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:

  • Cobalt Ulster Strikes Again With New ForeLord Malware

    March 3, 2020

    A new credential-stealing malware, dubbed ForeLord, has been uncovered in a recent spear phishing campaign. Researchers tie the attack to a known advanced persistence threat (APT) group known as Cobalt Ulster. The emails distributing ForeLord were uncovered as part of a campaign, running between mid-2019 and mid-January 2020. The emails were targeting organizations in Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, as ...

  • GuLoader: Malspam Campaign Installing NetWire RAT

    March 3, 2020

    NetWire is a publicly-available RAT that has been used by criminal organizations and other malicious groups since 2012. NetWire is distributed through various campaigns, and we usually see it sent through malicious spam (malspam). GuLoader is a file downloader that was first discovered in December 2019, and it has been used to distribute a wide variety of remote ...

  • Molerats Delivers Spark Backdoor to Government and Telecommunications Organizations

    March 3, 2020

    Between October 2019 through the beginning of December 2019, Unit 42 observed multiple instances of phishing attacks likely related to a threat group known as Molerats (AKA Gaza Hackers Team and Gaza Cybergang) targeting eight organizations in six different countries in the government, telecommunications, insurance and retail industries, of which the latter two were quite ...

  • TrickBot Adds ActiveX Control, Hides Dropper in Images

    March 2, 2020

    The TrickBot banking trojan has gotten trickier, with the addition of a Windows 10 ActiveX control to execute malicious macros in boobytrapped documents. Michael Gorelik, researcher at Morphisec Labs, said that at least two dozen documents have come to light in the last few weeks that use ActiveX—a feature in Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) – to ...

  • What to know about cyberattacks targeting energy pipelines

    March 1, 2020

    The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) this past month disclosed a disruptive cyberattack on a U.S. energy facility, raising new concerns about protections for energy providers. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), a division of DHS, said a ransomware attack hit a “natural gas compression facility,” leading to a two-day shutdown for the entire pipeline. While the agency ...

  • RSAC 2020: Ransomware a ‘National Crisis,’ CISA Says, Ramps ICS Focus

    February 28, 2020

    Industrial control systems (ICS) and critical infrastructure will be a main focus for the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) this year – especially as ransomware looms as a main threat to the sector going forward. That’s according to Christopher Krebs, director of CISA, speaking at RSA Conference 2020 this week. “My agency ...