| File name: | cerber.exe |
| Full analysis: | https://app.any.run/tasks/ab8f7f32-0ebf-4a81-8f54-f81b2fa8db93 |
| Verdict: | Malicious activity |
| Threats: | Cerber is a Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) that appeared in 2016, spread quickly and has been evolving since. It became well-known for its file encryption, offline capabilities, and sophisticated evasion techniques. It primarily targets enterprises, financial institutions, and government entities, encrypting their data and demanding ransom payments in Bitcoin. It also targets everyday users encrypting personal files (photos, documents) with the risk of their permanent loss. |
| Analysis date: | October 23, 2019, 11:22:31 |
| OS: | Windows 7 Professional Service Pack 1 (build: 7601, 32 bit) |
| Tags: | |
| Indicators: | |
| MIME: | application/x-dosexec |
| File info: | PE32 executable (GUI) Intel 80386, for MS Windows |
| MD5: | 8B6BC16FD137C09A08B02BBE1BB7D670 |
| SHA1: | C69A0F6C6F809C01DB92CA658FCF1B643391A2B7 |
| SHA256: | E67834D1E8B38EC5864CFA101B140AEABA8F1900A6E269E6A94C90FCBFE56678 |
| SSDEEP: | 6144:yYghlI5/u8f1mr+4RJ99MpDa52RX5wRDhOOU0qsR:yYKlYmDXEpDHRXP01 |
MALICIOUS
CERBER was detected
- cerber.exe (PID: 2580)
Connects to CnC server
- cerber.exe (PID: 2580)
Actions looks like stealing of personal data
- cerber.exe (PID: 2580)
Dropped file may contain instructions of ransomware
- cerber.exe (PID: 2580)
Runs app for hidden code execution
- cerber.exe (PID: 2580)
Runs PING.EXE for delay simulation
- cmd.exe (PID: 2660)
Changes settings of System certificates
- mshta.exe (PID: 3820)
SUSPICIOUS
Creates files in the user directory
- cerber.exe (PID: 2580)
- mshta.exe (PID: 3820)
Creates files like Ransomware instruction
- cerber.exe (PID: 2580)
Starts MSHTA.EXE for opening HTA or HTMLS files
- cerber.exe (PID: 2580)
Starts CMD.EXE for commands execution
- cerber.exe (PID: 2580)
Uses TASKKILL.EXE to kill process
- cmd.exe (PID: 2660)
Adds / modifies Windows certificates
- mshta.exe (PID: 3820)
INFO
Dropped object may contain TOR URL's
- cerber.exe (PID: 2580)
Dropped object may contain Bitcoin addresses
- cerber.exe (PID: 2580)
Dropped object may contain URL to Tor Browser
- cerber.exe (PID: 2580)
Reads internet explorer settings
- mshta.exe (PID: 3820)
Find more information about signature artifacts and mapping to MITRE ATT&CK™ MATRIX at the full report
TRiD
| .exe | | | Win32 Executable MS Visual C++ (generic) (42.2) |
|---|---|---|
| .exe | | | Win64 Executable (generic) (37.3) |
| .dll | | | Win32 Dynamic Link Library (generic) (8.8) |
| .exe | | | Win32 Executable (generic) (6) |
| .exe | | | Generic Win/DOS Executable (2.7) |
EXIF
EXE
| MachineType: | Intel 386 or later, and compatibles |
|---|---|
| TimeStamp: | 2017:05:24 22:48:34+02:00 |
| PEType: | PE32 |
| LinkerVersion: | 9 |
| CodeSize: | 323072 |
| InitializedDataSize: | 294912 |
| UninitializedDataSize: | - |
| EntryPoint: | 0x4f4e0 |
| OSVersion: | 5 |
| ImageVersion: | - |
| SubsystemVersion: | 5 |
| Subsystem: | Windows GUI |
| FileVersionNumber: | 7.9.15.8 |
| ProductVersionNumber: | 7.9.15.8 |
| FileFlagsMask: | 0x003f |
| FileFlags: | (none) |
| FileOS: | Win32 |
| ObjectFileType: | Executable application |
| FileSubtype: | - |
| LanguageCode: | Neutral |
| CharacterSet: | Unicode |
| CompanyName: | Elaborate Bytes AG |
