Malware analysis beacon.exe Malicious activity | ANY.RUN

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File name:	beacon.exe
Full analysis:	https://app.any.run/tasks/9147aa87-3970-4d95-96cd-cf85c81a3928
Verdict:	Malicious activity
Threats:	A backdoor is a type of cybersecurity threat that allows attackers to secretly compromise a system and conduct malicious activities, such as stealing data and modifying files. Backdoors can be difficult to detect, as they often use legitimate system applications to evade defense mechanisms. Threat actors often utilize special malware, such as PlugX, to establish backdoors on target devices. Cobalt Strike is a legitimate penetration software toolkit developed by Forta. But its cracked versions are widely adopted by bad actors, who use it as a C2 system of choice for targeted attacks. Malware Trends Tracker >>>
Analysis date:	January 07, 2025, 18:09:20
OS:	Windows 10 Professional (build: 19045, 64 bit)
Tags:	cobaltstrike backdoor
Indicators:
MIME:	application/vnd.microsoft.portable-executable
File info:	PE32+ executable (GUI) x86-64 (stripped to external PDB), for MS Windows, 9 sections
MD5:	4EA831CC1EF7A3CAE1538DEDF5AB308E
SHA1:	CE96061D313835DF5BFB68467D63B6F52243A030
SHA256:	A3259895B2669995737C8B080E7F5A563EAE843705A07272C63D905294783EB9
SSDEEP:	6144:W/r9kmD2Lk/8rvKC05UpQWH8wzIHYByFHZ3xZBQHN+KX8EcA:mKrvKiQWFIPFHRxZBQHNKEcA

ANY.RUN is an interactive service which provides full access to the guest system. Information in this report could be distorted by user actions and is provided for user acknowledgement as it is. ANY.RUN does not guarantee maliciousness or safety of the content.

Launch configuration

Task duration:: 60 seconds
Heavy Evasion option:
Network geolocation:: off
Additional time used:: none
MITM proxy:: off
Privacy:: Public submission
Fakenet option:: on
Route via Tor:: off
Autoconfirmation of UAC:: on
Network:: on

Software preset

Internet Explorer 11.3636.19041.0
Adobe Acrobat (64-bit) (23.001.20093)
Adobe Flash Player 32 NPAPI (32.0.0.465)
Adobe Flash Player 32 PPAPI (32.0.0.465)
CCleaner (6.20)
FileZilla 3.65.0 (3.65.0)
Google Chrome (122.0.6261.70)
Google Update Helper (1.3.36.51)
Java 8 Update 271 (64-bit) (8.0.2710.9)
Java Auto Updater (2.8.271.9)
Microsoft Edge (122.0.2365.59)
Microsoft Edge Update (1.3.185.17)
Microsoft Office Professional 2019 - de-de (16.0.16026.20146)
Microsoft Office Professional 2019 - en-us (16.0.16026.20146)
Microsoft Office Professional 2019 - es-es (16.0.16026.20146)
Microsoft Office Professional 2019 - it-it (16.0.16026.20146)
Microsoft Office Professional 2019 - ja-jp (16.0.16026.20146)
Microsoft Office Professional 2019 - ko-kr (16.0.16026.20146)
Microsoft Office Professional 2019 - pt-br (16.0.16026.20146)
Microsoft Office Professional 2019 - tr-tr (16.0.16026.20146)
Microsoft Office Professionnel 2019 - fr-fr (16.0.16026.20146)
Microsoft Office профессиональный 2019 - ru-ru (16.0.16026.20146)
Microsoft OneNote - en-us (16.0.16026.20146)
Microsoft Update Health Tools (3.74.0.0)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2013 Redistributable (x64) - 12.0.30501 (12.0.30501.0)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2013 x64 Additional Runtime - 12.0.21005 (12.0.21005)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2013 x64 Minimum Runtime - 12.0.21005 (12.0.21005)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable (x64) - 14.36.32532 (14.36.32532.0)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable (x86) - 14.36.32532 (14.36.32532.0)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2022 X64 Additional Runtime - 14.36.32532 (14.36.32532)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2022 X64 Minimum Runtime - 14.36.32532 (14.36.32532)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2022 X86 Additional Runtime - 14.36.32532 (14.36.32532)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2022 X86 Minimum Runtime - 14.36.32532 (14.36.32532)
Mozilla Firefox (x64 en-US) (123.0)
Mozilla Maintenance Service (123.0)
Notepad++ (64-bit x64) (7.9.1)
Office 16 Click-to-Run Extensibility Component (16.0.15726.20202)
Office 16 Click-to-Run Licensing Component (16.0.16026.20146)
Office 16 Click-to-Run Localization Component (16.0.15726.20202)
Office 16 Click-to-Run Localization Component (16.0.15928.20198)
PowerShell 7-x64 (7.3.5.0)
Skype version 8.104 (8.104)
Update for Windows 10 for x64-based Systems (KB4023057) (2.59.0.0)
Update for Windows 10 for x64-based Systems (KB4023057) (2.63.0.0)
Update for Windows 10 for x64-based Systems (KB4480730) (2.55.0.0)
Update for Windows 10 for x64-based Systems (KB5001716) (8.93.0.0)
VLC media player (3.0.11)
WinRAR 5.91 (64-bit) (5.91.0)
Windows PC Health Check (3.6.2204.08001)

