Known since 2014, Cloud Atlas targets Eastern Europe and Central Asia. We’re shedding light on a previously undocumented toolset, which the group used heavily in 2024.
Victims get infected via phishing emails containing a malicious document that exploits a vulnerability in the formula editor (CVE-2018-0802) to download and execute malware code. When opened, the document downloads a malicious template formatted as an RTF file from a remote server controlled by the attackers. It contains a formula editor exploit that downloads and runs an HTML Application (HTA) file hosted on the same C2 server. The RTF and HTA downloads are restricted to certain time slots and victim IP addresses: requests are only allowed from target regions.
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Source: Kaspersky
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