hacker-news · Crawled Sep 7, 2026
Rogue ScreenConnect Clients Spread Four-Stage VBScript Chain to Newly Connected Hosts
13 IoCs 1 Malware
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AI Summary
Cybersecurity firm Huntress identified worm-like activity abusing ConnectWise ScreenConnect to propagate a four-stage VBScript chain across newly connected hosts. The attack uses social engineering, phishing, or fake refund forms to deploy rogue ScreenConnect clients, which then execute a sequence of malicious VBScripts (1.vbs to 4.vbs) for reconnaissance, payload retrieval, and execution. The final stage deploys backdoors, privilege escalation tools, or cryptocurrency miners based on system state, and the infected host re-infects new connections, creating self-propagating behavior. ConnectWise issued an advisory recommending disabling file transfer permissions to mitigate the risk.
AI-extracted · verify before operational use
Extracted Entities 1 found
Indicators of Compromise 13 extracted
| Type | Value | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| IP | 45[.]13[.]237[.]190 | Details → |
| IP | 131[.]123[.]40[.]98 | Details → |
| Domain | tele-sync[.]opik[.]net | Details → |
| Domain | borertors92[.]anondns[.]net | Details → |
| Filename | 1.vbs | Details → |
| Filename | 2.vbs | Details → |
| Filename | 3.vbs | Details → |
| Filename | 4.vbs | Details → |
| Filename | WindowsServiceHost.vbs | Details → |
| Filename | runner.ps1 | Details → |
| Filename | PyTorchFix.ps1 | Details → |
| Filename | ScreenConnect.ClientSetup.msi | Details → |
| Filename | ScreenConnect.Client.exe | Details → |
MITRE ATT&CK TTPs 71 techniques
T1003 OS Credential Dumping · Credential Access T1003.002 Security Account Manager · Credential Access T1012 Query Registry · Discovery T1016 System Network Configuration Discovery · Discovery T1021.002 SMB/Windows Admin Shares · Lateral Movement T1027 Obfuscated Files or Information · Defense Evasion T1027.002 Software Packing · Defense Evasion T1027.003 Steganography · Defense Evasion T1027.013 Encrypted/Encoded File · Defense Evasion T1036.005 Match Legitimate Name or Location · Defense Evasion T1053.003 Cron · Execution T1053.005 Scheduled Task · Execution T1055 Process Injection · Defense Evasion T1055.001 Dynamic-link Library Injection · Defense Evasion T1056.002 GUI Input Capture · Collection T1057 Process Discovery · Discovery T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter · Execution T1059.001 PowerShell · Execution T1060 T1060 T1069 Permission Groups Discovery · Discovery T1070.004 File Deletion · Defense Evasion T1071.001 Web Protocols · Command And Control T1071.004 DNS · Command And Control T1078 Valid Accounts · Defense Evasion T1078.001 Default Accounts · Defense Evasion T1078.004 Cloud Accounts · Defense Evasion T1082 System Information Discovery · Discovery T1083 File and Directory Discovery · Discovery T1085 T1085 T1089 T1089 T1090 Proxy · Command And Control T1090.004 Domain Fronting · Command And Control T1095 Non-Application Layer Protocol · Command And Control T1102.001 Dead Drop Resolver · Command And Control T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer · Command And Control T1106 Native API · Execution T1110 Brute Force · Credential Access T1110.001 Password Guessing · Credential Access T1112 Modify Registry · Defense Evasion T1113 Screen Capture · Collection T1129 Shared Modules · Execution T1133 External Remote Services · Persistence T1135 Network Share Discovery · Discovery T1140 Deobfuscate/Decode Files or Information · Defense Evasion T1160 T1160 T1170 T1170 T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application · Initial Access T1195.001 Compromise Software Dependencies and Development Tools · Initial Access T1197 BITS Jobs · Defense Evasion T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution · Execution T1204.002 Malicious File · Execution T1205.001 Port Knocking · Defense Evasion T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services · Lateral Movement T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access · Credential Access T1484.001 Group Policy Modification · Defense Evasion T1485 Data Destruction · Impact T1490 Inhibit System Recovery · Impact T1496 Resource Hijacking · Impact T1543.001 Launch Agent · Persistence T1543.002 Systemd Service · Persistence T1543.003 Windows Service · Persistence T1548.002 Bypass User Account Control · Privilege Escalation T1548.004 Elevated Execution with Prompt · Privilege Escalation T1555.003 Credentials from Web Browsers · Credential Access T1558 Steal or Forge Kerberos Tickets · Credential Access T1564.003 Hidden Window · Defense Evasion T1566 Phishing · Initial Access T1570 Lateral Tool Transfer · Lateral Movement T1574.002 DLL Side-Loading · Persistence T1608.001 Upload Malware · Resource Development T1685 T1685