active O +development O +around O +this O +toolset O +. O + +Critically O +however O +, O +the O +first O +sample O +of O +the O +OnionDuke S-MAL +dropper O +, O +which O +we O +have O +observed O +being O +used O +only O +with O +components O +of O +this O +toolset O +, O +was O +compiled O +on O +the O +17th B-TIME +of I-TIME +February I-TIME +2013 E-TIME +. O + +This O +is O +significant O +because O +it O +suggests O +that O +OnionDuke S-MAL +was O +under O +development O +before O +any O +part O +of O +the O +Duke S-APT +operation O +became O +public O +. O + +OnionDuke S-MAL +’s O +development O +therefore O +could O +not O +have O +been O +simply O +a O +response O +to O +the O +outing O +of O +one O +of O +the O +other O +Duke S-APT +malware O +, O +but O +was O +instead O +intended O +for O +use O +alongside O +the O +other O +toolsets O +. O + +This O +indication O +that O +the O +Dukes S-APT +planned O +to O +use O +an O +arsenal O +of O +5 O +malware O +toolsets O +in O +parallel O +suggests O +that O +they O +were O +operating O +with O +both O +significant O +resources O +and O +capacity O +. O + +In O +2013 S-TIME +, O +many O +of O +the O +decoy O +documents O +employed O +by O +the O +Dukes S-APT +in O +their O +campaigns O +were O +related O +to O +Ukraine S-LOC +; O +examples O +include O +a O +letter O +undersigned O +by O +the O +First O +Deputy O +Minister O +for O +Foreign B-IDTY +Affairs E-IDTY +of O +Ukraine S-LOC +, O +a O +letter O +from O +the O +embassy O +of O +the O +Netherlands S-LOC +in O +Ukraine S-LOC +to O +the O +Ukrainian B-IDTY +Ministry E-IDTY +of O +Foreign B-IDTY +affairs E-IDTY +and O +a O +document O +titled O +“ O +Ukraine S-LOC +’s O +Search O +for O +a O +Regional O +Foreign O +Policy O +” O +. O + +These O +decoy O +documents O +however O +were O +written O +before O +the O +start B-TIME +of I-TIME +the I-TIME +November I-TIME +2013 E-TIME +Euromaidan S-ACT +protests O +in O +Ukraine S-APT +and O +the O +subsequent O +upheaval O +. O + +It O +is O +therefore O +important O +to O +note O +that O +, O +contrary O +to O +what O +might O +be O +assumed O +, O +we O +have O +actually O +observed O +a O +drop O +instead O +of O +an O +increase O +in O +Ukraine S-LOC +related O +campaigns O +from O +the O +Dukes S-APT +following O +the O +country O +’s O +political O +crisis O +. O + +This O +is O +in O +stark O +contrast O +to O +some O +other O +suspected O +Russian O +threat O +actors O +( O +such O +as O +Operation B-ACT +Pawn I-ACT +Storm E-ACT +) O +who O +appear O +to O +have O +increased O +their O +targeting O +of O +Ukraine O +following O +the O +crisis O +. O + +This O +supports O +our O +analysis O +that O +the O +overarching O +theme O +in O +the O +Dukes S-APT +’ O +targeting O +is O +the O +collection O +of O +intelligence O +to O +support O +diplomatic O +efforts O +. O + +The O +Dukes S-APT +actively O +targeted O +Ukraine S-LOC +before O +the O +crisis O +, O +at O +a O +time O +when O +Russia S-LOC +was O +still O +weighing O +her O +options O +, O +but O +once O +Russia S-LOC +moved O +from O +diplomacy O +to O +direct O +action O +, O +Ukraine S-LOC +was O +no O +longer O +relevant O +to O +the O +Dukes S-APT +in O +the O +same O +way O +. O + +In O +a O +surprising O +turn O +of O +events O +, O +in O +September B-TIME +2013 E-TIME +a O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +campaign O +was O +observed O +targeting O +Russian O +speakers O +involved O +in O +the O +trade O +of O +illegal O +and O +controlled O +substances O +. O + +Kaspersky B-SECTEAM +Labs E-SECTEAM +, O +who O +sometimes O +refer O +to O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +as O +‘ O +Bot O +Gen O +Studio O +’ O +, O +speculated O +that O +“ O +one O +possibility O +is O +that O +‘ O +Bot O +Gen O +Studio O +’ O +is O +a O +malware O +platform O +also O +available O +as O +a O +so-called O +‘ O +legal O +spyware O +’ O +tool O +” O +; O + +therefore O +, O +those O +using O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +to O +target O +drug O +dealers O +and O +those O +targeting O +governments O +are O +two O +separate O +entities O +. O + +We O +however O +feel O +it O +is O +unlikely O +that O +the O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +operators O +targeting O +drug O +dealers O +and O +those O +targeting O +governments O +could O +be O +two O +entirely O +independent O +entities O +. O + +A O +shared O +supplier O +of O +malware O +would O +explain O +the O +overlap O +in O +tools O +, O +but O +it O +would O +not O +explain O +the O +significant O +overlap O +we O +have O +also O +observed O +in O +operational O +techniques O +related O +to O +command O +and O +control O +infrastructure O +. O + +Instead O +, O +we O +feel O +the O +targeting O +of O +drug O +dealers O +was O +a O +new O +task O +for O +a O +subset O +of O +the O +Dukes S-APT +group O +, O +possibly O +due O +to O +the O +drug O +trade O +’s O +relevance O +to O +security O +policy O +issues O +. O + +We O +also O +believe O +the O +tasking O +to O +have O +been O +temporary O +, O +because O +we O +have O +not O +observed O +any O +further O +similar O +targeting O +from O +the O +Dukes S-APT +after O +the O +spring B-TIME +of I-TIME +2014 E-TIME +. O + +While O +MiniDuke S-MAL +activity O +decreased O +significantly O +during O +the O +rest B-TIME +of I-TIME +2013 E-TIME +following O +the O +attention O +it O +garnered O +from O +researchers O +, O +the O +beginning B-TIME +of I-TIME +2014 E-TIME +saw O +the O +toolset O +back O +in O +full O +force