Original release date: February 17, 2021
Malware Analysis Report
10322463.r7.v1
2021-02-12
Notification
This report is provided “as is” for informational purposes only. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) does not provide any warranties of any kind regarding any information contained herein. The DHS does not endorse any commercial product or service referenced in this bulletin or otherwise.
This document is marked TLP:WHITE–Disclosure is not limited. Sources may use TLP:WHITE when information carries minimal or no foreseeable risk of misuse, in accordance with applicable rules and procedures for public release. Subject to standard copyright rules, TLP:WHITE information may be distributed without restriction. For more information on the Traffic Light Protocol (TLP), see http://www.us-cert.gov/tlp.
Summary
Description
This Malware Analysis Report (MAR) is the result of analytic efforts among the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the Department of Treasury (Treasury) to highlight the cyber threat to cryptocurrency posed by North Korea, formally known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), and provide mitigation recommendations. Working with U.S. government partners, FBI, CISA, and Treasury assess that Lazarus Group—which these agencies attribute to North Korean state-sponsored advanced persistent threat (APT) actors—is targeting individuals and companies, including cryptocurrency exchanges and financial service companies, through the dissemination of cryptocurrency trading applications that have been modified to include malware that facilitates theft of cryptocurrency.
This MAR highlights this cyber threat posed by North Korea and provides detailed indicators of compromise (IOCs) used by the North Korean government. The U.S. Government refers to malicious cyber activity by the North Korean government as HIDDEN COBRA. For more information on other versions of AppleJeus and recommended steps to mitigate this threat, see Joint Cybersecurity Advisory AA21-048A: AppleJeus: Analysis of North Korea’s Cryptocurrency Malware at https://www.us-cert.cisa.gov/ncas/alerts/AA21-048A.
There have been multiple versions of AppleJeus malware discovered since its initial discovery in August 2018. In most versions, the malware appears to be from a legitimate-looking cryptocurrency trading company and website, whereby an unsuspecting individual downloads a third-party application from a website that appears legitimate.
The U.S. Government has identified AppleJeus malware version—Ants2Whale—and associated IOCs used by the North Korean government in AppleJeus operations.
Ants2Whale, discovered in October 2020, is a legitimate-looking cryptocurrency trading software that is marketed and distributed by a company and website—Ants2Whale and ants2whale[.]com, respectively—that appear legitimate. Some information has been redacted from this report to preserve victim anonymity.
For a downloadable copy of IOCs, see: MAR-10322463-7.v1.stix.
Submitted Files (3)
bb430087484c1f4587c54efc75681eb60cf70956ef2a999a75ce7b563b8bd694 (Ants2WhaleHelper)
d5ac680e14b013e0624470da7f46e84809d00b59a7544f6a42b110cf0e29254e (Ants2Whale)
[Redacted] (Ants2Whale.dmg)
Domains (2)
ants2whale.com
qnalytica.com
IPs (1)
45.147.231.77
Findings
[Redacted]
Tags
downloaderloader
Details
Name
Ants2Whale.dmg
Size
[Redacted] bytes
Type
zlib compressed data
MD5
[Redacted]
SHA1
[Redacted]
SHA256
[Redacted]
SHA512
[Redacted]
ssdeep
[Redacted]
Entropy
[Redacted]
Antivirus
Avira
OSX/Agent.denpi
Ikarus
OSX.Agent
Zillya!
Downloader.Agent.OSX.390
YARA Rules
No matches found.
ssdeep Matches
No matches found.
Relationships
[Redacted]
Downloaded_By
ants2whale.com
[Redacted]
Contains
d5ac680e14b013e0624470da7f46e84809d00b59a7544f6a42b110cf0e29254e
[Redacted]
Contains
bb430087484c1f4587c54efc75681eb60cf70956ef2a999a75ce7b563b8bd694
Description
This OSX program from the Ants2Whale site is an Apple DMG installer. The OSX program does not have a digital signature and will warn the user of that before installation. As all previous versions of AppleJeus, the Ants2Whale installer appears to be legitimate and installs “Ants2Whale”(D5AC680E14B013E0624470DA7F46E84809D00B59A7544F6A42B110CF0E29254E) in the “/Applications/Ants2whale.app/Contents/MacOS/Ants2whale” folder and a program named Ants2WhaleHelper (BB430087484C1F4587C54EFC75681EB60CF70956EF2A999A75CE7B563B8BD694) also in the “/Library/Application Support/Ants2WhaleSupport/” folder.
