Cisco Talos discovered a new attack framework including a command and control (C2) tool called “Alchimist” and a new malware “Insekt” with remote administration capabilities.
The Alchimist has a web interface in Simplified Chinese with remote administration features.
The attack framework is designed to target Windows, Linux and Mac machines.
Alchimist and Insekt binaries are implemented in GoLang.
This campaign consists of additional bespoke tools such as a MacOS exploitation tool, a custom backdoor and multiple off-the-shelf tools such as reverse proxies.
Cisco Talos has discovered a new single-file command and control (C2) framework the authors call “Alchimist [sic].” Talos researchers found this C2 on a server that had a file listing active on the root directory along with a set of post-exploitation tools.
Cisco Talos assesses with moderate-high confidence that this framework is being used in the wild.
“Alchimist” is a 64-bit Linux executable written in GoLang and packed with assets including resources for the web interface and Insekt RAT payloads compiled for Windows and Linux.
Insekt RAT, a new trojan Cisco Talos discovered, is Alchimist’s beacon implant written in GoLang and has a variety of remote access capabilities that can be instrumented by the Alchimist C2 server.
Alchimist C2 has a web interface written in Simplified Chinese and can generate a configured payload, establish remote sessions, deploy payload to the remote machines, capture screenshots, perform remote shellcode execution and run arbitrary commands.
Among the remaining tools, Cisco Talos found a Mach-O dropper embedded with an exploit to target a known vulnerability CVE-2021-4034, a privilege escalation issue in polkit’s pkexec utility, and a Mach-O bind shell backdoor. The Qualys Research Team discovered CVE-2021-4034 in November 2021, and in January 2022, the U.S.’s National Security Agency Cybersecurity Director warned that the vulnerability was being exploited in the wild.
The server also contained dual-use tools like psexec and netcat, along with a scanning tool called “fscan,” which the author defines as an “intranet scanning tool,” essentially all the necessary tools for lateral movement.
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