Zloader

Zloader is a banking trojan that uses webinjects and VNC clients to still banking credentials. This Trojan is based on leaked code from 2011, but despite its age, Zloader’s popularity has been only increasing through early 2020, when it relied on COVID-19 themed attacks.

Type
Banking trojan
Origin
Unknown
First seen
1 May, 2016
Last seen
24 March, 2023
Also known as
Terdot
Zbot
DELoader
Global rank
43
Week rank
38
Month rank
35
IOCs
27336

What is Zloader?

Zloader, also known as Terdot and Zbot is a banking trojan. It uses web injects to steal passwords and auth codes of its victims. The trojan was first spotted in 2016 but it has seen a sudden surge of activity in the winter of 2019, appearing in over 100 email campaigns.

Zloader is constructed using the leaked code of the well-known ZeuS malware. ZeuS code was made public in 2011 and became a base for various malware samples. The fact that its variants are still being used goes to show how effective the original malware was.

General description of Zloader malware

Researchers first observed Zloader, also known at the time as DELoader, in 2016, when it started attacking Canadian banking organizations. The malware’s name highlights two facts: the letter “Z” shows that it is based on the Zeus Banking Trojan and the word “loader” highlights the malware’s unique design. Zloader makes its way into the machines of the victims using a loader that installs the final payload.

Zloader became quite popular and served as the main tool for several hackers, with TA511 also known as Hancitor being the most acknowledged. After working with Zloader for almost 2 years, Hancitor made a jump to Panda Banker. Others soon followed suit and Zloader became abandoned until 2019, when researchers detected a sudden surge of attacks.

Possibly, attackers pursued the opportunity presented with the confusion that surrounds the COVID crisis, launching a new wave of campaigns in December 2019, with the number of sightings only increasing by March 2020.

Although, previously Zloader focused on finding victims in Canada, starting with 2020 it expanded the geography of operations. The newer campaigns attack financial institutions all over the world, including the US, Australia, and Europe.

The malware uses a technique called web injects to trick victims into revealing their authentication codes. Zloader replaces the banking website of the victim with an identical copy fetched from a custom file so that unsuspecting users give away credentials thinking that they are logging into their bank. In reality, the sensitive information, including auth codes, is sent to the C&C controlled by the attackers.

Additionally, Zloader can fetch information from browsers, accessing cookies and passwords — a standard functionality for banking trojans.

Interestingly, the 2019 version of Zloader is less advanced than its predecessor, seen in 2016. Researchers think that it might be a revision of an older iteration of the malware that lacked some of the sophisticated malicious techniques.

Among the missing features are code obfuscation and string encryption — those are both techniques threat actors use to complicated static analysis of malware by making the code unreadable.

However, that does not mean that Zloader should be taken lightly. It's still top-level malware and it is highly dangerous.

For example, if attackers manage to get a hold of the credentials, they use a smart technique to log into the account without raising red flags with the bank. The threat actors log in with a virtual network computing client, so all the bank sees is another session from the normal victim’s machine. This way, not only can attackers withdraw money without raising any alarms but proving that the transaction fraudulence is also difficult.

On top of that, the malware still uses some anti-evasion techniques like Command & Control blacklisting and Windows API function hashing, making the analysis more complicated. Another worrying sign is the constant maintenance of Zloader. No less than 18 versions have been seen circulating in the wild from January to March 2020. The malware is being constantly improved.

Zloader malware analysis

We can watch the complete execution process of Zloader in a video recorded in the ANY.RUN interactive malware hunting service. Moreover, check out other malware analyses such as FlawedAmmyy.

Zloader process graph

Figure 1: Shows the process graph, automatically created in ANY.RUN

Zloader execution process

Zloader usually makes its way into systems as an executable or as a script file. When entering as a script file, it runs and compiles into the library by the wscript process. As an executable file, the malware makes an injection into the msiexec.exe process. After that Zloader tries to connect to Command & Control server over HTTPS to download additional modules.

Zloader distribution

Zloader is distributed to victims with malspam. Emails are crafted to look like government notices or financial support offered due to the COVID-19 epidemic. Attached to emails are malicious files, normally with Microsoft Office file extensions, but PDF files were also observed.