O +. O + +All O +MiniDuke S-MAL +components O +, O +from O +the O +loader O +and O +downloader O +to O +the O +backdoor O +, O +had O +been O +slightly O +updated O +and O +modified O +during O +the O +downtime O +. O + +Interestingly O +, O +the O +nature O +of O +these O +modifications O +suggests O +that O +their O +primary O +purpose O +was O +to O +regain O +the O +element O +of O +stealth O +and O +undetectability O +that O +had O +been O +lost O +almost O +a O +year O +earlier O +. O + +Of O +these O +modifications O +, O +arguably O +the O +most O +important O +were O +the O +ones O +done O +to O +the O +loader O +. O + +These O +resulted O +in O +a O +loader O +version O +that O +would O +later O +become O +known O +as O +the O +“ O +Nemesis B-MAL +Gemina I-MAL +loader E-MAL +” O +due O +to O +PDB S-TOOL +strings O +found O +in O +many O +of O +the O +samples O +. O + +It O +is O +however O +still O +only O +an O +iteration O +on O +earlier O +versions O +of O +the O +MiniDuke S-MAL +loader O +. O + +The O +first O +observed O +samples O +of O +the O +Nemesis B-MAL +Gemina I-MAL +loader E-MAL +( O +compiled O +on O +14th B-TIME +December I-TIME +2013 E-TIME +) O +were O +used O +to O +load O +the O +updated O +MiniDuke B-MAL +backdoor E-MAL +, O +but O +by O +the O +spring B-TIME +of I-TIME +2014 E-TIME +the O +Nemesis B-MAL +Gemina I-MAL +loader E-MAL +was O +also O +observed O +in O +use O +with O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +. O + +Following O +the O +MiniDuke S-MAL +expose O +, O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +in O +turn O +got O +its O +moment O +of O +fame O +when O +F-Secure S-SECTEAM +published O +a O +whitepaper O +about O +it O +on O +2nd B-TIME +July I-TIME +2014 E-TIME +. O + +The O +next O +day O +, O +Kaspersky S-SECTEAM +also O +published O +their O +own O +research O +on O +the O +malware O +. O + +It O +should O +be O +noted O +that O +until O +this O +point O +, O +even O +though O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +had O +been O +in O +active O +use O +for O +over O +4 O +years O +, O +and O +had O +undergone O +minor O +modifications O +and O +updates O +during O +that O +time O +, O +even O +the O +most O +recent O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +samples O +would O +often O +embed O +persistence O +components O +that O +date O +back O +to O +2012 S-TIME +. O + +These O +samples O +would O +also O +contain O +artefacts O +of O +functionality O +from O +the O +earliest O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +samples O +from O +2010 S-TIME +. O + +It O +is O +therefore O +valuable O +to O +observe O +how O +the O +Dukes O +reacted O +to O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +’s O +outing O +at O +the O +beginning O +of O +July O +. O + +By O +the O +end O +of O +that O +month O +, O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +samples O +we O +found O +that O +had O +been O +compiled O +on O +the O +30th B-TIME +of I-TIME +July E-TIME +had O +shed O +unused O +parts O +of O +their O +code O +that O +had O +essentially O +just O +been O +relics O +of O +the O +past O +. O + +Similarly O +, O +some O +of O +the O +hardcoded O +values O +that O +had O +remained O +unaltered O +in O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +samples O +for O +many O +years O +had O +been O +changed O +. O + +We O +believe O +these O +edits O +were O +an O +attempt O +at O +evading O +detection O +by O +modifying O +or O +removing O +parts O +of O +the O +toolset O +that O +the O +authors O +believed O +might O +be O +helpful O +in O +identifying O +and O +detecting O +it O +. O + +Concurrently O +with O +the O +alterations O +to O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +, O +the O +Dukes S-APT +were O +also O +hard O +at O +work O +modifying O +their O +trusted O +loader O +. O + +Much O +like O +the O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +toolset O +, O +the O +loader O +used O +by O +both O +MiniDuke S-MAL +and O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +had O +previously O +only O +undergone O +one O +major O +update O +( O +the O +Nemesis B-MAL +Gemina E-MAL +upgrade O +) O +since O +the O +first O +known O +samples O +from O +2010 S-TIME +. O + +Again O +, O +much O +of O +the O +modification O +work O +focused O +on O +removing O +redundant O +code O +in O +an O +attempt O +to O +appear O +different O +from O +earlier O +versions O +of O +the O +loader O +. O + +Interestingly O +however O +, O +another O +apparent O +evasion O +trick O +was O +also O +attempted O +- O +forging O +of O +the O +loaders O +’ O +compilation O +timestamps O +. O + +The O +first O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +sample O +we O +observed O +after O +the O +initial O +research O +on O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +was O +a O +sample O +compiled O +on O +the O +30th B-TIME +of I-TIME +July I-TIME +2014 E-TIME +. O + +The O +loader O +used O +by O +the O +sample O +purported O +to O +have O +been O +compiled O +on O +the O +25th B-TIME +of I-TIME +March I-TIME +2010 E-TIME +. O + +Due O +to O +artefacts O +left O +in O +the O +loader O +during O +compilation O +time O +however O +, O +we O +know O +that O +it O +used O +a O +specific O +version O +of O +the O +Boost S-TOOL +library O +, O +1.54.0 O +, O +that O +was O +only O +published O +on O +the O +1st B-TIME +of I-TIME +July I-TIME +2013 E-TIME +. O + +The O +compilation O +timestamp O +therefore O +had O +to O +have O +been O +faked O +. O + +F-Secure