Summary
| Architecture: | IMAGE_FILE_MACHINE_I386 |
|---|---|
| Subsystem: | IMAGE_SUBSYSTEM_WINDOWS_GUI |
| Compilation Date: | 24-May-2017 20:48:34 |
| CompanyName: | Elaborate Bytes AG |
DOS Header
| Magic number: | MZ |
|---|---|
| Bytes on last page of file: | 0x0090 |
| Pages in file: | 0x0003 |
| Relocations: | 0x0000 |
| Size of header: | 0x0004 |
| Min extra paragraphs: | 0x0000 |
| Max extra paragraphs: | 0xFFFF |
| Initial SS value: | 0x0000 |
| Initial SP value: | 0x00B8 |
| Checksum: | 0x0000 |
| Initial IP value: | 0x0000 |
| Initial CS value: | 0x0000 |
| Overlay number: | 0x0000 |
| OEM identifier: | 0x0000 |
| OEM information: | 0x0000 |
| Address of NE header: | 0x000000E0 |
PE Headers
| Signature: | PE |
|---|---|
| Machine: | IMAGE_FILE_MACHINE_I386 |
| Number of sections: | 4 |
| Time date stamp: | 24-May-2017 20:48:34 |
| Pointer to Symbol Table: | 0x00000000 |
| Number of symbols: | 0 |
| Size of Optional Header: | 0x00E0 |
| Characteristics: |
|
Sections
Name | Virtual Address | Virtual Size | Raw Size | Charateristics | Entropy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.text | 0x00001000 | 0x0004ED6E | 0x0004EE00 | IMAGE_SCN_CNT_CODE, IMAGE_SCN_MEM_EXECUTE, IMAGE_SCN_MEM_READ | 6.09329 |
.rdata | 0x00050000 | 0x0003A87A | 0x0003AA00 | IMAGE_SCN_CNT_INITIALIZED_DATA, IMAGE_SCN_MEM_READ | 1.34374 |
.data | 0x0008B000 | 0x000011C0 | 0x00001200 | IMAGE_SCN_CNT_INITIALIZED_DATA, IMAGE_SCN_MEM_READ, IMAGE_SCN_MEM_WRITE | 4.97646 |
.rsrc | 0x0008D000 | 0x0000C3A8 | 0x0000C400 | IMAGE_SCN_CNT_INITIALIZED_DATA, IMAGE_SCN_MEM_READ | 6.55343 |
Resources
Title | Entropy | Size | Codepage | Language | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 3.19472 | 296 | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN | RT_VERSION |
2 | 6.4047 | 11432 | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN | RT_ICON |
3 | 6.47389 | 5672 | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN | RT_ICON |
4 | 6.44834 | 3752 | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN | RT_ICON |
5 | 5.95477 | 2216 | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN | RT_ICON |
6 | 4.59201 | 1736 | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN | RT_ICON |
7 | 4.917 | 1544 | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN | RT_ICON |
8 | 2.71384 | 1384 | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN | RT_ICON |
101 | 2.98296 | 118 | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN | RT_GROUP_ICON |
Imports
ADVAPI32.dll |
COMCTL32.dll |
GDI32.dll |
KERNEL32.dll |
SHELL32.dll |
SHLWAPI.dll |
USER32.dll |
msvcrt.dll |
Total processes
42
Monitored processes
6
Malicious processes
1
Suspicious processes
2
Behavior graph
Click at the process to see the details
Process information
PID | CMD | Path | Indicators | Parent process | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1412 | taskkill /f /im "cerber.exe" | C:\Windows\system32\taskkill.exe | — | cmd.exe | |||||||||||
User: admin Company: Microsoft Corporation Integrity Level: MEDIUM Description: Terminates Processes Exit code: 128 Version: 6.1.7600.16385 (win7_rtm.090713-1255) Modules
| |||||||||||||||
| 2388 | ping -n 1 127.0.0.1 | C:\Windows\system32\PING.EXE | — | cmd.exe | |||||||||||