When opened, the files ask the victim to enable macros. If users compile, the macros download a loader that establishes a connection with the command and control server and installs the final payload — Zloader.

How to detect Zloader?

Since Zloader creates registry keys with pseudo-random names under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft and directories with pseudo-random names inside the %APPDATA% directory. This activity can help analysts detect this malware family. To take a look at the registry changes and created directories, just click on the msiexec process and then click on the “More info” button.

Conclusion

Despite being based on code that was leaked no less than 9 years ago, Zloader still poses a massive threat to cybersecurity.

From late 2019, this banking trojan targets financial institutions all around the world with COVID-19 themed attacks. It appeared in over 100 email campaigns after being inactive for nearly 2 years and now wreaks havoc on the banking world, using web injects and VNC sessions to steal credentials.

Thankfully, using ANY.RUN, researchers can analyze Zloader in a secure online environment and take advantage of our interactive sandbox. With our service, malware hunters can get results on the fly, while still being in control of all simulation variables, saving massive time on dynamic analysis. Studying threats like Zloader is a sure way to develop a sound cybersecurity strategy or prepare an action plan should your organization come under attack.

IOCs

IP addresses
45.135.229.212
45.141.103.206
200.54.84.23
192.64.119.214
35.186.238.101
23.202.231.167
44.227.65.245
35.205.61.67
151.101.2.159
142.93.110.250
58.158.177.102
208.100.26.245
103.198.0.111
23.202.231.167
216.218.185.162
192.161.187.200
144.202.70.158
208.91.197.46
167.114.219.245
162.255.119.188
Hashes
5e9f16bf590acac8f7b4b2ac45dc754129d9daf1fd2f87f076ff0898d95541b8
0fe26492c733ffede1ec0d3311fd97d2d78b5ad0812fa6a5b0b1f7b1128c92a7
630c8716d8637dfe39ca156251a7caecd0d3290108743681828b299d0ec00343
cf6d6eb9b16c83643e36f68910295199ad789a2af83e7bf8931777896ea224f1
f58946c62ee0e48d263759c223006166fd9565ab2eeac7fda9d3a349824c6c53
cc9dceb78d2d6110d3d5f5009cc6346cdc25554d165363894c47ff14a5a62b41
d8738f33ba1654a057acd0afa83cd1fad5dc0e2edee6e9c381dbf1f6bb0eb44a
ff285dbb139fe185f00e1165da71182dedb8ea7a9548581e6aad2492b6df511e
978a4093058aa2ebf05dc353897d90d950324389879b57741b64160825b5ec0e
0f516188be03be4ca97edb26016e3165a9e82e29db20fc4c34495081879c394c
35cc9403db2b12cb186c02f48fed8ffdeb31fc28de8a7d1192e1158f1039a47e
65ce4d7c14bc5b52e4cc493eeb1bf058b31eddbc7b48dc572121f6fac2f9c131
f8489a87a28e5d12334922821224101292e149cbfce99d2a8c027f537c08761c
0e6244f5a66eec71b8a07ffd8fbecc615e168148690fa7b06b77c4f0fe60359e
ae251738df5c64d1ff59945c089678436eb913f41736344ce2312dae2ef9aa74
c41dab0a665658bbf3683e656dd36c703e12d4b3e0c0c2b4438494477e1a0a64
aa15dcae6420ee9b09c8ce7538690a88439f2377e915f72dc0a8c43f2d649401
ed5a59696fe2fcd084fdc134d7e11dec847ce7899e957dcd43c62d8ff129bf74
75075889cfc6b20dae13534b3affb95d35731fc457b277bd3ed4288cdf74b2d3
9464215afdbcd9b54eeb372bf64f18f513849c6f5d40c0b8a7291aac309f6bc4
Domains
firebase-dot-devsite-v2-prod.appspot.com
elx01.knas.systems
0.pool.ntp.org
majul.com
accessmxxx.site
beneficioypfserviclub2022.club
citisec-online.co
serviclubpromopuntos.club
pelicangroups.com
get-beta.app
www.aheatea.com
www.expoverao.com
holdthismoney.site
webdeadshare24.me
inovatik.com
jumpstart.store
imgh.us
thenewtech.tv
www.simpleclick.us
blueeyeswebsite.com

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