S-SECTEAM +’s O +whitepaper O +on O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +includes O +a O +timeline O +of O +the O +loader O +’s O +usage O +, O +based O +on O +compilation O +timestamps O +. O + +Perhaps O +the O +Dukes S-APT +group O +thought O +that O +by O +faking O +a O +timestamp O +from O +before O +the O +earliest O +one O +cited O +in O +the O +whitepaper O +, O +they O +might O +be O +able O +to O +confuse O +researchers O +. O + +During O +the O +rest B-TIME +of I-TIME +2014 E-TIME +and O +the O +spring B-TIME +of I-TIME +2015 E-TIME +, O +the O +Dukes S-APT +continued O +making O +similar O +evasionfocused O +modifications O +to O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +, O +as O +well O +as O +experimenting O +with O +ways O +to O +obfuscate O +the O +loader O +. O + +In O +the O +latter O +case O +however O +, O +the O +group O +appear O +to O +have O +also O +simultaneously O +developed O +an O +entirely O +new O +loader O +, O +which O +we O +first O +observed O +being O +used O +in O +conjunction O +with O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +during O +the O +spring B-TIME +of I-TIME +2015 E-TIME +. O + +While O +it O +is O +not O +surprising O +that O +the O +Dukes S-APT +reacted O +to O +multiple O +companies O +publishing O +extensive O +reports O +on O +one O +of O +their O +key O +toolsets O +, O +it O +is O +valuable O +to O +note O +the O +manner O +in O +which O +they O +responded O +. O + +Much O +like O +the O +MiniDuke S-MAL +expose O +in O +February B-TIME +2013 E-TIME +, O +the O +Dukes S-APT +again O +appeared O +to O +prioritize O +continuing O +operations O +over O +staying O +hidden O +. O + +They O +could O +have O +ceased O +all O +use O +of O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +( O +at O +least O +until O +they O +had O +developed O +a O +new O +loader O +) O +or O +retired O +it O +entirely O +, O +since O +they O +still O +had O +other O +toolsets O +available O +. O + +Instead O +, O +they O +opted O +for O +minimal O +downtime O +and O +attempted O +to O +continue O +operations O +, O +with O +only O +minor O +modifications O +to O +the O +toolset O +. O + +While O +we O +now O +know O +that O +CozyDuke S-MAL +had O +been O +under O +development O +since O +at O +least O +the O +end B-TIME +of I-TIME +2011 E-TIME +, O +it O +was O +not O +until O +the O +early O +days O +of O +July B-TIME +2014 E-TIME +that O +the O +first O +large-scale O +CozyDuke S-MAL +campaign O +that O +we O +are O +aware O +of O +took O +place O +. O + +This O +campaign O +, O +like O +later O +CozyDuke S-MAL +campaigns O +, O +began O +with O +spear-phishing S-ACT +emails S-TOOL +that O +tried O +to O +impersonate O +commonly O +seen O +spam O +emails S-TOOL +. O + +These O +spear-phishing S-ACT +emails S-TOOL +would O +contain O +links O +that O +eventually O +lead O +the O +victim O +to O +becoming O +infected O +with O +CozyDuke S-MAL +. O + +Some O +of O +the O +CozyDuke S-MAL +spear-phishing S-ACT +emails S-TOOL +from O +early O +July S-TIME +posed O +as O +e-fax S-TOOL +arrival O +notifications O +, O +a O +popular O +theme O +for O +spam O +emails S-TOOL +, O +and O +used O +the O +same O +“ O +US S-LOC +letter O +fax S-TOOL +test O +page O +” O +decoy O +document O +that O +was O +used O +a O +year O +later O +by O +CloudDuke S-MAL +. O + +In O +at O +least O +one O +case O +however O +, O +the O +email S-TOOL +instead O +contained O +a O +link O +to O +a O +zip S-TOOL +archive O +file O +named O +“ O +Office B-FILE +Monkeys I-FILE +LOL I-FILE +Video.zip E-FILE +” O +, O +which O +was O +hosted O +on O +the O +DropBox S-TOOL +cloud O +storage O +service O +. O + +What O +made O +this O +particular O +case O +interesting O +was O +that O +instead O +of O +the O +usual O +dull O +PDF S-TOOL +file O +, O +the O +decoy O +was O +a O +Flash S-TOOL +video O +file O +, O +more O +specifically O +a O +Super O +Bowl O +advertisement O +from O +2007 S-TIME +purporting O +to O +show O +monkeys O +at O +an O +office O +. O + + +THE O +DUKES S-APT +7 O +YEARS O +OF O +RUSSIAN O +CYBERESPIONAGE O +. O + +Release_Time O +: O +2015-09 O + +Report_URL O +: O +https://blog-assets.f-secure.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/18122307/F-Secure_Dukes_Whitepaper.pdf O + +2014 S-TIME +: O +OnionDuke S-MAL +gets O +caught O +using O +a O +malicious O +Tor S-TOOL +node O +. O + +On O +the O +23rd B-TIME +of I-TIME +October I-TIME +2014 E-TIME +, O +Leviathan B-SECTEAM +Security I-SECTEAM +Group E-SECTEAM +published O +a O +blog O +post O +describing O +a O +malicious O +Tor S-TOOL +exit O +node O +they O +had O +found O +. O + +They O +noted O +that O +this O +node O +appeared O +to O +be O +maliciously O +modifying O +any O +executables O +that O +were O +downloaded O +through O +it O +over O +a O +HTTP S-PROT +connection O +. O + +Executing O +the O +modified O +applications O +obtained O +this O +way O +would O +result O +in O +the O +victim O +being O +infected O +with O +unidentified O +malware O +. O + +On O +the O +14th B-TIME +of I-TIME +November E-TIME +, O +F-Secure S-SECTEAM +published O +a O +blog O +post O +naming O +the O +malware O +OnionDuke S-MAL +and O +associating O +it O +with O +MiniDuke S-MAL +and O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +, O +the O +other O +Duke S-APT +toolsets O +known O +at O +the O +time O +. O + +Based O +on O +our O +investigations O +into O +OnionDuke S-MAL +, O +we O +believe O +that O +for O +about O +7 O +months O +, O +from O +April B-TIME +2014 E-TIME +to O +when