HAWKBALL

HAWKBALL is a backdoor that was observed in targeting of the government sector in Central Asia.[1]

ID: S0391
Type: MALWARE
Platforms: Windows
Version: 1.1
Created: 20 June 2019
Last Modified: 30 March 2020

Techniques Used

Domain ID Name Use
Enterprise T1071 .001 Application Layer Protocol: Web Protocols

HAWKBALL has used HTTP to communicate with a single hard-coded C2 server.[1]

Enterprise T1560 .003 Archive Collected Data: Archive via Custom Method

HAWKBALL has encrypted data with XOR before sending it over the C2 channel.[1]

Enterprise T1059 .003 Command and Scripting Interpreter: Windows Command Shell

HAWKBALL has created a cmd.exe reverse shell, executed commands, and uploaded output via the command line.[1]

Enterprise T1041 Exfiltration Over C2 Channel

HAWKBALL has sent system information and files over the C2 channel.[1]

Enterprise T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution

HAWKBALL has exploited Microsoft Office vulnerabilities CVE-2017-11882 and CVE-2018-0802 to deliver the payload.[1]

Enterprise T1070 .004 Indicator Removal: File Deletion

HAWKBALL has the ability to delete files.[1]

Enterprise T1559 .002 Inter-Process Communication: Dynamic Data Exchange

HAWKBALL has used an OLE object that uses Equation Editor to drop the embedded shellcode.[1]

Enterprise T1106 Native API

HAWKBALL has leveraged several Windows API calls to create processes, gather disk information, and detect debugger activity.[1]

Enterprise T1027 Obfuscated Files or Information

HAWKBALL has encrypted the payload with an XOR-based algorithm.[1]

Enterprise T1082 System Information Discovery

HAWKBALL can collect the OS version, architecture information, and computer name.[1]

Enterprise T1033 System Owner/User Discovery

HAWKBALL can collect the user name of the system.[1]

References