MVISION Insights: Cloud services used to deliver Agent Tesla through infected PowerPoint files
Technical Articles ID:
KB95471
Last Modified: 4/5/2022
Last Modified: 4/5/2022
Environment
IMPORTANT: This Knowledge Base article discusses a specific threat that is being automatically tracked by MVISION Insights technology. The content is intended for use by MVISION Insights users, but is provided for general knowledge to all customers. Contact us for more information about MVISION Insights.
Summary
Description of Campaign
The Agent Tesla Remote Access Trojan was delivered in malicious PowerPoint attachments distributed in an email phishing campaign. Open source and Windows tools including NSudo, cmstp, and PowerShell and VBS scripts were used to carry out the infection process. Persistence was achieved using Mshta, Windows registry modifications, and scheduled tasks. Agent Tesla was used to steal sensitive data including cryptocurrency addresses and exfiltrate the stolen information to command-and-control servers.
Our ATR Team gathers and analyzes information from multiple open and closed sources before disseminating intelligence reports. This campaign was researched by Netskope and shared publicly.
How to use this article:
Threat Hunting
Campaign IOC
Minimum Content Versions
Detection Summary
Minimum set of Manual Rules to improve protection to block this campaign:
IMPORTANT: Always follow best practices when you enable new rules and signatures.
When you implement new rules or signatures, always set them to Report mode first and check the alerts generated. Resolve any issues that arise and then set the rules to Block. This step mitigates against triggering false positives and allows you to refine your configuration.
For more information, see KB87843 - List of and best practices for Endpoint Security Dynamic Application Containment rules.
Aggressive set of Manual Rules to improve protection to block this campaign:
IMPORTANT: Always follow best practices when you enable new rules and signatures.
When you implement new rules or signatures, always set them to Report mode first and check the alerts generated. Resolve any issues that arise and then set the rules to Block. This step mitigates against triggering false positives and allows you to refine your configuration.
For more information, see KB87843 - List of and best practices for Endpoint Security Dynamic Application Containment rules.
VirusScan Enterprise - Access Protection Rules:
Host Intrusion Prevention:
Endpoint Security - Access Protection Custom Rules:
Rule: 1
Executables (Include):
powershell.exe
Subrules:
Subrule Type: Files
Operations:
create
Targets (Include):
?:\users\public\*.exe
Rule: 2Executables (Include):
powershell.exe
Subrules:
Subrule Type: Files
Operations:
create
Targets (Include):
?:\users\public\*.vbs
VirusScan Enterprise - Access Protection Custom Rules:
Rule: 1
Rule Type: File
Process to include: powershell.exe
File or folder name to block: *\users\public\*.exe
File actions to prevent: Create
Rule: 2Rule Type: File
Process to include: powershell.exe
File or folder name to block: *\users\public\*.vbs
File actions to prevent: Create
The Agent Tesla Remote Access Trojan was delivered in malicious PowerPoint attachments distributed in an email phishing campaign. Open source and Windows tools including NSudo, cmstp, and PowerShell and VBS scripts were used to carry out the infection process. Persistence was achieved using Mshta, Windows registry modifications, and scheduled tasks. Agent Tesla was used to steal sensitive data including cryptocurrency addresses and exfiltrate the stolen information to command-and-control servers.
Our ATR Team gathers and analyzes information from multiple open and closed sources before disseminating intelligence reports. This campaign was researched by Netskope and shared publicly.
How to use this article:
- If a Threat Hunting table has been created, use the rules contained to search for malware related to this campaign.
- Review the product detection table and confirm that your environment is at least on the specified content version.
To download the latest content versions, go to the Security Updates page. - Scroll down and review the "Product Countermeasures" section of this article. Consider implementing them if they are not already in place.
- Review
KB91836 - Countermeasures for entry vector threats . - Review KB87843 - Dynamic Application Containment rules and best practices.
- Review KB82925 - Identify what rule corresponds to an Adaptive Threat Protection and Threat Intelligence Exchange event.
