China's Evasive Panda Attacks ISP to Send Malicious Software Updates

Source: Pawel Opaska via Alamy Stock Photo

Researchers have found that a China-linked advanced persistent threat (APT) group compromised an Internet service provider (ISP) to exploit software vendor update mechanisms using DNS poisoning. The attacks delivered new variants of the Macma backdoor, as well as post-exploitation malware to exfiltrate sensitive data from compromised networks.

Researchers at Volexity discovered the attack by Evasive Panda, a threat group they track as StormBamboo and that also goes by DaggerFly, when they detected multiple systems becoming infected with malware in mid-2023, they revealed in a recent blog post. The researchers eventually tracked the attacks to the highly active Chinese APT, which they found altering DNS query responses for specific domains tied to automatic software update channels for software vendors, they said.

“StormBamboo appeared to target software that used insecure update mechanisms, such as HTTP, and did not properly validate digital signatures of installers,” Volexity researchers Ankur Saini, Paul Rascagneres, Steven Adair, and Thomas Lancaster wrote in the post. “Therefore, when these applications went to retrieve their updates, instead of installing the intended update, they would install malware, including but not limited to Macma and Pocostick (aka MGBot).”

Macma is a backdoor that’s often used by Evasive Panda and was first detailed by Google TAG in 2021, though it was used for a number of years before discovery. The latest variant demonstrates the group converging development of both Macma and Gimmick MacOS malware, according to Volexity. The researchers also detected post-exploitation activity to deploy the malicious browser extension Reloadext to exfiltrate victim mail data, they said.

Poisoning DNS Requests

Volexity outlined one of several incidents that researchers investigated in which Evasive Panda used DNS poisoning to deliver malware via an HTTP automatic update mechanism. The attack poisoned responses for legitimate hostnames that were then used as second-stage command-and-control (C2) servers, the researchers said.

DNS poisoning is a type of DNS abuse in which an attacker poisons DNS records to reroute network communications to a server under their control to steal and manipulate information transmitted to users. In this case, the APT used the poisoned DNS records to resolve to an attacker-controlled server in Hong Kong at IP address 103.96.130.107, which was at the ISP level of the targeted organization.

The logic behind the abuse of automatic updates is the same for all the applications targeted, the researchers noted. The legitimate application performs an HTTP request to retrieve a text-based file containing the latest application version and a link to the installer.

“Since the attacker has control of the DNS responses for any given DNS name, they abuse this design, redirecting the HTTP request to a C2 server they control hosting a forged text file and a malicious installer,” the researchers wrote.

In the attacks, the APT targeted multiple software vendors with “insecure update workflows” that use varying levels of complexity in their steps for pushing malware. For example, one of the vendors, 5Kplayer, uses a workflow, the binary of which automatically checks if a new version of YoutubeDL is available for each time the application is started.

If a new version is available, the process downloads it from the specified URL, and then the legitimate app executes it. In its attack, Evasive Panda used DNS poisoning to host a modified config file indicating a new update was available, which resulted in the YoutubeDL software downloading an upgrade package from the APT’s server that had already been backdoored with malicious code.

Beware: “Highly Skilled” APT at Work

Volexity notified and worked with the ISP whose network was being used for DNS poisoning. The ISP investigated and took various network components offline, which stopped the malicious activity, the researchers said.

“During this time, it was not possible to pinpoint a specific device that was compromised, but various components of the infrastructure were updated or left offline and the activity ceased,” they wrote.

The attacks are not the first time Evasive Panda, which often targets organizations across Asia that are interested in the Chinese state, has leveraged legit software update channels for nefarious purposes.

In April of last year, researchers from ESET discovered cyberespionage attacks in which the group targeted individuals in China and Nigeria by hijacking update channels for software developed by Chinese companies to deliver the MGBot malware to steal credentials and data.

Indeed, the group is “a highly skilled and aggressive threat actor” that often “compromises third parties to breach intended targets,” the researchers warned.

“The variety of malware employed in various campaigns by this threat actor indicates significant effort is invested, with actively supported payloads for not only macOS and Windows, but also network appliances,” they wrote.

The attacks also are related to previous research by ESET concerning the infection vector for the Pocostick malware that also used DNS poisoning to abuse automatic updates, as well as one used by a related APT DriftingBamboo following zero-day exploitation of Sophos firewalls, the researchers noted.

Volexity included a link to various rules and indicators of compromise (IOCs) in its post to help organizations detect if they have been affected by the malicious activity.

About the Author

Elizabeth Montalbano is a freelance writer, journalist, and therapeutic writing mentor with more than 25 years of professional experience. Her areas of expertise include technology, business, and culture. Elizabeth previously lived and worked as a full-time journalist in Phoenix, San Francisco, and New York City; she currently resides in a village on the southwest coast of Portugal. In her free time, she enjoys surfing, hiking with her dogs, traveling, playing music, yoga, and cooking.