MasterMana Botnet Dropper

First observed in December 2018, MasterMana Botnet is, despite its name, a dropper believed to be operated by the Gorgon Group advanced persistent threat.

Threat ID:: CC-3247
Category:
Threat Severity:: Medium
Threat Vector:: Email-spam
Published:: 10 October 2019 12:00 AM

Report a cyber attack: call 0300 303 5222 or email [email protected]

Summary

First observed in December 2018, MasterMana Botnet is, despite its name, a dropper believed to be operated by the Gorgon Group advanced persistent threat.

Affected platforms

The following platforms are known to be affected:

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows - All versions

Threat details

MasterMana is typically delivered via phishing emails containing malicious macro-enabled Microsoft Excel attachments. Once executed, these documents will attempt to terminate any Microsoft Office processes. Following this, the payload will attempt to add three scheduled tasks along with registry key values to maintain persistence.

If successful, MasterMana will reach out to attacker-controlled domains, hosted on widely used blogging services. These domains will then redirect to command and control servers and begin downloading DLL or PowerShell code. The code attempts to inject itself into processes, with the goal of evading anti-virus products.

Once successfully injected into processes, MasterMana will then download and install either the AZORult or RevengeRAT remote access trojans.

Remediation steps

Type	Step
	To prevent and detect an infection, ensure that: 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, anti-virus and other security products are kept up-to-date. Regular anti-virus and security scans are performed on your organisation’s estate. All day-to-day computer activities such as email and internet are performed using non-administrative accounts. Strong password policies are in place. Network, proxy and firewall logs should be monitored for suspicious activity. User accounts accessed from affected devices should be reset on a clean computer. Your organisation adopts a holistic all-round approach to Cyber Security as advocated by the 10 Steps to Cyber Security.

Type

Step

To prevent and detect an infection, ensure that:

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, anti-virus and other security products are kept up-to-date.
Regular anti-virus and security scans are performed on your organisation’s estate.
All day-to-day computer activities such as email and internet are performed using non-administrative accounts.
Strong password policies are in place.
Network, proxy and firewall logs should be monitored for suspicious activity.
User accounts accessed from affected devices should be reset on a clean computer.
Your organisation adopts a holistic all-round approach to Cyber Security as advocated by the 10 Steps to Cyber Security.

Last edited: 14 February 2020 2:58 pm