Threat Actor 🇨🇳 China

UTA0178

Also known as: UNC5221 · Red Dev 61

While Volexity largely observed the attacker essentially living off the land, they still deployed a handful of malware files and tools during the course of the incident which primarily consisted of webshells, proxy utilities, and file modifications to allow credential harvesting. Once UTA0178 had access into the network via the ICS VPN appliance, their general approach was to pivot from system to system using compromised credentials. They would then further compromise credentials of users on any new system that was breached, and use these credentials to log into additional systems via RDP. Volexity observed the attacker obtaining credentials in a variety of ways.

Indicators of Compromise 16

SHA-256 071e662fc5bc0e54bcfd49493467062570d0307dc46f0fb51a68239d281427c6 SHA-256 1f94ea00be79b1e4e8e0b7bbf2212f2373da1e13f92b4ca2e9e0ffc5f93e452b SHA-256 28a859046a43fc8a7a7453075130dd649eb2d1dd0ebf0abae5d575438a25ece9 SHA-256 568561d224ef29e5051233ab12d568242e95d911b08ce7f2c9bf2604255611a9 SHA-256 5b165b01f9a1395cae79e0f85b7a1c10dc089340cf4e7be48813ac2f8686ed61 SHA-256 6240e39475f04bfe55ab7cba8746bd08901d7678b1c7742334d56f2bc8620a35 SHA-256 6aecf805f72c9f35dadda98177f11ca6a36e8e7e4348d72eaf1a80a899aa6566 SHA-256 6c48a510642a1ba516dbc5effe3671524566b146e04d99ab7f4832f66b3f95aa SHA-256 7803ae7ba5d4e7d38e73745b3f321c2ca714f3141699d984322fa92e0ff037a1 SHA-256 7acf21677322ef2aa835b5836d3e4b8a6b78ae10aa29d6640885e933f83a4b01 SHA-256 7be8e37bc61005599e4e6817eb2a3a4a5519fded76cb8bf11d7296787c754d40 SHA-256 929e3fdd3068057632b52ecdfd575ab389390c852b2f4e65dc32f20c87521600 SHA-256 db15923c814a4b00ddb79f9c72f8546a44302ac2c66c7cc89a144cb2c2bb40fa SHA-256 dbdc1beeb5c72d7b505a9a6c31263fc900ea3330a59f08e574fd172f3596c1b8 SHA-256 e4ea34a7c2b51982a6c42c6367119f34bec9aeb9a60937836540035583a5b3bc SHA-256 e6c216cec379f418179a3f6a79df54dcf6e6e269a3ce3479fd7e6d4a15ac066e

MITRE ATT&CK TTPs 9

T1003.001
LSASS Memory
Credential Access
 T1021.001
Remote Desktop Protocol
Lateral Movement
 T1055.001
Dynamic-link Library Injection
Defense Evasion
 T1071.001
Web Protocols
Command And Control
 T1078
Valid Accounts
Defense Evasion
 T1087.002
Domain Account
Discovery
 T1210
Exploitation of Remote Services
Lateral Movement
 T1558
Steal or Forge Kerberos Tickets
Credential Access
 T1566
Phishing
Initial Access

Source Articles

ToolShell Used to Compromise Telecoms Company in Middle East | SECURITY.COM
China-based threat actors exploited the ToolShell vulnerability (CVE-2025-53770) to compromise a telecoms company in the Middle East and multiple government agencies globally shortly after the patch was released in July 2025. The attackers deployed backdoors such as Zingdoor and ShadowPad, used DLL sideloading techniques, and leveraged tools like KrustyLoader and Sliver for post-exploitation. Activities indicate espionage motives, with credential theft and lateral movement observed across compromised networks.
security.com