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Nightmare on Tor Street: Ursnif variant Dreambot adds Tor functionality

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Introduction

One of the most active banking Trojans that we have observed recently in email and exploit kits is one often referred to as Ursnif or Gozi ISFB [5]. Thanks to Frank Ruiz from FoxIT InTELL, we know that the actor developing one of its variants since 2014 has named this variant Dreambot. The Dreambot malware is actively evolving, and recent samples in particular caught our attention for their addition of Tor communication capability, as well as peer-to-peer (P2P) functionality. Dreambot is currently spreading via numerous exploit kits as well as through email attachments and links.

It should be noted that while Dreambot is one of the most active and prevalent Ursnif variants, there are other active forks including “IAP”. The Gozi ISFB source has been leaked, making way for additional development efforts.

Analysis

The Dreambot malware is still in active development and over the last few months we have seen multiple versions of it spreading in the wild. The Tor-enabled version of Dreambot has been active since at least July 2016, when we first observed the malware successfully download the Tor client and connect to the Tor network. Today, many Dreambot samples include this functionality, but few use it as their primary mode of communication with their command and control (C&C) infrastructure. However, in the future this feature may be utilized much more frequently, creating additional problems for defenders.

For this analysis, we looked at version 2.14.845, which has a configuration that differs from the others Dreambot versions in that the domain generation algorithm (DGA) is not used: therefore, the DGA variables and parameters are missing. The following is an example of decrypted configuration data with sections of interest highlighted in red.

tor-aug25-1.png

Figure 1: Decrypted configuration data used by Dreambot

There are three types of URLs present in the decrypted configuration. The first type of URL listed in the configuration data is used for the plain HTTP (that is, non-Tor) communication with C&C servers. The bot reports to the C&C server using the typical request pattern: for example, the initial checkin to the C&C server is in the form of: cfg_url + “/images/” + encoded_data + (.jpeg|.gif|.bmp).

The second type of URL that appears in the configuration data (highlighted in red box in Fig. 1) are the .onion C&C addresses. They are the default choice for the bot and work in the same way the plain HTTP C&C’s do, except that all communication is encrypted and tunneled over Tor.

The third set of URLs is used to download the Tor client. We believe the client is decrypted using the configuration serpent key [6]. When the Tor client is retrieved, the bot creates a registry key named “TorClient” in the registry subfolder to store its data. This subfolder is located in HKCU\\Software\AppDataLow\Software\Microsoft\{random guid}. This key contains the path to the client, which is dropped in the %TMP% folder, with a filename using the pattern [A-F0-9]{4}.bin.

tor-aug25-2.png

Figure 2: TorClient registry key

The registry key value is easy to decrypt, as the XOR-based algorithm [7] is reused in much of the code (e.g., for decryption of the strings in the .bss section). The 4-byte key is generated at runtime based on the TOKEN_USER value XORed with 0xE8FA7DD7.

For the two types of POST HTTP requests (Tor and non-Tor), the configuration includes a check of the Tor flag (here at eax+10). If this flag is set, Dreambot sends both the C&C checkins and the data upload requests using Tor.

tor-aug25-3.png

Figure 3: Configuration flags for communicating via Tor

In addition to the Dreambot with Tor functionality, we have observed a P2P-enabled versions (e.g. version 2.15.798) that has been around considerably longer. Spread alongside the other variants this version utilizes the usual DGA or hard-coded addresses as well as what appears to be a peer-to-peer protocol to communicate. This functionality needs an additional IP in the configuration that delivers the nodes list. This protocol operates over TCP and UDP and uses a custom packet format. Due to the addition of this functionality, the client code surface is almost twice as big as that of the Tor version. We are still investigating the functionality and will not go into deeper detail at this time.

Exploit Kit Campaigns

One early interesting example of Dreambot delivery came from an instance of the Niteris exploit kit. Several months after that, we spotted the same redirection chain but instead to an undocumented 2-step flash Nuclear Pack. This particular Nuclear Pack behaved similarly to Spartan EK from the same coder in which an initial flash payload acted as a filter before sending the exploit and payload to end users. GooNky and AdGholas actors also commonly used Angler EK to deliver Dreambot while Angler was still highly active. Figures 4-7 show these infection chains.

tor-aug25-4.pngFigure 4: 09-11-2015 - Compromised AdAgency with high volume traffic chain to Niteris [4] 

tor-aug25-5.pngFigure 5: 02-03-2016 - Same redirection chain but instead redirecting to an undocumented 2-step Flash Nuclear Pack [5]

tor-aug25-6.png

Figure 6: 04-11-2016 - Malvertising run by GooNky in Switzerland 

tor-aug25-7.pngFigure 7: 05-10-2016 - Malvertising run by AdGholas in Switzerland

Figure 8 shows Dreambot delivery in a Japan-focused malvertising campaign using Neutrino EK while Figure 9 shows a recent sample of Dreambot as a secondary payload via the ElTest and the Smokebot Trojan. In the latter example, we can see this instance of Dreambot is using Tor to connect to C&C infrastructure.

tor-aug25-8.png

Figure 8: 07-09-2016 - Japan-focused malvertising based on the redirector’s domain

tor-aug25-8_0.png

Figure 9: 08-15-2016 - EITest infection chain into Smokebot loading an instance of Dreambot using Tor to connect to C&C

Email Campaigns

Dreambot has been actively distributed via email in 2016. We have noted campaigns targeting various regions including Australia, Italy, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, Poland, and Canada. These campaigns have ranged from thousands to hundreds of thousands of malicious email messages. We show few examples of these campaigns using links or document attachments leading to the installation of Dreambot.

