Russian organizations have grow to be the goal of a phishing marketing campaign that distributes malware known as PureRAT, in accordance with new findings from Kaspersky.
“The marketing campaign geared toward Russian enterprise started again in March 2023, however within the first third of 2025 the variety of assaults quadrupled in comparison with the identical interval in 2024,” the cybersecurity vendor stated.
The assault chains, which haven’t been attributed to any particular risk actor, begin with a phishing e mail that comprises a RAR file attachment or a hyperlink to the archive that masquerades as a Microsoft Phrase or a PDF doc by making use of double extensions (“doc_054_[redacted].pdf.rar”).
Current inside the archive file is an executable that, when launched, copies itself to the “%AppData%” location of the compromised Home windows machine underneath the title “process.exe” and creates a Visible Fundamental Script known as “Process.vbs” within the Startup VBS folder.
The executable then proceeds to unpack one other executable “ckcfb.exe”, runs the system utility “InstallUtil.exe,” and injects into it the decrypted module. “Ckcfb.exe,” for its half, extracts and decrypts a DLL file “Spydgozoi.dll” that comes with the primary payload of the PureRAT malware.
PureRAT establishes SSL connections with a command-and-control (C2) server and transmits system info, together with particulars concerning the antivirus merchandise put in, the pc title, and the time elapsed for the reason that system startup. In response, the C2 server sends auxiliary modules to carry out quite a lot of malicious actions –
- PluginPcOption, which is able to executing instructions for self-deletion, restarting the executable file, and shutting down or rebooting the pc
- PluginWindowNotify, which checks the title of the energetic window for key phrases like password, financial institution, WhatsApp, and carry out acceptable follow-up actions like unauthorized fund transfers
- PluginClipper, which capabilities as a clipper malware by substituting cryptocurrency pockets addresses copied to the system’s clipboard with an attacker-controlled one
“The Trojan consists of modules for downloading and operating arbitrary recordsdata that present full entry to the file system, registry, processes, digital camera and microphone, implement keylogger performance, and provides attackers the power to secretly management the pc utilizing the distant desktop precept,” Kaspersky stated.
The unique executable that launches “ckcfb.exe” concurrently additionally extracts a second binary known as “StilKrip.exe,” which is a commercially out there downloader dubbed PureCrypter that has been used to ship varied payloads previously. It is energetic since 2022.
“StilKrip.exe” is designed to obtain “Bghwwhmlr.wav,” which follows the aforementioned assault sequence to run “InstallUtil.exe” and in the end launch “Ttcxxewxtly.exe,” an executable that unpacks and runs a DLL payload known as PureLogs (“Bftvbho.dll”).
PureLogs is an off-the-shelf info stealer that may harvest information from internet browsers, e mail purchasers, VPN companies, messaging apps, pockets browser extensions, password managers, cryptocurrency pockets apps, and different packages like FileZilla and WinSCP.
“The PureRAT backdoor and PureLogs stealer have broad performance that enables attackers to realize limitless entry to contaminated techniques and confidential group information,” Kaspersky stated. “The principle vector of assaults on companies has been and stays emails with malicious attachments or hyperlinks.”