O +Leviathan S-SECTEAM +published O +their O +blog O +post O +in O +October B-TIME +2014 E-TIME +, O +the O +Tor S-TOOL +exit O +node O +identified O +by O +the O +researchers O +was O +being O +used O +to O +wrap O +executables O +on-the-fly O +with O +OnionDuke S-MAL +( O +image O +7 O +, O +page O +13 O +) O +. O + +This O +is O +similar O +to O +the O +way O +in O +which O +the O +toolset O +was O +being O +spread O +via O +trojanized O +applications O +in O +torrent O +files O +during O +the O +summer B-TIME +of I-TIME +2013 E-TIME +. O + +While O +investigating O +the O +OnionDuke S-MAL +variant O +being O +spread O +by O +the O +malicious O +Tor S-TOOL +node O +, O +we O +also O +identified O +another O +OnionDuke S-MAL +variant O +that O +appeared O +to O +have O +successfully O +compromised O +multiple O +victims O +in O +the O +ministry O +of O +foreign O +affairs O +of O +an O +Eastern O +European O +country O +during O +the O +spring B-TIME +of I-TIME +2014 E-TIME +. O + +This O +variant O +differed O +significantly O +in O +functionality O +from O +the O +one O +being O +spread O +via O +the O +Tor S-TOOL +node O +, O +further O +suggesting O +that O +different O +OnionDuke S-MAL +variants O +are O +intended O +for O +different O +kinds O +of O +victims O +. O + +We O +believe O +that O +, O +unusually O +, O +the O +purpose O +of O +the O +OnionDuke S-MAL +variant O +spread O +via O +the O +Tor S-TOOL +node O +was O +not O +to O +pursue O +targeted O +attacks O +but O +instead O +to O +form O +a O +small O +botnet O +for O +later O +use O +. O + +This O +OnionDuke S-MAL +variant O +is O +related O +to O +the O +one O +seen O +during O +the O +summer B-TIME +of I-TIME +2013 E-TIME +being O +spread O +via O +torrent O +files O +. O + +Both O +of O +these O +infection O +vectors O +are O +highly O +indiscriminate O +and O +untargeted O +when O +compared O +to O +spearphishing S-ACT +, O +the O +usual O +infection O +vector O +of O +choice O +for O +the O +Dukes S-APT +. O + +Further O +, O +the O +functionality O +of O +the O +OnionDuke S-MAL +variant O +is O +derived O +from O +a O +number O +of O +modules O +. O + +While O +one O +of O +these O +modules O +gathers O +system O +information O +and O +another O +attempts O +to O +steal O +the O +victim O +’s O +usernames O +and O +passwords O +, O +as O +one O +would O +expect O +from O +a O +malware O +used O +for O +a O +targeted O +attack O +, O +the O +other O +two O +known O +OnionDuke S-MAL +modules O +are O +quite O +the O +opposite O +; O +one O +is O +designed O +for O +use O +in O +DoS S-TOOL B-ACT +attacks E-ACT +and O +the O +other O +for O +posting O +predetermined O +messages O +to O +the O +Russian O +VKontakte S-TOOL +social O +media O +site O +. O + +This O +sort O +of O +functionality O +is O +more O +common O +in O +criminality-oriented O +botnets O +, O +not O +statesponsored O +targeted O +attacks O +. O + +We O +have O +since O +been O +able O +to O +identify O +at O +least O +two O +separate O +OnionDuke S-MAL +botnets O +. O + +We O +believe O +the O +formation O +of O +the O +first O +of O +these O +botnets O +began O +in O +January B-TIME +2014 E-TIME +, O +using O +both O +unidentified O +infection O +vectors O +and O +the O +known O +malicious O +Tor S-TOOL +node O +, O +and O +continued O +until O +our O +blogpost O +was O +published O +in O +November S-TIME +. O + +We O +believe O +the O +formation O +of O +the O +second O +botnet O +began O +in O +August B-TIME +2014 E-TIME +and O +continued O +until O +January B-TIME +2015 E-TIME +. O + +We O +have O +been O +unable O +to O +identify O +the O +infection O +vectors O +used O +for O +this O +second O +botnet O +, O +but O +the O +C&C S-TOOL +servers O +it O +used O +had O +open O +directory O +listings O +, O +allowing O +us O +to O +retrieve O +files O +containing O +listings O +of O +victim O +IP O +addresses O +. O + +The O +geographic O +distribution O +of O +these O +IP O +addresses O +( O +image O +8 O +, O +page O +13 O +) O +further O +supports O +our O +theory O +that O +the O +purpose O +of O +this O +OnionDuke S-MAL +variant O +was O +not O +targeted O +attacks O +against O +high-profile O +targets O +. O + +One O +theory O +is O +that O +the O +botnets O +were O +a O +criminal O +side O +business O +for O +the O +Dukes S-APT +group O +. O + +The O +size O +of O +the O +botnet O +however O +( O +about O +1400 O +bots O +) O +is O +very O +small O +if O +its O +intended O +use O +is O +for O +commercial O +DoS S-TOOL +attacks O +or O +spam-sending O +. O + +Alternatively O +, O +OnionDuke S-MAL +also O +steals O +user O +credentials O +from O +its O +victims O +, O +providing O +another O +potential O +revenue O +source O +. O + +The O +counter O +to O +that O +argument O +however O +is O +that O +the O +value O +of O +stolen O +credentials O +from O +users O +in O +the O +countries O +with O +the O +highest O +percentage O +of O +OnionDuke S-MAL +bots O +( O +Mongolia S-LOC +and O +India S-LOC +) O +are O +among O +the O +lowest O +on O +underground O +markets O +. O +2015 S-TIME +: O +The O +Dukes S-APT +up O +the O +ante O +. O + +The O +end B-TIME +of I-TIME +January I-TIME +2015 E-TIME +saw O +the O +start O +of O +the O +most O +high- O +volume O +Duke S-APT +campaign O +seen O +thus O +far O +, O +with O +thousands O +of O +recipients O +being O +sent O +spear-phishing S-ACT +emails S-TOOL +that O +contained O +links O +to O +compromised O +websites O +hosting O +CozyDuke S-MAL +. O + +Curiously O +, O +the O +spear-phishing S-ACT +emails S-TOOL +were O +strikingly O +similar O +to O +the O +e-fax O +themed O +spam O +usually O +seen O +spreading O +ransomware O +and O +other O +common O +crimeware O +. O + +Due O +to O +the O +sheer O +number O +of O +recipients O +, O +it O +may O +not O +have O +been O +possible O +to O +customize O +the O +emails S-TOOL +in O +the O +same O +way O +as O +was O +possible O +with O +lower-volume O +campaigns O +. O + +The O +similarity O +to O +common O +spam O +may O +however O +also O +serve O +a O +more O +devious O +purpose O +. O + +It O +is O +easy O +to O +imagine O +a O +security O +analyst O +, O +burdened O +by O +the O +amount O +of O +attacks O +against O +their O +network O +, O +dismissing O +such O +common-looking O +spam O +as O +“ O +just O +another O +crimeware O +spam O +run O +” O +, O +allowing O +the O +campaign O +to O +, O +in O +essence O +, O +hide O +in O +the O +masses O +. O + +The O +CozyDuke S-MAL +activity O +continues O +one O +of O +the O +long-running O +trends O +of O +the O +Dukes S-APT +operations O +, O +the O +use O +of O +multiple O +malware O +toolsets O +against O +a O +single O +target O +. O + +In O +this O +case O +, O +the O +Dukes S-APT +first O +attempted O +to O +infect O +large O +numbers O +of O +potential O +targets O +with O +CozyDuke S-MAL +( O +and O +in O +a O +more O +obvious O +manner O +than O +previously O +seen O +) O +. O + +They O +would O +then O +use O +the O +toolset O +to O +gather O +initial O +information O +on O +the O +victims O +, O +before O +deciding O +which O +ones O +to O +pursue O +further O +. O + +For O +the O +victims O +deemed O +interesting O +enough O +, O +the O +Dukes S-APT +would O +then O +deploy O +a O +different O +toolset O +. O + +We O +believe O +the O +primary O +purpose O +of O +this O +tactic O +is O +an O +attempt O +at O +evading O +detection O +in O +the O +targeted O +network O +. O + +Even O +if O +the O +noisy O +initial O +CozyDuke S-MAL +campaign O +is O +noticed O +by O +the O +victim O +organization O +, O +or O +by O +someone O +else O +who O +then O +makes O +it O +publicly O +known O +, O +defenders O +will O +begin O +by O +first O +looking O +for O +indicators B-TOOL +of I-TOOL +compromise E-TOOL +( O +IOCs S-TOOL +) O +related O +to O +the O +CozyDuke S-MAL +toolset O +. O + +If O +however O +by O +that O +time O +the O +Dukes S-APT +are O +already O +operating O +within O +the O +victim O +’s O +network O +, O +using O +an O +another O +toolset O +with O +different O +IOCs S-TOOL +, O +then O +it O +is O +reasonable O +to O +assume O +that O +it O +will O +take O +much O +longer O +for O +the O +victim O +organization O +to O +notice O +the O +infiltration O +. O + +In O +previous O +cases O +, O +the O +group O +used O +their O +malware O +toolsets O +interchangeably O +, O +as O +either O +the O +initial O +or O +a O +later-stage O +toolset O +in O +a O +campaign O +. O + +For O +these O +CozyDuke S-MAL +campaigns O +however O +, O +the O +Dukes S-APT +appear O +to O +have O +employed O +two O +particular O +later-stage O +toolsets O +, O +SeaDuke S-MAL +and O +HammerDuke S-MAL +, O +that O +were O +purposely O +designed O +to O +leave O +a O +persistent O +backdoor O +on O +the O +compromised O +network O +. O + +HammerDuke S-MAL +is O +a O +set O +of O +backdoors O +that O +was O +first O +seen O +in O +the O +wild O +in O +February B-TIME +2015 E-TIME +, O +while O +SeaDuke S-MAL +is O +a O +crossplatform O +backdoor O +that O +was O +, O +according O +to O +Symantec S-SECTEAM +, O +first O +spotted O +in O +the O +wild O +in O +October B-TIME +2014 E-TIME +. O + +Both O +toolsets O +were O +originally O +spotted O +being O +deployed O +by O +CozyDuke S-MAL +to O +its O +victims O +. O + +What O +makes O +SeaDuke S-MAL +special O +is O +that O +it O +was O +written O +in O +Python S-TOOL +and O +designed O +to O +work O +on O +both O +Windows S-OS +and O +Linux S-OS +systems O +; O +it O +is O +the O +first O +cross-platform O +tool O +we O +have O +seen O +from O +the O +Dukes S-APT +. O + +One O +plausible O +reason O +for O +developing O +such O +a O +flexible O +malware O +might O +be O +that O +the O +group O +were O +increasingly O +encountering O +victim O +environments O +where O +users O +were O +using O +Linux S-OS +as O +their O +desktop O +operating O +system O +. O + +Meanwhile O +, O +HammerDuke S-MAL +is O +a O +Windows S-OS +only O +malware O +( O +written O +in O +.NET S-TOOL +) O +and O +comes O +in O +two O +variants O +. 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O + +What O +is O +less O +common O +is O +that O +the O +name O +used O +for O +the O +mutex O +is O +often O +a O +timestamp O +. O + +We O +believe O +these O +timestamps O +to O +be O +generated O +during O +the O +compilation O +of O +GeminiDuke S-MAL +from O +the O +local O +time O +of O +the O +computer O +being O +used O +. O + +Comparing O +the O +GeminiDuke S-MAL +compilation O +timestamps O +, O +which O +always O +reference O +the O +time O +in O +the O +UTC+0 O +timezone O +, O +with O +the O +local O +time O +timestamps O +used O +as O +mutex O +names O +, O +and O +adjusting O +for O +the O +presumed O +timezone O +difference O +, O +we O +note O +that O +all O +of O +the O +mutex O +names O +reference O +a O +time O +and O +date O +that O +is O +within O +seconds O +of O +the O +respective O +sample O +’s O +compilation O +timestamp O +. O + +Additionally O +, O +the O +apparent O +timezone O +of O +the O +timestamps O +in O +all O +of O +the O +GeminiDuke S-MAL +samples O +compiled O +during