In the first example, the actor used a lure claiming the recipient had been subpoenaed by the Federal Court of Australia. If the user were to follow the link they would be greeted by a web page purporting to be the official court site. If the user then followed the instructions, they would be led to a download of a zipped JavaScript file that, when executed, led to a Dreambot download.

tor-aug25-10.png

Figure 10: 07-08-2016 - Message used to distribute Dreambot in Australia

tor-aug25-11.png

Figure 11: 07-08-2016 - Fake court website leading to the download of Dreambot

In the next example, users in Australia were targeted with an email pretending be associated with Microsoft and Office365. The link in the email led directly to a zipped JavaScript downloader hosted on Microsoft Sharepoint; opening the file would install DreamBot. (Proofpoint researchers notified Microsoft about the hosted malware).

tor-aug25-12.png

Figure 12: 08-11-2016 - Message used to distribute Dreambot in Australia via Microsoft SharePoint

In the following example, users in the United States received messages with attachments purporting to contain a record of a payment. The Microsoft Word document attachment contained malicious macros that, if enabled, downloaded Dreambot.

tor-aug25-13.png

Figure 13: 06-08-2016 - Message used to distribute Dreambot in the United States

tor-aug25-14.png

Figure 14: 07-08-2016 - Microsoft Word attachment with malicious macros used to deliver Dreambot in the United States

In the next campaign, users in Switzerland received personalized messages in German containing their name and company name, claiming to attach an invoice for an order. The Microsoft Word attachment contained macros that, if enabled, would download Dreambot.

tor-aug25-15.png

Figure 15: 08-10-2016 - Message distributing Dreambot in Switzerland

tor-aug25-16.png

Figure 16: 08-10-2016 - Microsoft Word attachment used to deliver Dreambot in Switzerland

In another example, users in Poland were sent a personalized message using their name with a fake invoice document attachment for one of their purchases. The Microsoft Word attachments contained macros that, if enabled, would download Dreambot.

tor-aug25-17.png

Figure 17: 06-22-2016 - Message used to distribute Dreambot in Poland

tor-aug25-18.png

Figure 18: 06-22-2016 - Microsoft Word attachment used to distribute Dreambot in Poland

Conclusion

Dreambot is one of the most active banking Trojans we have seen recently, with distribution vectors across a variety of exploit kits and both malicious document attachment and URL-based email campaigns. Often referred to as Ursnif and Gozi ISFB, Dreambot is being distributed in countries around the world and is under active development. In particular, we have observed samples with C&C communications enabled over both Tor and P2P. For Tor-enabled versions in particular, Dreambot activity on infected machines can be especially hard to detect at the network level, creating new challenges for defenders and IT organizations alike.

We will continue to monitor Dreambot and its growing list of capabilities as the banking Trojan landscape evolves.

References

  1. https://fidelissecurity.com/threatgeek/archive/new-ursnif-variant-targeting-italy-and-us/
  2. https://www.govcert.admin.ch/blog/13/swiss-advertising-network-compromised-and-distributing-a-trojan
  3. https://securityblog.switch.ch/2016/02/10/attack-of-the-killer-ads/
  4. http://malware.dontneedcoffee.com/2014/06/cottoncastle.html
  5. https://securityintelligence.com/gozi-goes-to-bulgaria-is-cybercrime-heading-to-less-chartered-territory/#.VdQEtfnddi8
  6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serpent_(cipher)
  7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XOR_cipher

Indicators of Compromise (IOC’s)

Payloads delivered by Exploit Kits:

Hash

Date

Description

Vector

a14d9ad2b03dd5f6360139f2772a303066ed292c51b0777cbece7b92d4a9e62c

2015-09-11

Dreambot

Chain of Compromise to Niteris

1448a395e741a419e5e7abb3f3bc2e6c46588823f093c93c695fffe0a69c17ee

2016-04-11

Dreambot

GooNky Malvert into Angler

e06b753aa98e1b8fdc7c8ee1cbd07f5d46b2bbf88ebc8d450c8f24c6e79520a4

2016-05-10

Dreambot

AdGholas Malvertising into Angler

bd3c470fc6999212373c2c31b08d9944d4bee3baf79bd75a233743ad64845481

2016-05-10

Dreambot

EITest chain into Angler

54405a8cfa557b33e5a1e0c5b69433fce900c96a34496949da501c844b0e7919

2016-06-03

Dreambot (P2P)

 

