Threat Actor 🇷🇺 Russia

UNC2452

Also known as: DarkHalo · StellarParticle · NOBELIUM · Solar Phoenix · Midnight Blizzard

Reporting regarding activity related to the SolarWinds supply chain injection has grown quickly since initial disclosure on 13 December 2020. A significant amount of press reporting has focused on the identification of the actor(s) involved, victim organizations, possible campaign timeline, and potential impact. The US Government and cyber community have also provided detailed information on how the campaign was likely conducted and some of the malware used. MITRE’s ATT&CK team — with the assistance of contributors — has been mapping techniques used by the actor group, referred to as UNC2452/Dark Halo by FireEye and Volexity respectively, as well as SUNBURST and TEARDROP malware.

Indicators of Compromise 25

MITRE ATT&CK TTPs 42

T1003
OS Credential Dumping
Credential Access
T1021
Remote Services
Lateral Movement
T1021.001
Remote Desktop Protocol
Lateral Movement
T1027
Obfuscated Files or Information
Defense Evasion
T1036
Masquerading
Defense Evasion
T1036.005
Match Legitimate Name or Location
Defense Evasion
T1053.005
Scheduled Task
Execution
T1055
Process Injection
Defense Evasion
T1055.001
Dynamic-link Library Injection
Defense Evasion
T1056.001
Keylogging
Collection
T1059
Command and Scripting Interpreter
Execution
T1059.001
PowerShell
Execution
T1059.003
Windows Command Shell
Execution
T1068
Exploitation for Privilege Escalation
Privilege Escalation
T1070.004
File Deletion
Defense Evasion
T1070.006
Timestomp
Defense Evasion
T1071.001
Web Protocols
Command And Control
T1078
Valid Accounts
Defense Evasion
T1082
System Information Discovery
Discovery
T1083
File and Directory Discovery
Discovery
T1090
Proxy
Command And Control
T1098
Account Manipulation
Persistence
T1105
Ingress Tool Transfer
Command And Control
T1110
Brute Force
Credential Access
T1114
Email Collection
Collection
T1133
External Remote Services
Persistence
T1136.001
Local Account
Persistence
T1185
Browser Session Hijacking
Collection
T1195
Supply Chain Compromise
Initial Access
T1204.002
Malicious File
Execution
T1222.002
Linux and Mac File and Directory Permissions Modification
Defense Evasion
T1486
Data Encrypted for Impact
Impact
T1495
Firmware Corruption
Impact
T1555
Credentials from Password Stores
Credential Access
T1558
Steal or Forge Kerberos Tickets
Credential Access
T1566
Phishing
Initial Access
T1566.001
Spearphishing Attachment
Initial Access
T1570
Lateral Tool Transfer
Lateral Movement
T1586
Compromise Accounts
Resource Development
T1588
Obtain Capabilities
Resource Development
T1595.002
Vulnerability Scanning
Reconnaissance
T1659
Content Injection
Initial Access

