RoyalCLI and RoyalDNS Backdoors

The Chinese Advanced Persistent Threat group APT15 has been found responsible for compromising a UK government contractor using two new backdoors, RoyalCLI and RoyalDNS, during 2016/17.

Threat ID:: CC-2164
Category:
Threat Severity:: Medium
Threat Vector:
Published:: 22 March 2018 12:00 AM

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Summary

The Chinese Advanced Persistent Threat group APT15 has been found responsible for compromising a UK government contractor using two new backdoors, RoyalCLI and RoyalDNS, during 2016/17.

Affected platforms

The following platforms are known to be affected:

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows - all versions

Threat details

RoyalCLI establishes communication with Command and Control (C2) servers using the IWebBrowser2 Command Object Model interface in Internet Explorer. RoyalDNS uses text records in the Domain Name System for C2 instead.

When C2 is established the group then conducts network enumeration and reconnaisance activities, as well as lateral movement through the network. This usually involves manual remote execution of built-in Windows utilities including tasklist, ping, netstat, net, systeminfo, ipconfig _and _bcp. Custom-built tools are also run.

Remediation advice

Ensure that:

Remediation steps

Type	Step
	A robust program of education and awareness training is delivered to users to ensure they don’t open attachments or follow links within unsolicited emails. All operating systems, antivirus and other security products are kept up to date. All day to day computer activities such as email and internet are performed using non-administrative accounts. Strong password policies are in place and password reuse is discouraged. Network, proxy and firewall logs should be monitored for suspicious activity. User accounts accessed from infected machines should be reset on a clean computer

Type

Step

A robust program of education and awareness training is delivered to users to ensure they don’t open attachments or follow links within unsolicited emails.
All operating systems, antivirus and other security products are kept up to date.
All day to day computer activities such as email and internet are performed using non-administrative accounts.
Strong password policies are in place and password reuse is discouraged.
Network, proxy and firewall logs should be monitored for suspicious activity.
User accounts accessed from infected machines should be reset on a clean computer

Last edited: 17 February 2020 12:54 pm