ESET Research: China-aligned Mustang Panda’s latest backdoor targets Europe, Asia, and Australia
Created: 2023-03-07 04:05:46
- ESET researchers have analyzed MQsTTang, a new custom backdoor that we attribute to the China-aligned Mustang Panda APT group.
- Confirmed targets are in Bulgaria and Australia, with a likely target in Taiwan.
- Due to the nature of the decoy filenames used, ESET researchers believe that political and governmental organizations in Europe and Asia are also being targeted.
- The malware uses the MQTT protocol for Command and Control communication. MQTT is typically used for communication between Internet of Things (IoT) devices and controllers. This protocol hasn’t been used in many publicly documented malware families.
- MQsTTang is distributed in RAR archives that only contain a single executable. These executables usually have names related to diplomacy and passports.
BRATISLAVA, MONTREAL — March 2, 2023 — ESET researchers have just analyzed MQsTTang, a new custom backdoor that we attribute to the China-aligned Mustang Panda APT group. This backdoor is part of an ongoing campaign that ESET can trace back to early January 2023. ESET Research has seen unknown entities in Bulgaria and Australia in our telemetry as targets. ESET also has information indicating that Mustang Panda is targeting a governmental institution in Taiwan. Due to the nature of the decoy filenames used, ESET researchers believe that political and governmental organizations in Europe and Asia are also being targeted. The Mustang Panda campaign is still ongoing as of this writing, and the group has increased its activity in Europe since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Unlike most of the group’s malware, MQsTTang doesn’t seem to be based on existing families or publicly available projects,” says ESET researcher Alexandre Côté Cyr, who discovered the ongoing campaign. “This new MQsTTang backdoor provides a kind of remote shell without any of the bells and whistles associated with the group’s other malware families. However, it shows that Mustang Panda is exploring new technology stacks for its tools,” he explains. “It remains to be seen whether this backdoor will become a recurring part of their arsenal, but it is one more example of the group’s fast development and deployment cycle,” concludes Côté Cyr.
Based on our telemetry, ESET Research can confirm that unknown entities in Bulgaria and Australia are being targeted. In addition, a governmental institution in Taiwan appears to be a target. The victimology is unclear, but the decoy filenames make ESET believe that political and governmental organizations in Europe and Asia are also being targeted. This would also be in line with the targeting of the group’s latest campaigns.
MQsTTang is a barebones backdoor that allows the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on a victim’s machine and capture the output. The malware uses the MQTT protocol for Command-and-Control communication. MQTT is typically used for communication between IoT devices and controllers, and the protocol hasn’t been used in many publicly documented malware families.
MQsTTang is distributed in RAR archives that only contain a single executable. These executables usually have filenames related to diplomacy and passports.
For more technical information about MQsTTang, check out the blog post “MQsTTang: Mustang Panda’s latest backdoor treads new ground with Qt and MQTT” on WeLiveSecurity. Make sure to follow ESET Research on Twitter for the latest news from ESET Research.
About ESET
ESET develops software solutions that deliver instant, comprehensive protection against evolving computer security threats. ESET pioneered and continues to lead the industry in proactive threat detection. ESET NOD32 Antivirus, its flagship product, consistently achieves the highest accolades in all types of comparative testing and is the foundational product that builds out the ESET product line to include ESET Smart Security. ESET Smart Security is an integrated antivirus, antispyware, antispam and personal firewall solution that combines accuracy, speed and an extremely small system footprint to create the most effective security solution in the industry. Both products have an extremely efficient code base that eliminates the unnecessary large size found in some solutions. This means faster scanning that doesn’t slow down computers or networks. Sold in more than 160 countries, ESET has worldwide production headquarters in Bratislava, SK and worldwide distribution headquarters in San Diego, U.S. ESET also has offices in Bristol, U.K.; Buenos Aires, AR; Prague, CZ; and is globally represented by an extensive partner network. For more information, visit our local office at https://eset.version-2.sg.
About Version 2 Limited
Version 2 Limited is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The Company develops and distributes IT products for Internet and IP-based networks, including communication systems, Internet software, security, network, and media products. Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 Limited offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which includes Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities. For more information, please visit https://www.version-2.com.sg/ or call (65) 6296-4268.
Join ESET at Facebook