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Exbyte

Exbyte is an exfiltration tool written in Go that is uniquely associated with BlackByte operations. Observed since 2022, Exbyte transfers collected files to online file sharing and hosting services.[1]

ID: S1179
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Type: MALWARE
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Platforms: Windows
Version: 1.0
Created: 17 December 2024
Last Modified: 09 March 2025
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Enterprise Layer
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Techniques Used

Domain ID Name Use
Enterprise T1140 Deobfuscate/Decode Files or Information

Exbyte decodes and decrypts data stored in the configuration file with a key provided on the command line during execution.[2]
Enterprise T1480 Execution Guardrails

Exbyte checks for the presence of a configuration file before completing execution.[2]
Enterprise T1567 Exfiltration Over Web Service

Exbyte exfiltrates collected data to online file hosting sites such as Mega.co.nz.[1][2]
Enterprise T1083 File and Directory Discovery

Exbyte enumerates all document files on an infected machine, then creates a summary of these items including filename and directory location prior to exfiltration to cloud hosting services.[1]
Enterprise T1070 .004 Indicator Removal: File Deletion

Exbyte will self-delete if a hard-coded configuration file is not found.[2]
Enterprise T1106 Native API

Exbyte calls ShellExecuteW with the IpOperation parameter RunAs to launch explorer.exe with elevated privileges.[2]
Enterprise T1069 .001 Permission Groups Discovery: Local Groups

Exbyte checks whether the process is running with privileged local access during execution.[2]
Enterprise T1518 .001 Software Discovery: Security Software Discovery

Exbyte checks for the presence of various security software products during execution.[1]
Enterprise T1497 .001 Virtualization/Sandbox Evasion: System Checks

Exbyte performs various checks to determine if it is running in a sandboxed environment to prevent analysis.[1]

Groups That Use This Software

ID Name References
G1043 BlackByte

BlackByte used Exbyte for automated file collection and exfiltration.[1][2]

References

  1. Symantec Threat Hunter Team. (2022, October 21). Exbyte: BlackByte Ransomware Attackers Deploy New Exfiltration Tool. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
  1. Microsoft Incident Response. (2023, July 6). The five-day job: A BlackByte ransomware intrusion case study. Retrieved December 16, 2024.