Hackers Infect Windows With Backdoor Malware Via “Car For Sale” Ad

Fighting Ursa, a Russian APT, has employed a car sales phishing lure to distribute the HeadLace backdoor malware targeting diplomats since March 2024. This strategy mirrors previous campaigns by the group and other Russian threat actors. 

The attack leveraged public, free infrastructure services and exploited user clicks on malicious content within the car advertisement. 

Hackers exploited Webhook.site, a legitimate service for creating custom URLs used in development projects. On March 14th, 2024, a URL linked to a malicious infection chain was submitted to VirusTotal. 

This Webhook.site URL didn’t host malicious content itself. Instead, it delivered a malicious HTML page when accessed, which abuses the service’s functionality of generating unique URLs for triggering custom actions based on visitor information. 

The HTML code employs a multi-stage attack by initially filtering visitors based on the operating system, redirecting non-Windows users to a decoy car advertisement hosted on ImgBB.

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For Windows users, it embeds Base64-encoded ZIP archive data, offers it for download, and attempts to automatically open it using JavaScript, suggesting a targeted attack designed to deliver a malicious payload to Windows systems under the guise of a legitimate car advertisement.

The downloaded ZIP archive named IMG-387470302099.zip contains a malicious executable file disguised as a JPG image. 

The file IMG-387470302099.jpg.exe has the double extension .jpg.exe, but due to the default Windows configuration, only the .jpg extension is displayed, which is a social engineering tactic to trick users into thinking it’s a harmless image file and executing the malware.  

According to Unit 42, a malicious executable disguised as the Windows calculator sideloads the WindowsCodecs.dll file, a component of the modular HeadLace backdoor. 

The staged infection process leverages a legitimate application to introduce malicious code, likely aimed at evading detection and delaying analysis.

The DLL’s function, as depicted, is crucial to understanding the backdoor’s subsequent actions and overall operation. 

The ZIP archive contains a malicious batch file named zqtxmo.bat, which leverages Microsoft Edge (msedge) to execute a Base64-encoded iframe that retrieves content from a Webhook.site URL. Downloaded content is saved as a JPEG file (IMG387470302099.jpg) in the user’s downloads directory. 

The batch file then moves the downloaded file to the %programdata% directory and modifies the extension to .cmd (IMG387470302099.cmd). Finally, the script executes the .cmd file and deletes itself to erase evidence.  

Fighting Ursa, a persistent threat actor that leverages dynamic infrastructure and diverse lure sets to distribute HeadLace malware, continues to exploit legitimate web services for malicious purposes. 

Organizations should restrict access to such platforms and meticulously examine their usage to proactively identify and mitigate potential attack vectors associated with Fighting Ursa. 

A malicious campaign leverages a webhook site hosting a decoy car-for-sale image and a ZIP archive containing a legitimate calc.exe, a malicious DLL, and a batch file. 

Once extracted, calc.exe is abused to sideload the malicious DLL, which subsequently executes the batch file, indicating a potential malware infection or data theft operation. 

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