Hotfixes

Client LanguagePack Package
DotNetRollup
DotNetRollup 481
FodMetadata Package
Foundation Package
Hello Face Package
InternetExplorer Optional Package
KB5003791
KB5011048
KB5015684
KB5033052
LanguageFeatures Basic en us Package
LanguageFeatures Handwriting en us Package
LanguageFeatures OCR en us Package
LanguageFeatures Speech en us Package
LanguageFeatures TextToSpeech en us Package
MSPaint FoD Package
MediaPlayer Package
Microsoft OneCore ApplicationModel Sync Desktop FOD Package
Microsoft OneCore DirectX Database FOD Package
NetFx3 OnDemand Package
Notepad FoD Package
OpenSSH Client Package
PowerShell ISE FOD Package
Printing PMCPPC FoD Package
Printing WFS FoD Package
ProfessionalEdition
QuickAssist Package
RollupFix
ServicingStack
ServicingStack 3989
StepsRecorder Package
TabletPCMath Package
UserExperience Desktop Package
WordPad FoD Package

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MALICIOUS
- COBALTSTRIKE has been detected (YARA)
  - beacon.exe (PID: 2232)
- COBALTSTRIKE has been detected (SURICATA)
  - beacon.exe (PID: 2232)
SUSPICIOUS
- Reads security settings of Internet Explorer
  - beacon.exe (PID: 2232)
INFO
- Checks supported languages
  - beacon.exe (PID: 2232)
- Reads the computer name
  - beacon.exe (PID: 2232)
- Reads the machine GUID from the registry
  - beacon.exe (PID: 2232)
- Checks proxy server information
  - beacon.exe (PID: 2232)

Find more information about signature artifacts and mapping to MITRE ATT&CK™ MATRIX at the full report

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CobalStrike

(PID) Process(2232) beacon.exe

C2 (1)192.168.1.175/ga.js

BeaconTypeHTTP

Port80

SleepTime60000

MaxGetSize1048576

Jitter0

PublicKey-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY----- MIGfMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBAQUAA4GNADCBiQKBgQCFLEfmO7OqfUUAgxt0dbsQM/Ty e2ayO3rOSRnxl1eNPcYz01DzVrIaLpnxv+loUdIfiSX5MODydXczVNqO6ILmYU/D qZyIFaRyv6vkPNTcSCeVSVGoN/eyc5QfcYqKMbMUqH2b3sXfr+uggt/wSrfhO5nu aQhGxXnjaRpKB7G2gQIDAQAB -----END PUBLIC KEY-----

DNS_strategyround-robin

DNS_strategy_rotate_seconds-1

DNS_strategy_fail_x-1

DNS_strategy_fail_seconds-1

SpawnTo00000000000000000000000000000000

Spawnto_x86%windir%\syswow64\rundll32.exe

Spawnto_x64%windir%\sysnative\rundll32.exe

CryptoScheme0

HttpGet_VerbGET

HttpPost_VerbPOST

HttpPostChunk0

Watermark987654321

bStageCleanupFalse

bCFGCautionFalse

UserAgentMozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/4.0; SLCC2; .NET CLR 2.0.50727)

HttpPostUri/submit.php

HttpGet_Metadata

SessionId (2)base64

header: Cookie

HttpPost_Metadata

ConstHeaders (1)Content-Type: application/octet-stream

SessionId (1)parameter: id

Output (1)print

bUsesCookies0001

Proxy_BehaviorUse IE settings

tcpFrameHeader0004000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

smbFrameHeader0004000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

KillDate0-0-0

bProcInject_StartRWXTrue

bProcInject_UseRWXTrue

bProcInject_MinAllocSize0

ProcInject_PrependAppend_x86000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000...

