Description

A newly discovered phishing campaign named MULTI#STORM is currently targeting individuals in India and the United States. The attackers behind this campaign employ JavaScript files to deliver and distribute remote access trojans (RATs) on compromised systems. Researchers from Securonix, including Den Iuzvyk, Tim Peck, and Oleg Kolesnikov, have discovered that this attack chain involves the installation of multiple unique RAT malware on the victim's machine. Notably, Warzone RAT and Quasar RAT are used as command-and-control tools at different stages of the infection process. The campaign initiates when the recipient of an email clicks on a link within the message, leading them to a password-protected ZIP file hosted on Microsoft OneDrive. Extracting the archive file reveals a highly obfuscated JavaScript file. When executed, this file triggers the infection process by running two PowerShell commands. These commands retrieve two payloads from OneDrive and execute them. The first payload masquerades as a decoy PDF document displayed to the victim, while the second payload operates discreetly in the background as a Python-based executable. Acting as a dropper, the binary extracts and executes the main payload encoded in Base64 strings. Before executing the main payload, the malware modifies the Windows Registry to ensure persistence. Upon decoding the binary, a second ZIP file containing four distinct files is revealed. These files are specifically designed to bypass User Account Control (UAC) and elevate privileges by creating deceptive trusted directories. Notably, one of the files resembles another loader called DBatLoader, despite being written in a different programming language. Another file named KDECO.bat executes a PowerShell command that instructs Microsoft Defender to include an antivirus exclusion rule, bypassing scanning of the C:\Users directory.