Similar to all previous OSX AppleJeus variants, there is a postinstall script and a plist file which creates a LaunchDaemon to automatically run the Ants2WhaleHelper program.
ants2whale.com
Relationships
ants2whale.com
Downloaded
[Redacted]
Description
The website appears to show a legitimate cryptocurrency company and application, though it does contain multiple spelling and grammar mistakes indicating the creator may not have English as a first language. The website states that in order to download, a user must contact the administrator as their product is “premium package.”
The domain ants2whale.com had a legitimately signed Sectigo Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate, which was “Domain Control Validated” just as all previous AppleJeus domain certificates. The certificate was is valid from 09/21/2020 – 09/21/2021.
The domain is registered with NameCheap at the IP address 198.54.114.237 with ASN 22612. This IP is on the same ASN as the CoinGoTrade (AppleJeus variant 5 and Dorusio IP addresses (AppleJeus variant 6).
Screenshots
Figure 1 – Screenshot the ants2whale.com site.
Figure 2 – Screenshot of how to download Ants2Whale.
d5ac680e14b013e0624470da7f46e84809d00b59a7544f6a42b110cf0e29254e
Tags
trojan
Details
Name
Ants2Whale
Size
77856 bytes
Type
Mach-O 64-bit x86_64 executable, flags:<NOUNDEFS|DYLDLINK|TWOLEVEL|PIE>
MD5
022298cf16c0c44d7b01b5de2cf84023
SHA1
939ec41183bbe1f4fb65c924323543ee91a35dbf
SHA256
d5ac680e14b013e0624470da7f46e84809d00b59a7544f6a42b110cf0e29254e
SHA512
bda62d09606bbf5a0ee17dac06f1f3cfc77919f98e5fc14bd50b4f41f794df521aeced7b0f2a769a89498b7a6cd69be37689dab1652c3c16e7a8b1295c245ffa
ssdeep
768:jPoXPdCyI4jB5nvjILkTSF3TSFi5UeSj0OfpZDkm+UjnAT9vSs:cXPdLI6XbIOem0EpZDX+Ujnc9v3
Entropy
4.361681
Antivirus
No matches found.
YARA Rules
No matches found.
ssdeep Matches
No matches found.
Relationships
d5ac680e14…
Contained_Within
[Redacted]
d5ac680e14…
Connected_To
45.147.231.77
Description
This OSX sample was contained within Apple DMG installer “Ants2Whale.dmg.” Ants2Whale is likely a copy of an open source cryptocurrency wallet application. When ran it loads a legitimate looking program which is fully functional and is very similar to the AppleJeus variant 5 “CoinGoTrade” application. Similar to CoinGoTrade there are references to “CryptoMex” in the Ants2Whale application.
Similarly to the CoinGoTrade application, the strings from Ants2Whale reveal the C2 hxxp[:]//45.147.231.77:3000. Investigation revealed the IP address 45.147.231.77 was hosted at Combahton GMH.
Screenshots
Figure 3 – Screenshot of the “Ants2Whale” application.
