SMTP is the key: BPFDoor and AVERAT hitting the network edge


Rapid7 tracked a set of Linux samples that blend into the software and device conventions of the telecom environments they target. The set spans a newly observed BPFDoor variant, a BPF Rekoobe build seen against South Korean targets, a dropper, and six builds of a Linux implant Rapid7 researchers track as AVERAT, deployed against Taiwanese appliances. Additionally, researchers provide source code details of the Rapid7 BPFDoor controller introduced in our April 2026 blog, Stealthy BPFDoor Variants are a Needle That Looks Like Hay.

The chain uses two binaries. A dropper writes a shell script to the appliance’s storage mount and executes it. The script stages both payloads into /sbin under the names ntpdate and udevds, launches them, and deletes each file ten seconds later while the processes continue running. One of those payloads is the dropper itself, re-executing as a resident watchdog, leaving both processes running without an on-disk image.

Read more…
Source:  Rapid7 News


Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox


Related:

  • Ramnit Changes Shape with Widespread Black Botnet

    August 6, 2018

    A massive proxy botnet is just the tip of the iceberg, a warning sign of a bigger operation in the works by the Ramnit operators. The recently uncovered “Black” botnet campaign using the Ramnit malware racked up 100,000 infections in the two months through July– but the offensive could just be a precursor to a much ...

  • U.S. Payment Processing Services Targeted by BGP Hijacking Attacks

    August 6, 2018

    According to a new report, three United States payment processing companies were targeted by BGP hijacking attacks on their DNS servers. These Internet routing attacks were designed to redirect traffic directed at the payment processors to servers controlled by malicious actors who would then attempt to steal the data. On three separate dates in July, Oracle ...

  • Google Project Zero: ‘Here’s the secret to flagging up bugs before hackers find them’

    August 3, 2018

    Samsung’s utterly confusing vulnerability reporting website has prompted one of Google’s top security researchers to explain how companies should help researchers report bugs and eliminate hackable flaws in products quickly. Google’s Project Zero bug hunter, Natalie Silvanovich, who Microsoft has recognized as a top 10 researcher in the world, has a few tips for vendors of all types ...

  • Poor cybersecurity could destabilise increasingly complex energy grids

    July 26, 2018

    The future of smart energy grids, with automatic management of both supply and demand, is “looking really interesting”, says Phil Kernick, chief technology officer at security firm CQR Consulting. But the current state of the technology and its security is a problem. “The distribution systems and the generation systems were deployed a decade and a half ...

  • NetSpectre — New Remote Spectre Attack Steals Data Over the Network

    July 26, 2018

    A team of security researchers has discovered a new Spectre attack that can be launched over the network, unlike all other Spectre variants that require some form of local code execution on the target system. Dubbed “NetSpectre,” the new remote side-channel attack, which is related to Spectre variant 1, abuses speculative execution to perform bounds-check bypass ...

  • Massive Malspam Campaign Finds a New Vector for FlawedAmmyy RAT

    July 20, 2018

    A widespread spam campaign from the well-known financial criminal group TA505 is spreading the FlawedAmmyy RAT using a brand-new vector: Weaponized PDFs containing malicious SettingContent-ms files. The SettingContent-ms file format was introduced in Windows 10; it allows a user to create “shortcuts” to various Windows 10 setting pages. “All this file does is open the Control Panel ...