ProcInject_PrependAppend_x64000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000...

ProcInject_Stub00000000000000000000000000000000

ProcInject_AllocationMethodVirtualAllocEx

No Malware configuration.

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TRiD

.exe	\|	Win64 Executable (generic) (87.2)
.exe	\|	Generic Win/DOS Executable (6.3)
.exe	\|	DOS Executable Generic (6.3)

EXIF

EXE

MachineType:	AMD AMD64
TimeStamp:	0000:00:00 00:00:00
ImageFileCharacteristics:	No relocs, Executable, No line numbers, No symbols, Large address aware, No debug
PEType:	PE32+
LinkerVersion:	2.34
CodeSize:	8704
InitializedDataSize:	294912
UninitializedDataSize:	2560
EntryPoint:	0x14c0
OSVersion:	4
ImageVersion:	-
SubsystemVersion:	5.2
Subsystem:	Windows GUI

No data.

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All screenshots are available in the full report

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Total processes

124

Monitored processes

1

Malicious processes

1

Suspicious processes

0

Behavior graph

Click at the process to see the details

Process information

PID

CMD

Path

Indicators

Parent process

2232

"C:\Users\admin\AppData\Local\Temp\beacon.exe"

C:\Users\admin\AppData\Local\Temp\beacon.exe

explorer.exe

User:

admin

Integrity Level:

MEDIUM

Modules

Images
c:\users\admin\appdata\local\temp\beacon.exe
c:\windows\system32\ntdll.dll
c:\windows\system32\kernel32.dll
c:\windows\system32\kernelbase.dll
c:\windows\system32\apphelp.dll
c:\windows\system32\msvcrt.dll
c:\windows\system32\advapi32.dll
c:\windows\system32\sechost.dll
c:\windows\system32\rpcrt4.dll
c:\windows\system32\bcrypt.dll

CobalStrike

(PID) Process(2232) beacon.exe

C2 (1)192.168.1.175/ga.js

BeaconTypeHTTP

Port80

SleepTime60000

MaxGetSize1048576

Jitter0

PublicKey-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY----- MIGfMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBAQUAA4GNADCBiQKBgQCFLEfmO7OqfUUAgxt0dbsQM/Ty e2ayO3rOSRnxl1eNPcYz01DzVrIaLpnxv+loUdIfiSX5MODydXczVNqO6ILmYU/D qZyIFaRyv6vkPNTcSCeVSVGoN/eyc5QfcYqKMbMUqH2b3sXfr+uggt/wSrfhO5nu aQhGxXnjaRpKB7G2gQIDAQAB -----END PUBLIC KEY-----

DNS_strategyround-robin

DNS_strategy_rotate_seconds-1

DNS_strategy_fail_x-1

DNS_strategy_fail_seconds-1

SpawnTo00000000000000000000000000000000

Spawnto_x86%windir%\syswow64\rundll32.exe

Spawnto_x64%windir%\sysnative\rundll32.exe

CryptoScheme0

HttpGet_VerbGET

HttpPost_VerbPOST

HttpPostChunk0

Watermark987654321

bStageCleanupFalse

bCFGCautionFalse

UserAgentMozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/4.0; SLCC2; .NET CLR 2.0.50727)

HttpPostUri/submit.php

HttpGet_Metadata

SessionId (2)base64

header: Cookie

HttpPost_Metadata

ConstHeaders (1)Content-Type: application/octet-stream

SessionId (1)parameter: id

Output (1)print

bUsesCookies0001

Proxy_BehaviorUse IE settings

tcpFrameHeader0004000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

smbFrameHeader0004000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

KillDate0-0-0

bProcInject_StartRWXTrue

bProcInject_UseRWXTrue

bProcInject_MinAllocSize0

ProcInject_PrependAppend_x86000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000...

ProcInject_PrependAppend_x64000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000...