45.147.231.77
Tags
command-and-control
Ports
3000 TCP
Whois
Queried whois.ripe.net with “-B 45.147.231.77″…
% Information related to ‘45.147.228.0 – 45.147.231.255’
% Abuse contact for ‘45.147.228.0 – 45.147.231.255’ is ‘[email protected]’
inetnum: 45.147.228.0 – 45.147.231.255
netname: DE-COMBAHTON4-20190902
country: DE
org: ORG-CG252-RIPE
admin-c: JH29913-RIPE
tech-c: JH29913-RIPE
status: ALLOCATED PA
mnt-by: mnt-de-combahton4-1
mnt-by: RIPE-NCC-HM-MNT
mnt-lower: mnt-de-combahton4-1
mnt-routes: mnt-de-combahton4-1
created: 2019-09-02T09:46:42Z
last-modified: 2019-09-02T09:46:42Z
source: RIPE
organisation: ORG-CG252-RIPE
org-name: combahton GmbH
country: DE
org-type: LIR
address: Mitterfeld 47
address: 85419
address: Mauern
address: GERMANY
e-mail: [email protected]
admin-c: JH29913-RIPE
tech-c: JH29913-RIPE
abuse-c: AR55171-RIPE
mnt-ref: mnt-de-combahton4-1
mnt-by: RIPE-NCC-HM-MNT
mnt-by: mnt-de-combahton4-1
created: 2019-08-30T08:08:51Z
last-modified: 2020-12-16T13:30:44Z
source: RIPE
phone: +4987642589890
person: Joseph Hofmann
address: Mitterfeld 47
address: 85419
address: Mauern
address: GERMANY
phone: +4987642589890
nic-hdl: JH29913-RIPE
mnt-by: mnt-de-combahton4-1
created: 2019-08-30T08:08:51Z
last-modified: 2019-08-30T08:08:51Z
source: RIPE
% Information related to ‘45.147.228.0/22AS30823′
route: 45.147.228.0/22
origin: AS30823
mnt-by: mnt-de-combahton4-1
created: 2019-09-02T09:57:36Z
last-modified: 2019-09-02T09:57:36Z
source: RIPE
Relationships
45.147.231.77
Connected_From
d5ac680e14b013e0624470da7f46e84809d00b59a7544f6a42b110cf0e29254e
Description
The C2 for Ants2Whale (D5AC680E14B013E0624470DA7F46E84809D00B59A7544F6A42B110CF0E29254E).
bb430087484c1f4587c54efc75681eb60cf70956ef2a999a75ce7b563b8bd694
Tags
downloaderloadertrojan
Details
Name
Ants2WhaleHelper
Size
69104 bytes
Type
Mach-O 64-bit x86_64 executable, flags:<NOUNDEFS|DYLDLINK|TWOLEVEL|BINDS_TO_WEAK|PIE>
MD5
d4d1bcdfb67ee30303f30137db752b94
SHA1
34e134d614a0d5b0e4d94d63336aa8b898b0b104
SHA256
bb430087484c1f4587c54efc75681eb60cf70956ef2a999a75ce7b563b8bd694
SHA512
eb9b518f95658c605b1bb3a548d7bfe630f9bff93b1f84919476377f9aabcd187db28ead9bc504ffd5c982a3985d12708888505f3d70fa5eaa046c5ebf567c31
ssdeep
1536:W1mJaIKMXBmyIZFED2enSoTVIV/3MpJy5T:XagpIsjnPTV03MpJy5T
Entropy
4.831788
Antivirus
Avira
OSX/Dldr.NukeSped.efijh
BitDefender
Trojan.MAC.Generic.105439
ESET
a variant of OSX/TrojanDownloader.NukeSped.B trojan
Emsisoft
Trojan.MAC.Generic.105439 (B)
Ikarus
Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Nukesped
Lavasoft
Trojan.MAC.Generic.105439
McAfee
OSX/Nukesped.h
Quick Heal
MacOS.Trojan.40149.GC
Symantec
OSX.Trojan.Gen
Zillya!
Downloader.NukeSped.OSX.13
YARA Rules
No matches found.
ssdeep Matches
No matches found.
Relationships
bb43008748…
Contained_Within
[Redacted]
bb43008748…
Connected_To
qnalytica.com
Description
This OSX sample was contained within Apple DMG installer “Ants2Whale.dmg.” Ants2WhaleHelper is similar to variants of AppleJeus. The Ants2WhaleHelper program contains the custom C++ “Barbeque” class for network communication as seen in the unioncryptoupater program. The C2 for this program is hxxps[:]//www[.]qnalytica.com/wp-rss.php.
qnalytica.com
Tags
command-and-control
URLs
qnalytica.com/wp-rss.php
Whois
Whois for qnalytica.com had the following information:
Registrar: ENOM INC
Creation Date: 2020-08-11
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2021-08-11
Relationships
qnalytica.com
Connected_From
bb430087484c1f4587c54efc75681eb60cf70956ef2a999a75ce7b563b8bd694
Description
The domain qnalytica.com has a legitimately signed SSL certificate from cPanel. cPanel is a hosting platform and certificate authority which is a reseller for Sectigo. The domain is registered with NameCheap at the IP address 194.36.191.196 with ASN 60117.