O +the O +winter O +is O +UTC+3 O +, O +while O +for O +samples O +compiled O +during O +the O +summer O +, O +it O +is O +UTC+4 O +. O + +The O +observed O +timezones O +correspond O +to O +the O +pre-2011 O +definition O +of O +Moscow S-LOC +Standard O +Time O +( O +MSK O +) O +, O +which O +was O +UTC+3 O +during O +the O +winter O +and O +UTC+4 O +during O +the O +summer O +. O + +In O +2011 S-TIME +MSK O +stopped O +following O +Daylight O +Saving O +Time O +( O +DST O +) O +and O +was O +set O +to O +UTC+4 O +year-round O +, O +then O +reset O +to O +UTC O ++3 O +yearround O +in O +2014 S-TIME +. O + +Some O +of O +the O +observed O +GeminiDuke S-MAL +samples O +that O +used O +timestamps O +as O +mutex O +names O +were O +compiled O +while O +MSK O +still O +respected O +DST O +and O +for O +these O +samples O +, O +the O +timestamps O +perfectly O +align O +with O +MSK O +as O +it O +was O +defined O +at O +the O +time O +. O + +However O +, O +GeminiDuke S-MAL +samples O +compiled O +after O +MSK O +was O +altered O +still O +vary O +the O +timezone O +between O +UTC+3 O +in O +the O +winter O +and O +UTC+4 O +during O +the O +summer O +. O + +While O +computers O +using O +Microsoft S-IDTY +Windows S-OS +automatically O +adjust O +for O +DST O +, O +changes O +in O +timezone O +definitions O +require O +that O +an O +update O +to O +Windows S-OS +be O +installed O +. O + +We O +therefore O +believe O +that O +the O +Dukes S-APT +group O +simply O +failed O +to O +update O +the O +computer O +they O +were O +using O +to O +compile O +GeminiDuke S-MAL +samples O +, O +so O +that O +the O +timestamps O +seen O +in O +later O +samples O +still O +appear O +to O +follow O +the O +old O +definition O +of O +Moscow S-LOC +Standard O +Time O +. O + +The O +GeminiDuke S-MAL +infostealer O +has O +occasionally O +been O +wrapped O +with O +a O +loader O +that O +appears O +to O +be O +unique O +to O +GeminiDuke S-MAL +and O +has O +never O +been O +observed O +being O +used O +with O +any O +of O +the O +other O +Duke S-APT +toolsets O +. O + +GeminiDuke S-MAL +also O +occasionally O +embeds O +additional O +executables O +that O +attempt O +to O +achieve O +persistence O +on O +the O +victim O +computer O +. O + +These O +persistence O +components O +appear O +to O +be O +uniquely O +customized O +for O +use O +with O +GeminiDuke S-MAL +, O +but O +they O +use O +many O +of O +the O +same O +techniques O +as O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +persistence O +components O +. O + +COSMICDUKE S-MAL +: O +First O +known O +activity O +January B-TIME +2010 E-TIME +, O +Most O +recent O +known O +activity O +Summer B-TIME +2015 E-TIME +, O +Other O +names O +Tinybaron S-MAL +, O +BotgenStudios S-MAL +, O +NemesisGemina S-MAL +, O +C&C S-TOOL +communication O +methods O +HTTP(S) S-PROT +, O +FTP S-PROT +, O +WebDav S-PROT +, O +Known O +toolset O +components O +Information B-TOOL +stealer E-TOOL +, O +Multiple O +loaders S-TOOL +, O +Privilege O +escalation O +component O +, O +Multiple O +persistence O +components O +. O + +The O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +toolset O +is O +designed O +around O +a O +main O +information B-TOOL +stealer E-TOOL +component O +. O + +This O +information B-TOOL +stealer E-TOOL +is O +augmented O +by O +a O +variety O +of O +components O +that O +the O +toolset O +operators O +may O +selectively O +include O +with O +the O +main O +component O +to O +provide O +additional O +functionalities O +, O +such O +as O +multiple O +methods O +of O +establishing O +persistence O +, O +as O +well O +as O +modules O +that O +attempt O +to O +exploit O +privilege O +escalation O +vulnerabilities O +in O +order O +to O +execute O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +with O +higher O +privileges O +. O + +CosmicDuke S-MAL +’s O +information O +stealing O +functionality O +includes O +: O +Keylogging O +, O +Taking O +screenshots O +, O +Stealing O +clipboard O +contents O +, O +Stealing O +user O +files O +with O +file O +extensions O +that O +match O +a O +predefined O +list O +, O +Exporting O +the O +users O +cryptographic O +certificates O +including O +private O +keys O +, O +Collecting O +user O +credentials O +, O +including O +passwords O +, O +for O +a O +variety O +of O +popular O +chat O +and O +email S-TOOL +programs O +as O +well O +as O +from O +web O +browsers O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +may O +use O +HTTP S-PROT +, O +HTTPS S-PROT +, O +FTP S-PROT +or O +WebDav S-PROT +to O +exfiltrate O +the O +collected O +data O +to O +a O +hardcoded O +C&C S-TOOL +server O +. O + +While O +we O +believe O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +to O +be O +an O +entirely O +custom- O +written O +toolset O +with O +no O +direct O +sharing O +of O +code O +with O +other O +Duke S-APT +toolsets O +, O +the O +high-level O +ways O +in O +which O +many O +of O +its O +features O +have O +been O +implemented O +appear O +to O +be O +shared O +with O +other O +members O +of O +the O +Duke S-APT +arsenal O +. O + +Specifically O +, O +the O +techniques O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +uses O +to O +extract O +user O +credentials O +from O +targeted O +software O +and O +to O +detect O +the O +presence O +of O +analysis O +tools O +appear O +to O +be O +based O +on O +the O +techniques O +used O +by O +PinchDuke S-MAL +. O + +Likewise O +, O +many O +of O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +’s O +persistence O +components O +use O +techniques O +also O +used O +by O +components O +associated O +with O +GeminiDuke S-MAL +and O +CozyDuke S-MAL +. O + +In O +all O +of O +these O +cases O +, O +the O +techniques O +are O +the O +same O +, O +but O +the O +code O +itself O +has O +been O +altered O +to O +work O +with O +the O +toolset O +in O +question O +, O +leading O +to O +small O +differences O +in O +the O +final O +implementation O +. O + +A O +few O +of O +the O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +samples O +we O +discovered O +also O +included O +components O +that O +attempt O +to O +exploit O +either O +of O +the O +publicly O +known O +CVE-2010-0232 S-VULID +or O +CVE-2010- B-VULID +4398 E-VULID +privilege O +escalation O +vulnerabilities O +. O + +In O +the O +case O +of O +CVE-2010-0232 S-VULID +, O +the O +exploit O +appears O +to O +be O +based O +directly O +on O +the O +proof O +of O +concept O +code O +published O +by O +security O +researcher O +Tavis O +Ormandy O +when O +he O +disclosed O +the O +vulnerability O +. O + +We O +believe O +that O +the O +exploit O +for O +CVE- B-VULID +2010-4398 E-VULID +was O +also O +based O +on O +a O +publicly O +available O +proof O +of O +concept O +. O + +In O +addition O +to O +often O +embedding O +persistence O +or O +privilege O +escalation O +components O +, O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +has O +occasionally O +embedded O +PinchDuke S-MAL +, O +GeminiDuke S-MAL +, O +or O +MiniDuke S-MAL +components O +. O + +It O +should O +be O +noted O +that O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +does O +not O +interoperate O +with O +the O +second O +, O +embedded O +malware O +in O +any O +way O +other O +than O +by O +writing O +the O +malware O +to O +disk O +and O +executing O +it O +. O + +After O +that O +, O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +and O +the O +second O +malware O +operate O +entirely O +independently O +of O +each O +other O +, O +including O +separately O +contacting O +their O +C&C S-TOOL +servers O +. O + +Sometimes O +, O +both O +malware O +have O +used O +the O +same O +C&C S-TOOL +server O +, O +but O +in O +other O +cases O +, O +even O +the O +servers O +have O +been O +different O +. O + +Finally O +, O +it O +is O +worth O +noting O +that O +while O +most O +of O +the O +compilation O +timestamps O +for O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +samples O +appear O +to O +be O +authentic O +, O +we O +are O +aware O +of O +a O +few O +cases O +of O +them O +being O +forged O +. O + +One O +such O +case O +was O +detailed O +on O +page O +10 O +as O +an O +apparent O +evasion O +attempt O +. O + +Another O +is O +a O +loader S-TOOL +variant O +seen O +during O +the O +spring B-TIME +of I-TIME +2010 E-TIME +in O +conjunction O +with O +both O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +and O +PinchDuke S-MAL +. O + +These O +loader S-TOOL +samples O +all O +had O +compilation O +timestamps O +purporting O +to O +be O +from O +the O +24th B-TIME +or I-TIME +the I-TIME +25th I-TIME +of I-TIME +September I-TIME +, I-TIME +2001 E-TIME +. O + +However O +, O +many O +of O +these O +loader O +samples O +embed O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +variants O +that O +exploit O +the O +CVE-2010- B-VULID +0232 E-VULID +privilege O +escalation O +vulnerability O +thus O +making O +it O +impossible O +for O +the O +compilation O +timestamps O +to O +be O +authentic O +. O + +MINIDUKE S-MAL +: O +First O +known O +activity O +Loader O +July B-TIME +2010 E-TIME +, O +Backdoor O +May B-TIME +2011 E-TIME +Most O +recent O +known O +activity O +Loader O +: O +Spring B-TIME +2015 E-TIME +, O +Backdoor O +: O +Summer B-TIME +2014 E-TIME +C&C S-TOOL +communication O +methods O +HTTP(S) S-PROT +, O +Twitter S-TOOL +, O +Known O +toolset O +components O +Downloader S-TOOL +, O +Backdoor S-TOOL +, O +Loader S-TOOL +. O + +The O +MiniDuke S-MAL +toolset O +consists O +of O +multiple O +downloader O +and O +backdoor O +components O +, O +which O +are O +commonly O +referred O +to O +as O +the O +MiniDuke S-MAL +“ O +stage O +1 O +” O +, O +“ O +stage O +2 O +” O +, O +and O +“ O +stage O +3 O +” O +components O +as O +per O +Kaspersky O +’s O +original O +MiniDuke S-MAL +whitepaper O +. O + +Additionally O +, O +a O +specific O +loader S-TOOL +is O +often O +associated O +with O +the O +MiniDuke S-MAL +toolset O +and O +is O +referred O +to O +as O +the O +“ O +MiniDuke S-MAL +loader S-TOOL +” O +. O + +While O +the O +loader S-TOOL +has O +often O +been O +used O +together O +with O +other O +MiniDuke S-MAL +components O +, O +it O +has O +also O +commonly O +been O +used O +in O +conjunction O +with O +CosmicDuke S-MAL +and O +PinchDuke S-MAL +. O + +In O +fact O +, O +the O +oldest O +samples O +of O +the O +loader S-TOOL +that O +we O +have O +found O +were O +used O +with O +PinchDuke S-MAL +. O + +To O +avoid O +confusion O +however O +, O +we O +have O +decided O +to O +continue O +referring O +to O +the O +loader S-TOOL +as O +the O +“ O +MiniDuke S-MAL +loader S-TOOL +” O +. O + +Two O +details O +about O +MiniDuke S-MAL +components O +are O +worth O +noting O +. O + +Firstly O +, O +some O +of O +the O +MiniDuke S-MAL +components O +were O +written O +in O +Assembly S-TOOL +language O +. O + +While O +many O +malware O +were O +written O +in O +Assembly S-TOOL +during O +the O +‘ O +old O +days O +‘ O +of O +curiosity-driven O +virus O +writing O +, O +it O +has O +since O +become O +a O +rarity O +. O + +Secondly O +, O +some O +of O +the O +MiniDuke S-MAL +components O +do O +not O +contain