User: admin Company: Microsoft Corporation Integrity Level: MEDIUM Description: TCP/IP Ping Command Exit code: 0 Version: 6.1.7600.16385 (win7_rtm.090713-1255) Modules
| |||||||||||||||
| 2580 | "C:\Users\admin\AppData\Local\Temp\cerber.exe" | C:\Users\admin\AppData\Local\Temp\cerber.exe | explorer.exe | ||||||||||||
User: admin Company: Elaborate Bytes AG Integrity Level: MEDIUM Exit code: 0 Modules
| |||||||||||||||
| 2660 | "C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe" | C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe | — | cerber.exe | |||||||||||
User: admin Company: Microsoft Corporation Integrity Level: MEDIUM Description: Windows Command Processor Exit code: 0 Version: 6.1.7601.17514 (win7sp1_rtm.101119-1850) Modules
| |||||||||||||||
| 3820 | "C:\Windows\System32\mshta.exe" "C:\Users\admin\Desktop\_R_E_A_D___T_H_I_S___H49RRB_.hta" | C:\Windows\System32\mshta.exe | cerber.exe | ||||||||||||
User: admin Company: Microsoft Corporation Integrity Level: MEDIUM Description: Microsoft (R) HTML Application host Exit code: 0 Version: 8.00.7600.16385 (win7_rtm.090713-1255) Modules
| |||||||||||||||
| 3960 | "C:\Windows\system32\NOTEPAD.EXE" C:\Users\admin\Desktop\_R_E_A_D___T_H_I_S___USXK_.txt | C:\Windows\system32\NOTEPAD.EXE | — | cerber.exe | |||||||||||
User: admin Company: Microsoft Corporation Integrity Level: MEDIUM Description: Notepad Exit code: 0 Version: 6.1.7600.16385 (win7_rtm.090713-1255) Modules
| |||||||||||||||
Total events
213
Read events
181
Write events
31
Delete events
1
Modification events
| (PID) Process: | (2580) cerber.exe | Key: | HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ZoneMap |
| Operation: | write | Name: | UNCAsIntranet |
Value: 0 | |||
| (PID) Process: | (2580) cerber.exe | Key: | HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ZoneMap |
| Operation: | write | Name: | AutoDetect |
Value: 1 | |||
| (PID) Process: | (3820) mshta.exe | Key: | HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ZoneMap |
| Operation: | write | Name: | UNCAsIntranet |
Value: 0 | |||
| (PID) Process: | (3820) mshta.exe | Key: | HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ZoneMap |
| Operation: | write | Name: | AutoDetect |
Value: 1 | |||
| (PID) Process: | (3820) mshta.exe | Key: | HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings |
| Operation: | write | Name: | ProxyEnable |
Value: 0 | |||
| (PID) Process: | (3820) mshta.exe | Key: | HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Connections |
| Operation: | write | Name: | SavedLegacySettings |
Value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| |||
| (PID) Process: | (3820) mshta.exe | Key: | HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Local Settings\MuiCache\12B\52C64B7E |
| Operation: | write | Name: | LanguageList |
Value: en-US | |||
| (PID) Process: | (3820) mshta.exe | Key: | HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Local Settings\MuiCache\12B\52C64B7E |
| Operation: | write | Name: | @%SystemRoot%\system32\p2pcollab.dll,-8042 |
Value: Peer to Peer Trust | |||
| (PID) Process: | (3820) mshta.exe | Key: | HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Local Settings\MuiCache\12B\52C64B7E |
| Operation: | write | Name: | @%SystemRoot%\system32\qagentrt.dll,-10 |
Value: System Health Authentication | |||