Relationship Summary
[Redacted]
Downloaded_By
ants2whale.com
[Redacted]
Contains
d5ac680e14b013e0624470da7f46e84809d00b59a7544f6a42b110cf0e29254e
[Redacted]
Contains
bb430087484c1f4587c54efc75681eb60cf70956ef2a999a75ce7b563b8bd694
ants2whale.com
Downloaded
[Redacted]
d5ac680e14…
Contained_Within
[Redacted]
d5ac680e14…
Connected_To
45.147.231.77
45.147.231.77
Connected_From
d5ac680e14b013e0624470da7f46e84809d00b59a7544f6a42b110cf0e29254e
bb43008748…
Contained_Within
[Redacted]
bb43008748…
Connected_To
qnalytica.com
qnalytica.com
Connected_From
bb430087484c1f4587c54efc75681eb60cf70956ef2a999a75ce7b563b8bd694
Recommendations
CISA recommends that users and administrators consider using the following best practices to strengthen the security posture of their organization’s systems. Any configuration changes should be reviewed by system owners and administrators prior to implementation to avoid unwanted impacts.
Maintain up-to-date antivirus signatures and engines.
Keep operating system patches up-to-date.
Disable File and Printer sharing services. If these services are required, use strong passwords or Active Directory authentication.
Restrict users’ ability (permissions) to install and run unwanted software applications. Do not add users to the local administrators group unless required.
Enforce a strong password policy and implement regular password changes.
Exercise caution when opening e-mail attachments even if the attachment is expected and the sender appears to be known.
Enable a personal firewall on agency workstations, configured to deny unsolicited connection requests.
Disable unnecessary services on agency workstations and servers.
Scan for and remove suspicious e-mail attachments; ensure the scanned attachment is its “true file type” (i.e., the extension matches the file header).
Monitor users’ web browsing habits; restrict access to sites with unfavorable content.
Exercise caution when using removable media (e.g., USB thumb drives, external drives, CDs, etc.).
Scan all software downloaded from the Internet prior to executing.
Maintain situational awareness of the latest threats and implement appropriate Access Control Lists (ACLs).
Additional information on malware incident prevention and handling can be found in National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication 800-83, “Guide to Malware Incident Prevention & Handling for Desktops and Laptops”.
Contact Information
1-888-282-0870
CISA Service Desk (UNCLASS)
CISA SIPR (SIPRNET)
CISA IC (JWICS)
CISA continuously strives to improve its products and services. You can help by answering a very short series of questions about this product at the following URL: https://us.cert.cisa.gov/forms/feedback/
Document FAQ
What is a MIFR? A Malware Initial Findings Report (MIFR) is intended to provide organizations with malware analysis in a timely manner. In most instances this report will provide initial indicators for computer and network defense. To request additional analysis, please contact CISA and provide information regarding the level of desired analysis.
What is a MAR? A Malware Analysis Report (MAR) is intended to provide organizations with more detailed malware analysis acquired via manual reverse engineering. To request additional analysis, please contact CISA and provide information regarding the level of desired analysis.
Can I edit this document? This document is not to be edited in any way by recipients. All comments or questions related to this document should be directed to the CISA at 1-888-282-0870 or CISA Service Desk.
Can I submit malware to CISA? Malware samples can be submitted via three methods:
Web: https://malware.us-cert.gov
E-Mail: [email protected]
FTP: ftp.malware.us-cert.gov (anonymous)
CISA encourages you to report any suspicious activity, including cybersecurity incidents, possible malicious code, software vulnerabilities, and phishing-related scams. Reporting forms can be found on CISA’s homepage at www.cisa.gov.
