Analysis by: Raighen Sanchez
ALIASES:

Trojan:MSIL/Znyonm (MICROSOFT)

 PLATFORM:

Windows

 OVERALL RISK RATING:
 DAMAGE POTENTIAL:
 DISTRIBUTION POTENTIAL:
 REPORTED INFECTION:
 INFORMATION EXPOSURE:

  • Threat Type: Ransomware

  • Destructiveness: No

  • Encrypted: Yes

  • In the wild: Yes

  OVERVIEW

Infection Channel: Downloaded from the Internet, Dropped by other malware

This Ransomware arrives on a system as a file dropped by other malware or as a file downloaded unknowingly by users when visiting malicious sites.

However, as of this writing, the said sites are inaccessible.

It encrypts files with specific file extensions. It drops files as ransom note.

  TECHNICAL DETAILS

File Size: 149,504 bytes
File Type: EXE
Memory Resident: Yes
Initial Samples Received Date: 29 Jan 2024
Payload: Connects to URLs/IPs, Collects system information, Drops files, Encrypts files

Arrival Details

This Ransomware arrives on a system as a file dropped by other malware or as a file downloaded unknowingly by users when visiting malicious sites.

Installation

This Ransomware drops the following files:

  • %User Temp%\tmp{random}.tmp.bat → terminate itself and delete sample

(Note: %User Temp% is the current user's Temp folder, which is usually C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Local Settings\Temp on Windows 2000(32-bit), XP, and Server 2003(32-bit), or C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Local\Temp on Windows Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 2008(64-bit), 2012(64-bit) and 10(64-bit).)

It adds the following processes:

  • %System%\cmd.exe /C vssadmin delete shadows /all /quiet & wmic shadowcopy delete
  • %System%\cmd.exe /C wbadmin delete catalog -quiet
  • takeown /f \"%System%\smartscreen.exe\" /a
  • icacls \"%System%\smartscreen.exe\" /reset → takes ownership of the application and resets the Access Control Lists
  • taskkill /im smartscreen.exe /f → terminates the application
  • icacls \"%System%\smartscreen.exe\" /inheritance:r /remove * S - 1 - 5 - 32 - 544 * S - 1 - 5 - 11 * S - 1 - 5 - 32 - 545 * S - 1 - 5 - 18 → removes permission from the specified security identifier to access smartscreen.exe
  • %User Temp%\SystemPropertiesProtection.exe

(Note: %System% is the Windows system folder, where it usually is C:\Windows\System32 on all Windows operating system versions.. %User Temp% is the current user's Temp folder, which is usually C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Local Settings\Temp on Windows 2000(32-bit), XP, and Server 2003(32-bit), or C:\Users\{user name}\AppData\Local\Temp on Windows Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 2008(64-bit), 2012(64-bit) and 10(64-bit).)

It terminates itself if it finds the following processes in the affected system's memory:

  • csfalconservice
  • csfalconcontainer
  • processhacker
  • netstat
  • netmon
  • tcpview
  • wireshark
  • filemon
  • regmon
  • cain
  • eguiproxy
  • devenv
  • ekrn
  • rsenginesvc
  • fcdblog
  • fcappdb
  • fortisettings
  • fortiesnac
  • fortitray
  • fsguistarter
  • fshoster32

Download Routine

This Ransomware connects to the following URL(s) to download its component file(s):

  • https://{BLOCKED}o.co/1ZahL4.ico

Information Theft

This Ransomware gathers the following data:

  • Username
  • System Locale
  • List of Antivirus Products
  • List of MAC Address
  • Hostname

Other Details

This Ransomware does the following:

  • It sets the attributes of itself to SYSTEM and HIDDEN.
  • It terminates itself if the time zone is the following:
    • RU - Russia
    • KZ - Kazakhstan
    • BY - Belarus
    • AM - Armenia
    • AZ - Azerbaijan
    • KG - Kyrgyzstan
    • MD - Moldova
    • TJ - Tajikistan
    • TM - Turkmenitan
    • UZ - Uzbekistan
  • It terminates itself if the language of the affected machine is the following:
    • Ukrainian
    • Belarusian
    • Azerbaijani
    • Armenian
    • Georgian
    • Uzbek
    • Russian
    • Kazakh
  • It terminates itself if the following network monitoring tools were found in the system:
    • HTTPDebuggerBrowser.dll
    • FiddlerCore4.dll
    • RestSharp.dll
    • Titanium.Web.Proxy.dll
  • It checks for the presence of a debugger
  • It checks if the sample is running in a 64-bit environment.
  • It deletes the original file after encryption.
  • It terminates itself if the following prefix of MAC addresses were found in the system:
    • 000C29 - VMWare Inc.
    • 001C14 - Cisco Systems
    • 005056 - VMWare Inc.
    • 000569 - Intel
    • 080027 - VMWare, Inc
    • 000001 - Xerox Corporation
  • It terminates itself if the following GUID is found in the system:
    • 4040CF00-1B3E-486A-B407-FA14C56B6FC0
  • It restarts the system after file encryption.
  • It terminates itself if the following registry entry was found in the system:
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\Folders
      {data} = C:\ANYRUN

However, as of this writing, the said sites are inaccessible.