Source Articles

TeamViewer urges users to patch severe flaws “as soon as possible”
TeamViewer has disclosed and patched five high-severity vulnerabilities in its Full Client and Host software for Windows, Linux, and macOS. The most critical flaw, CVE-2026-92370, is a remote session access control bypass that could allow unauthorized remote code execution. The other vulnerabilities include a path traversal, a heap-based buffer overflow, a TOCTOU race condition, and improper path validation, all of which could enable local attackers to achieve remote code execution or privilege escalation. Although there is no evidence of active exploitation or public exploit code, TeamViewer strongly urges users to update to version 15.82 to mitigate potential risks.
bleeping-computer ·3w ago
Claude Used to Automate Exploitation and Data Theft Across Multiple Victims
Anthropic identified multiple threat actors, dubbed Generative Threat Groups (GTGs), leveraging its Claude AI models to automate cyber attacks, including reconnaissance, exploitation, and data exfiltration. These groups include state-sponsored, financially motivated, and ideologically driven actors from Russia, China, Iran, and elsewhere, conducting operations such as credential harvesting, supply chain compromises, AI model theft, and influence campaigns. Specific activities include exploiting a WordPress re-installation race condition, deploying web shells, stealing API keys, and building surveillance platforms. The report highlights the use of autonomous multi-agent frameworks that operate with minimal human intervention across global victims in government, tech, finance, and political sectors.
hacker-news ·1mo ago
Hackers abused Claude to extract secrets from 1.8M Android apps
Between December 2025 and August 2026, multiple threat groups abused Anthropic's Claude AI for malicious purposes, including credential harvesting, malware development, and reconnaissance. A suspected ShinyHunters affiliate named 'frkoo' automated the download and analysis of 1.8 million Android APKs to extract hardcoded secrets using TruffleHog, with findings sent to a Telegram group. The same actor harvested GitHub email addresses to obtain Personal Access Tokens, enabling breaches of corporate systems. Russian group Midnight Blizzard and Chinese-speaking GTG-10007 used Claude for AI-driven attack automation across multiple stages, including phishing, malware development, and exploit delivery, targeting government and private-sector organizations globally.
bleeping-computer ·1mo ago
Hotel Wi-Fi attacks use custom malware to breach Microsoft 365 accounts
Microsoft has identified a global campaign dubbed CaptiveCrunch, attributed to the Russian threat actor Midnight Blizzard (also known as APT29 or Storm-2945), targeting hotel and conference center Wi-Fi networks. The attackers manipulate DNS settings on captive portal equipment to redirect users to phishing pages impersonating Microsoft 365 login portals or abusing Microsoft Entra ID device code authentication flows. They also deploy custom malware, including the Go-based RAT CornFlake and the PowerShell-based ChocoShell, to steal credentials, session tokens, and conduct surveillance. A previously undisclosed tactic involves fake OS and browser update prompts (ClickFix) delivering malware to Windows and Android devices.
bleeping-computer ·2mo ago
⚡ Weekly Recap: Rogue AI Models, $88M Bitcoin Theft, Water-System Attacks and Dangling DNS Hijacks
Multiple active threats were reported this week, including Russian threat actors exploiting a Microsoft OWA XSS vulnerability (CVE-2026-42897) to deploy a JavaScript-based implant called OWAReaper for persistent mailbox access. A critical Ruby on Rails vulnerability (CVE-2026-66066) allows unauthenticated attackers to read arbitrary files via crafted image uploads, potentially leading to remote code execution. Additionally, Iranian-linked actors are suspected in coordinated attacks on over 30 Minnesota water systems, where exposed PLCs were targeted to disrupt operations. Storm-2945 (APT29) conducted DNS hijacking via compromised Wi-Fi networks to deliver CornFlake malware and ChocoShell infostealer, while a malicious campaign in RubyGems distributed 199 trojanized packages embedding XMRig cryptojacking payloads.
hacker-news ·2mo ago
Hijacked Hotel Wi-Fi Pushes Fake Updates to Deliver Surveillance Malware
A threat actor dubbed Storm-2945, assessed to be a sub-cluster of the Russian state-sponsored group APT29 (aka Cozy Bear), has hijacked hotel Wi-Fi networks to deliver a surveillance-focused remote access trojan named CornFlake. The attack abuses compromised captive portals to redirect users to fake browser or OS update prompts, which lead to the download of malicious payloads. The CornFlake malware, written in Go, establishes persistence via registry run keys and scheduled tasks, captures keystrokes, screenshots, microphone audio, and browser credentials, and can bypass Chrome's App-Bound Encryption. A related in-memory PowerShell stealer, ChocoShell, harvests Microsoft 365, Azure AD, and WAM tokens from the Token Broker cache. Attackers also leveraged Microsoft's device code authentication flow to gain MFA-satisfied access by tricking users into approving malicious sessions.
hacker-news ·2mo ago
PlugX Meeting Invitation via MSBuild and GDATA
A recent PlugX RAT campaign leverages a spear-phishing email with the subject 'Meeting Invitation' to deliver malicious payloads via DLL side-loading. The infection chain uses a legitimate G DATA antivirus executable (Avk.exe) to load a malicious DLL (Avk.dll), which decrypts and executes the payload from AVKTray.dat. The malware establishes persistence through a registry Run key and communicates with the C2 server at decoorat[.]net over HTTPS on port 443. The campaign demonstrates continued use of trusted binaries, XOR-based obfuscation, and API hashing techniques consistent with China-aligned threat actors.
lab52 ·8mo ago
Zimbra urges customers to patch critical web client XSS flaw
Zimbra has urged customers to patch a critical stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in its Classic Web Client, which could allow attackers to execute malicious code via specially crafted emails. The flaw affects Zimbra Collaboration Suite users and could lead to theft of session data, account settings, or mailbox contents. Although no CVE has been assigned yet, the vulnerability was reported by Google's Threat Analysis Group and is suspected to be exploited by state-backed actors, particularly Russian-linked groups.
bleeping-computer ·3mo ago