This product is provided subject to this Notification and this Privacy & Use policy.Original release date: February 17, 2021
NotificationThis report is provided “as is” for informational purposes only. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) does not provide any warranties of any kind regarding any information contained herein. The DHS does not endorse any commercial product or service referenced in this bulletin or otherwise. This document is marked TLP:WHITE–Disclosure is not limited. Sources may use TLP:WHITE when information carries minimal or no foreseeable risk of misuse, in accordance with applicable rules and procedures for public release. Subject to standard copyright rules, TLP:WHITE information may be distributed without restriction. For more information on the Traffic Light Protocol (TLP), see http://www.us-cert.gov/tlp. SummaryDescriptionThis Malware Analysis Report (MAR) is the result of analytic efforts among the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the Department of Treasury (Treasury) to highlight the cyber threat to cryptocurrency posed by North Korea, formally known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), and provide mitigation recommendations. Working with U.S. government partners, FBI, CISA, and Treasury assess that Lazarus Group—which these agencies attribute to North Korean state-sponsored advanced persistent threat (APT) actors—is targeting individuals and companies, including cryptocurrency exchanges and financial service companies, through the dissemination of cryptocurrency trading applications that have been modified to include malware that facilitates theft of cryptocurrency. This MAR highlights this cyber threat posed by North Korea and provides detailed indicators of compromise (IOCs) used by the North Korean government. The U.S. Government refers to malicious cyber activity by the North Korean government as HIDDEN COBRA. For more information on other versions of AppleJeus and recommended steps to mitigate this threat, see Joint Cybersecurity Advisory AA21-048A: AppleJeus: Analysis of North Korea’s Cryptocurrency Malware at https://www.us-cert.cisa.gov/ncas/alerts/AA21-048A. There have been multiple versions of AppleJeus malware discovered since its initial discovery in August 2018. In most versions, the malware appears to be from a legitimate-looking cryptocurrency trading company and website, whereby an unsuspecting individual downloads a third-party application from a website that appears legitimate. The U.S. Government has identified AppleJeus malware version—Ants2Whale—and associated IOCs used by the North Korean government in AppleJeus operations. Ants2Whale, discovered in October 2020, is a legitimate-looking cryptocurrency trading software that is marketed and distributed by a company and website—Ants2Whale and ants2whale[.]com, respectively—that appear legitimate. Some information has been redacted from this report to preserve victim anonymity. For a downloadable copy of IOCs, see: MAR-10322463-7.v1.stix. Submitted Files (3)bb430087484c1f4587c54efc75681eb60cf70956ef2a999a75ce7b563b8bd694 (Ants2WhaleHelper) d5ac680e14b013e0624470da7f46e84809d00b59a7544f6a42b110cf0e29254e (Ants2Whale) [Redacted] (Ants2Whale.dmg) Domains (2)ants2whale.com qnalytica.com IPs (1)45.147.231.77 Findings[Redacted]Tagsdownloaderloader Details
Antivirus
YARA RulesNo matches found. ssdeep MatchesNo matches found. Relationships
DescriptionThis OSX program from the Ants2Whale site is an Apple DMG installer. The OSX program does not have a digital signature and will warn the user of that before installation. As all previous versions of AppleJeus, the Ants2Whale installer appears to be legitimate and installs “Ants2Whale”(D5AC680E14B013E0624470DA7F46E84809D00B59A7544F6A42B110CF0E29254E) in the “/Applications/Ants2whale.app/Contents/MacOS/Ants2whale” folder and a program named Ants2WhaleHelper (BB430087484C1F4587C54EFC75681EB60CF70956EF2A999A75CE7B563B8BD694) also in the “/Library/Application Support/Ants2WhaleSupport/” folder. Similar to all previous OSX AppleJeus variants, there is a postinstall script and a plist file which creates a LaunchDaemon to automatically run the Ants2WhaleHelper program. ants2whale.comRelationships
DescriptionThe website appears to show a legitimate cryptocurrency company and application, though it does contain multiple spelling and grammar mistakes indicating the creator may not have English as a first language. The website states that in order to download, a user must contact the administrator as their product is “premium package.” The domain ants2whale.com had a legitimately signed Sectigo Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate, which was “Domain Control Validated” just as all previous AppleJeus domain certificates. The certificate was is valid from 09/21/2020 – 09/21/2021. The domain is registered with NameCheap at the IP address 198.54.114.237 with ASN 22612. This IP is on the same ASN as the CoinGoTrade (AppleJeus variant 5 and Dorusio IP addresses (AppleJeus variant 6). Screenshots
Figure 1 – Screenshot the ants2whale.com site.
