Hancitor/Pony malspam

Published: 2017-02-10. Last Updated: 2017-02-18 01:44:14 UTC
by Brad Duncan (Version: 1)
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Introduction

It's been one month since my last diary on malcious spam (malspam) with links to malicious Word documents containing Hancitor [1].  Back then, we saw Hancitor use Pony to download Vawtrak malware.  Since then, I've seen indicators for this type of malspam on a near-daily basis.

Recently, these emails have stopped leading to Vawtrak.  Instead, I'm now seeing malware that triggers alerts for Terdot.A [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7].  Tools from my employer identify this malware as DELoader, and a Google search indicates Terdot.A and DELoader are the same thing.

For now, I'm keeping my flow chart open on the final malware.  With that in mind, let's take a look at some infection traffic generated on Thursday 2017-02-09 based on one of these emails.


Shown above: Flow chart for the infection process.

The email

These emails generally have different subject lines each day, and they have spoofed sending addresses.  The example I saw on 2017-02-09 was a fake message about a money transfer.  It's similar to a wave of malspam seen the day before.

  • Date:  Thursday, 2017-02-09 16:05 UTC
  • Received:  from polsinelli.com   [spoofed host name]
  • Message-ID:  <879081B3.F4FA76CC@polsinelli.com>
  • From:  "Polsinelli LLP" <mlemon@polsinelli.com>   [spoofed sender]
  • Subject:  RE:RE: wife tf

The link from the email contains a base64-encoded string representing the recipient's email address.  Based on that string, the downloaded file will have the recipient's name from the email address.  I used a base64 string for a made-up email address and received a file named bofa_statement_marci.jones.doc.


Shown above:  Fake money transfer email with link to a Word document.

The link from the malspam downloaded a Microsoft Word document.  The document contains a malicious VB macro described as Hancitor, Chanitor or Tordal.  I generally call it Hancitor.  If you enable macros, the document retrieves a Pony downloader DLL.  At first, I thought Pony was retrieving the DELoader malware; however, another researcher told me it's Hancitor that grabs DELoader.  I haven't had time to investigate; however, I probably need to update my flowchart.


Shown above:  Retrieving the Hancitor Word document from the email link.


Shown above:  Enabling macros will activate Hancitor.

The traffic

Pattern-wise, URLs from this infection are similar to previous cases of Hancitor/Pony malspam reported I've seen during the past week or two.


Shown above:  Infection traffic after activating macros in the Word document.

Alerts show post-infection traffic for Terdot.A/Zloader, which is consistent with recent infections I've seen for malware identified as DELoader.


Shown above:  Alerts on the traffic using Security Onion with Suricata and the ETPRO ruleset.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

Email link noted on Thursday 2017-02-09 to download the Hancitor Word document:

  • 187.17.111.102 port 80 - www.jasa.adv.br - GET /api/get.php?id=[base64 string]

Traffic after enabling macros on the Word document:

  • api.ipify.org - GET /   [IP address check]
  • 91.226.93.57 port 80 - hadrylego.com - POST /ls5/forum.php   [Hancitor callback]
  • 91.226.93.57 port 80 - hadrylego.com - POST /klu/forum.php   [Hancitor callback]
  • 98.138.19.143 port 80 - caleduc.com - GET /blog/wp-content/themes/sketch/1   [call for Pony DLL]
  • 104.196.224.112 port 80 - main-meats.com - GET /1   [call for Pony DLL]
  • 199.204.248.138 port 80 - patsypie.com - GET /wp-content/themes/sketch/1   [call for Pony DLL]
  • 98.138.19.143 port 80 - caleduc.com - GET /blog/wp-content/themes/sketch/a1   [call for DELoader]
  • 104.196.224.112 port 80 - main-meats.com - GET /a1   [call for DELoader]
  • 199.204.248.138 port 80 - patsypie.com - GET /wp-content/themes/sketch/a1   [call for DELoader]
  • 91.221.37.160 port 80 - ughtoftritret.ru - POST /bdk/gate.php   [DELoader callback]

Associated file hashes:

Final words

As this campaign progresses, IOCs will continue to change, and I'm sure traffic patterns will continue to evolve.

Pcap and malware for this diary can be found here.

---
Brad Duncan
brad [at] malware-traffic-analysis.net

References:

[1] https://isc.sans.edu/forums/diary/HancitorPonyVawtrak+malspam/21919
[2] http://malware-traffic-analysis.net/2017/01/25/index2.html
[3] http://malware-traffic-analysis.net/2017/01/30/index2.html
[4] http://malware-traffic-analysis.net/2017/01/31/index3.html
[5] http://malware-traffic-analysis.net/2017/02/01/index.html
[6] http://malware-traffic-analysis.net/2017/02/06/index2.html
[7] http://malware-traffic-analysis.net/2017/02/07/index.html

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