It terminates itself if any of the following file(s) are present:

  • %Program Files%\CrowdStrike\CSFalconContainer.exe
  • %Program Files%\CrowdStrike\CSFalconService.exe
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\Drivers\Vmmouse.sys
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\Drivers\vm3dgl.dll
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\Drivers\vmdum.dll
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\Drivers\vm3dver.dll
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\Drivers\vmtray.dll
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\Drivers\vmci.sys
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\Drivers\vmusbmouse.sys
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\Drivers\vmx_svga.sys
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\Drivers\vmxnet.sys
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\Drivers\VMToolsHook.dll
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\Drivers\vmhgfs.dll
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\Drivers\vmmousever.dll
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\Drivers\vmGuestLib.dll
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\Drivers\VmGuestLibJava.dll
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\Drivers\vmscsi.sys
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\Drivers\VBoxMouse.sys
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\Drivers\VBoxGuest.sys
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\Drivers\VBoxSF.sys
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\Drivers\VBoxVideo.sys
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\vboxdisp.dll
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\vboxhook.dll
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\vboxmrxnp.dll
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\vboxogl.dll
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\vboxoglarrayspu.dll
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\vboxoglcrutil.dll
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\vboxoglerrorspu.dll
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\vboxoglfeedbackspu.dll
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\vboxoglpackspu.dll
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\vboxoglpassthroughspu.dll
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\vboxservice.exe
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\vboxtray.exe
  • %Windows%\Sysnative\VBoxControl.exe
  • ekrnLang.dll
  • ekrnScan.dll
  • ekrnDevmonLang.dll
  • eguiScan.dll
  • eguiActivation.dll
  • FCCryptDLL.dll
  • FortiTrayResc.dll
  • SbieDll.dll
  • SxIn.dll
  • Sf2.dll
  • snxhk.dll
  • cmdvrt32.dll
  • avghookx.dll
  • avgooka.dll
  • sbiedll.dll
  • api_log.dll
  • dir_watch.dll
  • pstorec.dll
  • vmcheck.dll
  • wpespy.dll
  • cmdvrt64.dll

(Note: %Program Files% is the default Program Files folder, usually C:\Program Files in Windows 2000(32-bit), Server 2003(32-bit), XP, Vista(64-bit), 7, 8, 8.1, 2008(64-bit), 2012(64-bit) and 10(64-bit) , or C:\Program Files (x86) in Windows XP(64-bit), Vista(64-bit), 7(64-bit), 8(64-bit), 8.1(64-bit), 2008(64-bit), 2012(64-bit) and 10(64-bit).. %Windows% is the Windows folder, where it usually is C:\Windows on all Windows operating system versions.)

It terminates itself if any of the following user name(s) are found in the affected system:

  • ANNA-PC
  • 210979

Ransomware Routine

This Ransomware encrypts files with the following extensions:

  • .cpl
  • .dll
  • .exe
  • .com
  • .sys
  • .dat
  • .key
  • .reg
  • .dmp
  • .msp
  • .ics
  • .lnk
  • .icl
  • .msu
  • .diagcab
  • .ico
  • .db
  • .msu
  • .ini
  • .json
  • .log
  • .drv
  • .db

It avoids encrypting files with the following strings in their file path:

  • appdata\local
  • appdata\locallow
  • users\all users
  • \programdata

It avoids encrypting files found in the following folders:

  • Program Files
  • Program Files (x86)
  • Windows
  • $Recycle.Bin
  • MSOCache
  • Documents and Settings
  • Intel
  • PerfLogs
  • Windows.old
  • AMD
  • NVIDIA
  • ProgramData

It appends the following extension to the file name of the encrypted files:

  • .FACKOFF!

It drops the following file(s) as ransom note:

  • {encrypted directory}\read_it.txt

  SOLUTION

Minimum Scan Engine: 9.800
FIRST VSAPI PATTERN FILE: 19.648.06
FIRST VSAPI PATTERN DATE: 13 Oct 2024
VSAPI OPR PATTERN File: 19.649.00
VSAPI OPR PATTERN Date: 14 Oct 2024

Step 1

Trend Micro Predictive Machine Learning detects and blocks malware at the first sign of its existence, before it executes on your system. When enabled, your Trend Micro product detects this malware under the following machine learning name:

    •  TROJ.Win32.TRX.XXPE50FFF086

Step 2

Before doing any scans, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10 users must disable System Restore to allow full scanning of their computers.

Step 3

Note that not all files, folders, and registry keys and entries are installed on your computer during this malware's/spyware's/grayware's execution. This may be due to incomplete installation or other operating system conditions. If you do not find the same files/folders/registry information, please proceed to the next step.

Step 4

Search and delete this file

[ Learn More ]
There may be some files that are hidden. Please make sure you check the Search Hidden Files and Folders checkbox in the "More advanced options" option to include all hidden files and folders in the search result.
  • %User Temp%\tmp{random}.tmp.bat

Step 5

Scan your computer with your Trend Micro product to delete files detected as Ransom.MSIL.REDENERGY.THJAOBD. If the detected files have already been cleaned, deleted, or quarantined by your Trend Micro product, no further step is required. You may opt to simply delete the quarantined files. Please check the following Trend Micro Support pages for more information:

Step 6

Restore encrypted files from backup.


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