{ "id": "3c143d0d-cd20-42c7-a307-06b43310cd5e", "created_at": "2026-04-06T00:08:22.391252Z", "updated_at": "2026-04-10T03:21:13.942746Z", "deleted_at": null, "sha1_hash": "80ebfb44f422245286a72770bd2a16c2d0cd0874", "title": "Another OSX.Dok dropper found installing new backdoor", "llm_title": "", "authors": "", "file_creation_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "file_modification_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "file_size": 697558, "plain_text": "Another OSX.Dok dropper found installing new backdoor\r\nBy Thomas Reed\r\nPublished: 2017-04-30 · Archived: 2026-04-05 22:03:34 UTC\r\nOn Friday a sophisticated Mac Trojan was discovered, called OSX.Dok, which installs malware designed to\r\nintercept all HTTP and HTTPS traffic. This morning, Adam Thomas, a Malwarebytes researcher, found a variant\r\nof the OSX.Dok dropper that behaves altogether differently and installs a completely different payload.\r\nDistribution method\r\nThis variant has the same form as the dropper for OSX.Dok – a zipped app named Dokument.app, masquerading\r\nas a document. It is signed with the same (now revoked) certificate as the previous OSX.Dok dropper and it was\r\nfirst uploaded to VirusTotal around the same time.\r\nOSX.Dok.BSHA-256: 54ee71f6ad1f91a6f162bd5712d1a2e3d3111c352a0f52db630dcb4638101938\r\nAs with the previous variant, this one also copies itself to /Users/Shared/AppStore.app, and displays the same alert\r\nclaiming that the app is damaged:\r\nHowever, this variant never displays the fake “OS X Updates Available” window, covering the entire screen. After\r\na minute or so, it simply closes and deletes itself.\r\nInstead of installing OSX.Dok, this dropper installs an open-source backdoor named Bella, created by someone\r\nwho identifies himself on GitHub only as “Noah.”\r\nBehavior analysis\r\nNoah first joined GitHub back in 2015 but was not active there until August of 2016, when he began creating\r\nPython scripts to attack various macOS data, such as stealing iCloud authorization tokens, or password and credit\r\ncard information from Chrome.\r\nhttps://blog.malwarebytes.com/threat-analysis/2017/05/another-osx-dok-dropper-found-installing-new-backdoor/\r\nPage 1 of 3\n\nIn February of this year, he published the code for Bella, a Python script with some frightening capabilities,\r\nincluding:\r\nExfiltration of iMessage and SMS chat transcripts\r\nLocation of devices via Find My iPhone and Find My Friends\r\nPhishing of passwords\r\nExfiltration of the keychain\r\nCapture of data from the microphone and webcam\r\nCreation and exfiltration of screenshots\r\nRemote shell and screen sharing\r\nBella even includes the capability to escalate to root privileges via vulnerabilities in the system (which only work\r\non macOS 10.12.1 and earlier) or phishing to obtain an admin user password. Some of the above capabilities rely\r\non gaining root privileges, while others do not.\r\nBella comes with a script named BUILDER that can be used to customize some aspects of its behavior. This\r\nparticular copy of Bella has been configured to connect to the following C\u0026C server:\r\nhttps://blog.malwarebytes.com/threat-analysis/2017/05/another-osx-dok-dropper-found-installing-new-backdoor/\r\nPage 2 of 3\n\nhost = '185.68.93.74' #Command and Control IP (listener will run on) port = 4545 #What port Bella wil\r\nThis address is owned by a hosting company located in Moscow, Russia.\r\nThe malware has also been set to install the script, database, and launch agent files in the following locations:\r\n~/Library/Containers/.bella/Bella ~/Library/Containers/.bella/bella.db ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.app\r\nIf root access can be achieved, it will instead be placed in the corresponding locations in the root Library folder,\r\nrather than the user’s Library folder.\r\nConclusion\r\nOf course, since the code signing certificate on the Dokument.app dropper for this malware has been revoked, no\r\none can be newly-infected by this particular variant of this malware at this point. However, since Bella is open-source and surprisingly powerful for a Python script, it’s quite likely it will be dropped by other malicious\r\ninstallers in the future.\r\nIt is unknown whether there is any connection between Noah, the author of Bella, and the creators of the\r\nOSX.Dok malware. Bella may simply have been used by unrelated hackers since it is freely available as open-source software.\r\nMalwarebytes for Mac detects this malware as OSX.Bella. If you’ve been infected with this malware, after\r\nremoving it, be sure to change all your passwords as well.\r\nBusiness users should be aware that this malware could exfiltrate a large amount of company data, including\r\npasswords, code signing certificates, hardware locations and much more. If you’ve been infected, contact your IT\r\ndepartment.\r\nAbout the author\r\nHad a Mac before it was cool to have Macs. Self-trained Apple security expert. Amateur photographer.\r\nSource: https://blog.malwarebytes.com/threat-analysis/2017/05/another-osx-dok-dropper-found-installing-new-backdoor/\r\nhttps://blog.malwarebytes.com/threat-analysis/2017/05/another-osx-dok-dropper-found-installing-new-backdoor/\r\nPage 3 of 3", "extraction_quality": 1, "language": "EN", "sources": [ "Malpedia" ], "references": [ "https://blog.malwarebytes.com/threat-analysis/2017/05/another-osx-dok-dropper-found-installing-new-backdoor/" ], "report_names": [ "another-osx-dok-dropper-found-installing-new-backdoor" ], "threat_actors": [], "ts_created_at": 1775434102, "ts_updated_at": 1775791273, "ts_creation_date": 0, "ts_modification_date": 0, "files": { "pdf": "https://archive.orkl.eu/80ebfb44f422245286a72770bd2a16c2d0cd0874.pdf", "text": "https://archive.orkl.eu/80ebfb44f422245286a72770bd2a16c2d0cd0874.txt", "img": "https://archive.orkl.eu/80ebfb44f422245286a72770bd2a16c2d0cd0874.jpg" } }