O +a O +hardcoded O +C&C S-TOOL +server O +address O +, O +but O +instead O +obtain O +the O +address O +of O +a O +current O +C&C S-TOOL +server O +via O +Twitter S-TOOL +. O + +The O +use O +of O +Twitter S-TOOL +either O +to O +initially O +obtain O +the O +address O +of O +a O +C&C S-TOOL +server O +( O +or O +as O +a O +backup O +if O +no O +hardcoded O +primary O +C&C S-TOOL +server O +responds O +) O +is O +a O +feature O +also O +found O +in O +OnionDuke S-MAL +, O +CozyDuke S-MAL +, O +and O +HammerDuke S-MAL +. O + +COZYDUKE S-MAL +: O +First O +known O +activity O +January B-TIME +2010 E-TIME +, O +Most O +recent O +known O +activity O +: O +Spring B-TIME +2015 E-TIME +, O +Other O +names O +CozyBear S-MAL +, O +CozyCar S-MAL +, O +Cozer S-MAL +, O +EuroAPT S-MAL +, O +C&C S-TOOL +communication O +methods O +HTTP(S) S-PROT +, O +Twitter S-TOOL +( O +backup O +) O +, O +Known O +toolset O +components O +Dropper S-TOOL +, O +Modular S-TOOL +backdoor O +, O +Multiple O +persistence O +components O +, O +Information O +gathering O +module O +, O +Screenshot O +module O +, O +Password O +stealing O +module O +, O +Password O +hash O +stealing O +module O +. O + +CozyDuke S-MAL +is O +not O +simply O +a O +malware O +toolset O +; O +rather O +, O +it O +is O +a O +modular O +malware O +platform O +formed O +around O +a O +core O +backdoor S-TOOL +component O +. O + +This O +component O +can O +be O +instructed O +by O +the O +C&C S-TOOL +server O +to O +download O +and O +execute O +arbitrary O +modules O +, O +and O +it O +is O +these O +modules O +that O +provide O +CozyDuke S-MAL +with O +its O +vast O +array O +of O +functionality O +. O + +Known O +CozyDuke S-MAL +modules O +include O +: O +Command O +execution O +module O +for O +executing O +arbitrary O +Windows S-OS +Command B-TOOL +Prompt E-TOOL +commands O +, O +Password B-TOOL +stealer E-TOOL +module O +, O +NT B-TOOL +LAN I-TOOL +Manager E-TOOL +( O +NTLM S-TOOL +) O +hash B-TOOL +stealer E-TOOL +module O +, O +System O +information O +gathering O +module O +, O +Screenshot O +module O +. O + +In O +addition O +to O +modules O +, O +CozyDuke S-MAL +can O +also O +be O +instructed O +to O +download O +and O +execute O +other O +, O +independent O +executables O +. O + +In O +some O +observed O +cases O +, O +these O +executables O +were O +self-extracting O +archive O +files O +containing O +common O +hacking O +tools O +, O +such O +as O +PSExec S-TOOL +and O +Mimikatz S-TOOL +, O +combined O +with O +script O +files O +that O +execute O +these O +tools O +. O + +In O +other O +cases O +, O +CozyDuke S-MAL +has O +been O +observed O +downloading O +and O +executing O +tools O +from O +other O +toolsets O +used O +by O +the O +Dukes S-APT +such O +as O +OnionDuke S-MAL +, O +SeaDuke S-MAL +, O +and O +HammerDuke S-MAL +. O + +ONIONDUKE S-MAL +: O +First O +known O +activity O +February B-TIME +2013 E-TIME +, O +Most O +recent O +known O +activity O +Spring B-TIME +2015 E-TIME +, O +C&C S-TOOL +communication O +methods O +HTTP(S) S-PROT +, O +Twitter S-TOOL +( O +backup O +) O +, O +Known O +toolset O +components O +Dropper S-TOOL +, O +Loader S-TOOL +, O +Multiple B-TOOL +modular E-TOOL +core O +components O +, O +Information B-TOOL +stealer E-TOOL +, O +Distributed B-TOOL +Denial I-TOOL +of I-TOOL +Service E-TOOL +( O +DDoS S-TOOL +) O +module O +, O +Password O +stealing O +module O +, O +Information O +gathering O +module O +, O +Social O +network O +spamming O +module O +. O + +The O +OnionDuke S-MAL +toolset O +includes O +at O +least O +a O +dropper S-TOOL +, O +a O +loader S-TOOL +, O +an O +information B-TOOL +stealer E-TOOL +Trojan S-MAL +and O +multiple B-TOOL +modular E-TOOL +variants O +with O +associated O +modules O +. O + +OnionDuke S-MAL +first O +caught O +our O +attention O +because O +it O +was O +being O +spread O +via O +a O +malicious O +Tor S-TOOL +exit O +node O +. O + +The O +Tor S-TOOL +node O +would O +intercept O +any O +unencrypted O +executable O +files O +being O +downloaded O +and O +modify O +those O +executables O +by O +adding O +a O +malicious O +wrapper O +contained O +an O +embedded O +OnionDuke S-MAL +. O + +Once O +the O +victim O +finished O +downloading O +the O +file O +and O +executed O +it O +, O +the O +wrapper O +would O +infect O +the O +victim O +’s O +computer O +with O +OnionDuke S-MAL +before O +executing O +the O +original O +legitimate O +executable O +. O + +The O +same O +wrapper O +has O +also O +been O +used O +to O +wrap O +legitimate O +executable O +files O +, O +which O +were O +then O +made O +available O +for O +users O +to O +download O +from O +torrent O +sites O +. O + +Again O +, O +if O +a O +victim O +downloaded O +a O +torrent O +containing O +a O +wrapped O +executable O +, O +they O +would O +get O +infected O +with O +OnionDuke S-MAL +. O + +Finally O +, O +we O +have O +also O +observed O +victims O +being O +infected O +with O +OnionDuke S-MAL +after O +they O +were O +already O +infected O +with O +CozyDuke S-MAL +. O + +In O +these O +cases O +, O +CozyDuke S-MAL +was O +instructed O +by O +its O +C&C S-TOOL +server O +to O +download O +and O +execute O +OnionDuke S-MAL +toolset O +. O + +SEADUKE S-MAL +: O +First O +known O +activity O +October B-TIME +2014 E-TIME +, O +Most O +recent O +known O +activity O +Spring B-TIME +2015 E-TIME +, O +Other O +names O +SeaDaddy S-MAL +, O +SeaDask S-MAL +, O +C&C S-MAL +communication O +methods O +HTTP(S) S-PROT +, O +Known O +toolset O +components O +Backdoor O +. 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