1dca7b73070679b796a2318c6e11ed0bb65bf66e5cc782b475bb43d735915e6c

2016-06-03

Dreambot

EITest chain into Angler

0d6014f1d2487230c3bb38f31d2742577f84fd2f2e0d97be5fb9cf28b7ab6de9

2016-07-09

Dreambot

Malvertising to Neutrino

f70a7b04a475c7140049ec586eb3f7c7a3480ddaac53c15db4905915e9dea52b

2016-07-20

Dreambot

EITest chain into Neutrino

8664c68d5c1ef72f32485c61704ce4fb350c95952a17908908a420443b411414

2016-07-20

Dreambot

Undocumented actor into Neutrino

c25b56c5ea2d0af3cf6057f974f1c3a06845ab41f61c8895aaaad55aafaeed7e

2016-08-12

Dreambot

Undocumented actor into RIG

04ea4e0417f1f49bc349efe7ee07c0bdf145a98dd7358610f598395246b4c433

2016-08-15

Dreambot

Undocumented actor into RIG

54405a8cfa557b33e5a1e0c5b69433fce900c96a34496949da501c844b0e7919

2016-08-15

Dreambot

EITest chain into RIG

8aa2442fb7a489d0c7f50a2220e0fd4ead270ff812edc3721a49eec5784a1ad6

2016-08-15

Dreambot (tor)

EITest chain into RIG into Smokebot

446a639371b060de0b4edaa8789f101eaeae9388b6389b4c852cd8323ec6757c

2016-08-15

Smokebot

EITest chain into RIG

396bd75514ab92e007917c1d136f1993466c0913a532af58386ccb99d5f60ef3

2016-08-24

IAP

Malvertising into RIG

Payloads delivered by Email:

Hash/Link

Date

Description

Vector

0edde27c90bbb55d80b89a2ce0baa21feb69a1420dbb1a15059b6bdfde994fde

 

2016-06-08

Macro Document

MS Word attachment

[hxxp://easypagemachine[.]com/kshf[.]jpg]

2016-06-08

Payload URL

MS Word attachment

2720d7cc899337adf5f021eeddb313f4317fc46f9c6e83bde9f47458b2d955e7

2016-06-08

Dreambot

MS Word attachment

6e0da9199f10ff5bd6d2f4e5309cde2332d534cbb3364e15cb0f7873455e0eb5

2016-06-22

Macro Document

MS Word attachment

[hxxp//safiidesign[.]com/winword[.]bin]

2016-06-22

Payload URL

MS Word attachment

7e0bf604d3ab673a519feb5d5375f0f88cf46e7cd1d3aa301b1b9fb722e9cef7

2016-06-22

Dreambot

MS Word attachment

[hxxp://pechat-suveniri[.]com/mam5pcan8wynct/hwd7popy[.]php]

2016-07-08

Initial Link

Link sent through email

0195bf393584b203334c4ca3934e72e388e8e579cde35fa8db892d2ee306dc16

2016-07-08

JS Downloader

Link sent through email

[hxxp://ue-craft[.]ru/1ryvq8owo/rukdl1[.]exe]

2016-07-08

Dreambot Payload Link

Link sent through email

84bc2608707859a0643be642128b351757dc1f43f5b0a88b5448764dfc23487d

2016-07-08

Dreambot

Link sent through email

b6d6fc672f8b45eed0e88601dea2390e7d0dc01e63840ab840613dd3d6939ad7

2016-08-10

Macro Document

MS Word attachment

[hxxp://one99two[.]com/cgi/office16[.]bin]

2016-08-10

Payload Link

MS Word attachment

85f68545c6d98dd6a6a00859ec136d8a8fd06c20ce189e39ce78f6685da40d4e

2016-08-10

Dreambot

MS Word attachment

[hxxps://searchfinancial-my[.]sharepoint[.]com/personal/tariq_searchfinancial_com_au/_layouts/15/guestaccess[.]aspx?guestaccesstoken=4GPoi4OBx0cZ%2bhMi6vHvpfR1vqc9vmqwU6WuwK6%2b7U8%3d&docid=0ec6abef70a134e70978ed191c8364229&rev=1]

 

2016-08-11

Initial Link

Link sent through email

414b3cbc230768d9930e069cb0b73173fe9951e82486f0d6524addf49052d5ad

2016-08-11

JS Downloader

Link sent through email

[hxxp://www[.]wizardwebhosting[.]com/css/header[.]css]

2016-08-11

Dreambot Payload Link

Link sent through email

3cde892a8faddd4aaf90e8455698719516ab96ea6d116af21353c08375d457b9

2016-08-11

Dreambot

Link sent through email

Select ET Signatures that would fire on such traffic:

2021813 || ET TROJAN Ursnif Variant CnC Beacon
2021829 || ET TROJAN Ursnif Variant CnC Beacon 4
2022970 || ET TROJAN Ursnif Variant CnC Beacon 6
2018789 || ET POLICY TLS possible TOR SSL traffic
Multiple ||  ET TOR Known Tor Relay/Router (Not Exit) Node Traffic group **