Figure 2 – Screenshot of how to download Ants2Whale. d5ac680e14b013e0624470da7f46e84809d00b59a7544f6a42b110cf0e29254eTagstrojan Details
AntivirusNo matches found. YARA RulesNo matches found. ssdeep MatchesNo matches found. Relationships
DescriptionThis OSX sample was contained within Apple DMG installer “Ants2Whale.dmg.” Ants2Whale is likely a copy of an open source cryptocurrency wallet application. When ran it loads a legitimate looking program which is fully functional and is very similar to the AppleJeus variant 5 “CoinGoTrade” application. Similar to CoinGoTrade there are references to “CryptoMex” in the Ants2Whale application. Similarly to the CoinGoTrade application, the strings from Ants2Whale reveal the C2 hxxp[:]//45.147.231.77:3000. Investigation revealed the IP address 45.147.231.77 was hosted at Combahton GMH. Screenshots
Figure 3 – Screenshot of the “Ants2Whale” application. 45.147.231.77Tagscommand-and-control Ports
WhoisQueried whois.ripe.net with “-B 45.147.231.77″… % Information related to ‘45.147.228.0 – 45.147.231.255’ % Abuse contact for ‘45.147.228.0 – 45.147.231.255’ is ‘[email protected]’ inetnum: 45.147.228.0 – 45.147.231.255 organisation: ORG-CG252-RIPE person: Joseph Hofmann % Information related to ‘45.147.228.0/22AS30823’ route: 45.147.228.0/22 Relationships
DescriptionThe C2 for Ants2Whale (D5AC680E14B013E0624470DA7F46E84809D00B59A7544F6A42B110CF0E29254E). bb430087484c1f4587c54efc75681eb60cf70956ef2a999a75ce7b563b8bd694Tagsdownloaderloadertrojan Details
Antivirus
YARA RulesNo matches found. ssdeep MatchesNo matches found. Relationships
DescriptionThis OSX sample was contained within Apple DMG installer “Ants2Whale.dmg.” Ants2WhaleHelper is similar to variants of AppleJeus. The Ants2WhaleHelper program contains the custom C++ “Barbeque” class for network communication as seen in the unioncryptoupater program. The C2 for this program is hxxps[:]//www[.]qnalytica.com/wp-rss.php. qnalytica.comTagscommand-and-control URLs
WhoisWhois for qnalytica.com had the following information: Relationships
DescriptionThe domain qnalytica.com has a legitimately signed SSL certificate from cPanel. cPanel is a hosting platform and certificate authority which is a reseller for Sectigo. The domain is registered with NameCheap at the IP address 194.36.191.196 with ASN 60117. Relationship Summary
RecommendationsCISA recommends that users and administrators consider using the following best practices to strengthen the security posture of their organization’s systems. Any configuration changes should be reviewed by system owners and administrators prior to implementation to avoid unwanted impacts.
Additional information on malware incident prevention and handling can be found in National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication 800-83, “Guide to Malware Incident Prevention & Handling for Desktops and Laptops”. Contact Information
CISA continuously strives to improve its products and services. You can help by answering a very short series of questions about this product at the following URL: https://us.cert.cisa.gov/forms/feedback/
Document FAQWhat is a MIFR? A Malware Initial Findings Report (MIFR) is intended to provide organizations with malware analysis in a timely manner. In most instances this report will provide initial indicators for computer and network defense. To request additional analysis, please contact CISA and provide information regarding the level of desired analysis. What is a MAR? A Malware Analysis Report (MAR) is intended to provide organizations with more detailed malware analysis acquired via manual reverse engineering. To request additional analysis, please contact CISA and provide information regarding the level of desired analysis. Can I edit this document? This document is not to be edited in any way by recipients. All comments or questions related to this document should be directed to the CISA at 1-888-282-0870 or CISA Service Desk. Can I submit malware to CISA? Malware samples can be submitted via three methods:
CISA encourages you to report any suspicious activity, including cybersecurity incidents, possible malicious code, software vulnerabilities, and phishing-related scams. Reporting forms can be found on CISA’s homepage at www.cisa.gov. |
This product is provided subject to this Notification and this Privacy & Use policy.