Threat Hunting
{ meta: description = "Identifies a .NET Loader known as projFUD / alosh_rat" author = "Netskope Threat Labs" strings: $str00 = "projFUD" $str01 = "Execute" $str02 = "payload" $str03 = "GetProcessById" // kernel32 $bin00 = "0011001000110011011011000110010101101110011100100110010101101011" wide //ntdll $bin01 = "0110110001101100011001000111010001101110" wide // ResumeThread $bin02 = "011001000110000101100101011100100110100001010100011001010110110101110101011100110110010101010010" wide // ReadProcessMemory $bin03 = "0111100101110010011011110110110101100101010011010111001101110011011001010110001101101111011100100101000001100100011000010110010101010010" wide condition: uint16(0) == 0x5a4d and all of ($str*) and 1 of ($bin*) } |
|
{ meta: description = "Identifies AgentTesla samples." author = "Netskope Threat Labs" strings: $bin00 = "#Blob" $bin01 = "#GUID" $bin02 = "#Strings" $str00 = "get_AccountCredential" $str01 = "get_accountName" $str02 = "get_Address" $str03 = "get_AltKeyDown" $str04 = "get_Assembly" $str05 = "get_Attachments" $str06 = "get_Clipboard" $str07 = "get_Computer" $str08 = "get_ComputerName" $str09 = "get_Connected" $str10 = "get_ExecutablePath" $str11 = "get_Host" $str12 = "get_Key" $str13 = "get_Keyboard" $str14 = "get_ProcessName" $str15 = "set_UserAgent" $str16 = "set_UserName" $str17 = "set_IsBodyHtml" $str18 = "set_IV" condition: uint16(0) == 0x5a4d and all of ($bin*) and 10 of ($str*) } |
Campaign IOC
| Type | Value |
Minimum Content Versions
| Content Type | Version |
Detection Summary
| IOC | Scanner | Detection |
| IOC | Scanner | Detection |
| IOC | Scanner | Detection |
| IOC | Scanner | Detection |
| IOC | Scanner | Detection |
Minimum set of Manual Rules to improve protection to block this campaign:
IMPORTANT: Always follow best practices when you enable new rules and signatures.
When you implement new rules or signatures, always set them to Report mode first and check the alerts generated. Resolve any issues that arise and then set the rules to Block. This step mitigates against triggering false positives and allows you to refine your configuration.
For more information, see KB87843 - List of and best practices for Endpoint Security Dynamic Application Containment rules.
Host Intrusion Prevention:
Rule ID: 6085 Powershell Command Restriction - File
Rule ID: 6081 Powershell Command Restriction - NoProfile
Rule ID: 6082 Powershell Command Restriction - ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted
Rule ID: 6081 Powershell Command Restriction - NoProfile
Rule ID: 6082 Powershell Command Restriction - ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted
Aggressive set of Manual Rules to improve protection to block this campaign:
IMPORTANT: Always follow best practices when you enable new rules and signatures.
When you implement new rules or signatures, always set them to Report mode first and check the alerts generated. Resolve any issues that arise and then set the rules to Block. This step mitigates against triggering false positives and allows you to refine your configuration.
For more information, see KB87843 - List of and best practices for Endpoint Security Dynamic Application Containment rules.
VirusScan Enterprise - Access Protection Rules:
Prevent creation of new executable files in the Windows folder
Host Intrusion Prevention:
Rule ID: 6010 Generic Application Hooking Protection
Rule ID: 1148 CMD Tool Access by a Network Aware Application
Rule ID: 6011 Generic Application Invocation Protection
Rule ID: 1020 Windows Agent Shielding - File Access
Rule ID: 2806 Attempt to create a hardlink to a file
Rule ID: 1148 CMD Tool Access by a Network Aware Application
Rule ID: 6011 Generic Application Invocation Protection
Rule ID: 1020 Windows Agent Shielding - File Access
Rule ID: 2806 Attempt to create a hardlink to a file
Endpoint Security - Access Protection Custom Rules:
powershell.exe
Subrules:
Subrule Type: Files
Operations:
create
Targets (Include):
?:\users\public\*.exe
Rule: 2
powershell.exe
Subrules:
Subrule Type: Files
Operations:
create
Targets (Include):
?:\users\public\*.vbs
VirusScan Enterprise - Access Protection Custom Rules:
Process to include: powershell.exe
File or folder name to block: *\users\public\*.exe
File actions to prevent: Create
Rule: 2
Process to include: powershell.exe
File or folder name to block: *\users\public\*.vbs
File actions to prevent: Create