| (PID) Process: | (3820) mshta.exe | Key: | HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Local Settings\MuiCache\12B\52C64B7E |
| Operation: | write | Name: | @%SystemRoot%\system32\dnsapi.dll,-103 |
Value: Domain Name System (DNS) Server Trust | |||
Executable files
0
Suspicious files
4
Text files
34
Unknown types
8
Dropped files
PID | Process | Filename | Type | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2580 | cerber.exe | C:\users\admin\appdata\roaming\microsoft\onenote\14.0\preferences.dat | — | |
MD5:— | SHA256:— | |||
| 2580 | cerber.exe | C:\users\admin\appdata\roaming\microsoft\outlook\outlook.srs | — | |
MD5:— | SHA256:— | |||
| 2580 | cerber.exe | C:\users\admin\appdata\roaming\microsoft\outlook\test.srs | — | |
MD5:— | SHA256:— | |||
| 2580 | cerber.exe | C:\users\admin\documents\bringmiles.rtf | — | |
MD5:— | SHA256:— | |||
| 2580 | cerber.exe | C:\users\admin\documents\creativetrademarks.rtf | — | |
MD5:— | SHA256:— | |||
| 2580 | cerber.exe | C:\users\admin\appdata\roaming\microsoft\outlook\test.xml | — | |
MD5:— | SHA256:— | |||
| 2580 | cerber.exe | C:\users\admin\documents\nokiabeyond.rtf | — | |
MD5:— | SHA256:— | |||
| 2580 | cerber.exe | C:\users\admin\documents\nothingwrote.rtf | — | |
MD5:— | SHA256:— | |||
| 2580 | cerber.exe | C:\users\admin\documents\enoughmichigan.rtf | — | |
MD5:— | SHA256:— | |||
| 2580 | cerber.exe | C:\users\admin\documents\onenote notebooks\personal\unfiled notes.one | — | |
MD5:— | SHA256:— | |||
Download PCAP, analyze network streams, HTTP content and a lot more at the full report
HTTP(S) requests
1
TCP/UDP connections
2 175
DNS requests
4
Threats
4
HTTP requests
PID | Process | Method | HTTP Code | IP | URL | CN | Type | Size | Reputation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3820 | mshta.exe | GET | 403 | 54.164.0.55:80 | http://api.blockcypher.com/v1/btc/main/addrs/17gd1msp5FnMcEMF1MitTNSsYs7w7AQyCt?_=1571829780216 | US | text | 72 b | malicious |
Download PCAP, analyze network streams, HTTP content and a lot more at the full report
Connections
PID | Process | IP | Domain | ASN | CN | Reputation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
— | — | 178.33.158.10:6893 | — | OVH SAS | ES | unknown |
— | — | 178.33.158.11:6893 | — | OVH SAS | ES | malicious |
— | — | 178.33.158.12:6893 | — | OVH SAS | ES | malicious |
— | — | 178.33.158.15:6893 | — | OVH SAS | ES | unknown |
2580 | cerber.exe | 178.33.158.0:6893 | — | OVH SAS | ES | malicious |
— | — | 178.33.158.1:6893 | — | OVH SAS | ES | malicious |
— | — | 178.33.158.2:6893 | — | OVH SAS | ES | malicious |
— | — | 178.33.158.3:6893 | — | OVH SAS | ES | malicious |
— | — | 178.33.158.4:6893 | — | OVH SAS | ES | unknown |
— | — | 178.33.158.5:6893 | — | OVH SAS | ES | malicious |
DNS requests
Domain | IP | Reputation |
|---|---|---|
api.blockcypher.com |
| malicious |
btc.blockr.io |
| unknown |
bitaps.com |
| unknown |
chain.so |
| whitelisted |
Threats
PID | Process | Class | Message |
|---|---|---|---|
2580 | cerber.exe | A Network Trojan was detected | ET TROJAN Ransomware/Cerber Checkin M3 (9) |
3820 | mshta.exe | A Network Trojan was detected | MALWARE [PTsecurity] Possible Cerber bitcoin activity |
3820 | mshta.exe | Misc activity | SUSPICIOUS [PTsecurity] Cmd.Powershell.Download HTTP UserAgent (Win7) |
1 ETPRO signatures available at the full report