2022-04-14 (THURSDAY) - AA DISTRIBUTION QAKBOT (QBOT) WITH COBALT STRIKE

INFECTION CHAIN:

- email --> link --> zip --> extracted .msi file --> dropped Qakbot DLL --> Qakbot C2 --> Cobalt Strike

NOTES:

- Also known as TA577, aa distribution Qakbot started using .msi files in downloaded zip archives as of Monday 2022-04-11.
- Reference: https://twitter.com/k3dg3/status/1513514251788464132
- Reference: https://twitter.com/Max_Mal_/status/1513539551070937093

- Saw the same Cobalt Strike C2 domain and IP address on Monday 2022-04-11 for 172.241.27[.]237 using kuxojemoli[.]com.
- Reference: https://twitter.com/malware_traffic/status/1513556366346137605

ASSOCIATED MALWARE:

- SHA256: 5c3b39ec6ffbfe05ac0246d98d6ce7287de442896c90d24e256a03da21f3ada9
- File size: 817,162 bytes
- File location: hxxps://geobram[.]com/ist/iseerroaemtefspidnle
- File location: hxxps://geobram[.]com/ist/NO_2950435796.zip 
- File name: iseerroaemtefspidnle.zip
- File description: ZIP archive downloaded from link in email

- SHA256: 2b9861436d994bee6a332cbaf71a9fd6f157089062f414207c9effe84bf556e5
- File size: 977,920 bytes
- File name: 281.msi
- File description: MSI file extracted from above ZIP archive

- SHA256: f642fe6b372183af134c1c8cd5f806de37dcea27d6eab2ef53663d61795416e0
- File size: 1,399,296 bytes
- File location: C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\SetupTest\1.dll
- File description: Windows DLL for Qakbot (aa distribution tag)
- Run method: regsvr32.exe [filename]

TRAFFIC TO DOWNLOAD THE INITIAL ZIP ARCHIVE:

- 208.91.198[.]131 port 443 - hxxps://geobram[.]com/ist/iseerroaemtefspidnle
- 208.91.198[.]131 port 443 - hxxps://geobram[.]com/ist/NO_2950435796.zip

QAKBOT C2 TRAFFIC:

- 47.158.25[.]67 port 443 - attempted TCP connections
- 45.46.53[.]140 port 2222 - HTTPS traffic
- port 443 - www.openssl[.]org - connectivity check (not inherently malicious)
- 23.111.114[.]52 port 65400 - TCP traffic
- 75.99.168[.]194 port 443 - HTTPS traffic

COBALT STRIKE TRAFFIC:

- 172.241.27[.]237 port 443 - kuxojemoli[.]com