ProcInject_Stub00000000000000000000000000000000

ProcInject_AllocationMethodVirtualAllocEx

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Total events

370

Read events

367

Write events

3

Delete events

0

Modification events


(PID) Process:	(2232) beacon.exe	Key:	HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\Cache\Content
Operation:	write	Name:	CachePrefix
Value:
(PID) Process:	(2232) beacon.exe	Key:	HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\Cache\Cookies
Operation:	write	Name:	CachePrefix
Value: Cookie:
(PID) Process:	(2232) beacon.exe	Key:	HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\Cache\History
Operation:	write	Name:	CachePrefix
Value: Visited:

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Executable files

0

Suspicious files

0

Text files

0

Unknown types

0

Dropped files

No data

Download PCAP, analyze network streams, HTTP content and a lot more at the full report

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HTTP(S) requests

0

TCP/UDP connections

47

DNS requests

15

Threats

4

HTTP requests

No HTTP requests

Download PCAP, analyze network streams, HTTP content and a lot more at the full report

Connections

PID	Process	IP	Domain	ASN	CN	Reputation
—	—	40.127.240.158:443	—	MICROSOFT-CORP-MSN-AS-BLOCK	IE	unknown
4	System	192.168.100.255:137	—	—	—	whitelisted
4	System	192.168.100.255:138	—	—	—	whitelisted
—	—	51.104.136.2:443	settings-win.data.microsoft.com	MICROSOFT-CORP-MSN-AS-BLOCK	IE	whitelisted
4712	MoUsoCoreWorker.exe	51.104.136.2:443	settings-win.data.microsoft.com	MICROSOFT-CORP-MSN-AS-BLOCK	IE	whitelisted
—	—	192.168.100.214:49684	—	—	—	unknown
2164	svchost.exe	51.104.136.2:443	settings-win.data.microsoft.com	MICROSOFT-CORP-MSN-AS-BLOCK	IE	whitelisted
3976	svchost.exe	51.104.136.2:443	settings-win.data.microsoft.com	MICROSOFT-CORP-MSN-AS-BLOCK	IE	whitelisted
5064	SearchApp.exe	2.23.227.215:443	www.bing.com	Ooredoo Q.S.C.	QA	whitelisted
1176	svchost.exe	20.190.159.0:443	login.live.com	MICROSOFT-CORP-MSN-AS-BLOCK	IE	whitelisted

DNS requests

Domain	IP	Reputation
google.com	216.58.206.78	whitelisted
settings-win.data.microsoft.com	51.104.136.2	whitelisted
www.bing.com	2.23.227.215 2.23.227.208	whitelisted
login.live.com	20.190.159.0 20.190.159.64 20.190.159.4 40.126.31.69 20.190.159.68 20.190.159.73 40.126.31.67 20.190.159.2	whitelisted
go.microsoft.com	184.28.89.167	whitelisted
slscr.update.microsoft.com	4.245.163.56	whitelisted
fe3cr.delivery.mp.microsoft.com	40.69.42.241 2a01:111:f100:9001::1761:914d	whitelisted
241.42.69.40.in-addr.arpa	—	unknown
d.4.1.9.1.6.7.1.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.1.0.0.9.0.0.1.f.1.1.1.0.1.0.a.2.ip6.arpa	—	unknown
arc.msn.com	20.223.36.55	whitelisted

Threats

PID	Process	Class	Message
2232	beacon.exe	Targeted Malicious Activity was Detected	ET MALWARE Cobalt Strike Beacon Observed
2232	beacon.exe	A Network Trojan was detected	BACKDOOR [ANY.RUN] Possible Cobalt Strike Beacon
2232	beacon.exe	Targeted Malicious Activity was Detected	ET MALWARE Cobalt Strike Beacon Observed
2232	beacon.exe	A Network Trojan was detected	BACKDOOR [ANY.RUN] Possible Cobalt Strike Beacon

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No debug info

General Info

beacon.exe

4EA831CC1EF7A3CAE1538DEDF5AB308E

CE96061D313835DF5BFB68467D63B6F52243A030

A3259895B2669995737C8B080E7F5A563EAE843705A07272C63D905294783EB9

6144:W/r9kmD2Lk/8rvKC05UpQWH8wzIHYByFHZ3xZBQHN+KX8EcA:mKrvKiQWFIPFHRxZBQHNKEcA

Software environment set and analysis options

Launch configuration

Software preset

Hotfixes

Behavior activities

MALICIOUS

COBALTSTRIKE has been detected (YARA)

COBALTSTRIKE has been detected (SURICATA)

SUSPICIOUS

Reads security settings of Internet Explorer

INFO

Checks supported languages

Reads the computer name

Reads the machine GUID from the registry

Checks proxy server information

Malware configuration

CobalStrike

Static information

TRiD

EXIF

EXE

Video and screenshots

Processes

Behavior graph

Specs description

Process information

Information

Modules

Malware configuration

CobalStrike

Registry activity

Modification events

Files activity

Dropped files

Network activity

HTTP requests

Connections

DNS requests

Threats

Debug output strings