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POWERSTATS

POWERSTATS is a PowerShell-based first stage backdoor used by MuddyWater. [1]

ID: S0223
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Associated Software: Powermud
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Type: MALWARE
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Platforms: Windows
Version: 2.3
Created: 18 April 2018
Last Modified: 22 March 2023

Associated Software Descriptions

Name Description
Powermud

[2]
Enterprise Layer
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Techniques Used

Domain ID Name Use
Enterprise T1087 .001 Account Discovery: Local Account

POWERSTATS can retrieve usernames from compromised hosts.[3]
Enterprise T1059 .001 Command and Scripting Interpreter: PowerShell

POWERSTATS uses PowerShell for obfuscation and execution.[1][4][5][6]
.005 Command and Scripting Interpreter: Visual Basic

POWERSTATS can use VBScript (VBE) code for execution.[4][5]
.007 Command and Scripting Interpreter: JavaScript

POWERSTATS can use JavaScript code for execution.[4]
Enterprise T1132 .001 Data Encoding: Standard Encoding

POWERSTATS encoded C2 traffic with base64.[1]
Enterprise T1005 Data from Local System

POWERSTATS can upload files from compromised hosts.[3]
Enterprise T1140 Deobfuscate/Decode Files or Information

POWERSTATS can deobfuscate the main backdoor code.[4]
Enterprise T1573 .002 Encrypted Channel: Asymmetric Cryptography

POWERSTATS has encrypted C2 traffic with RSA.[3]
Enterprise T1562 .001 Impair Defenses: Disable or Modify Tools

POWERSTATS can disable Microsoft Office Protected View by changing Registry keys.[3]
Enterprise T1070 .004 Indicator Removal: File Deletion

POWERSTATS can delete all files on the C:\, D:\, E:\ and, F:\ drives using PowerShell Remove-Item commands.[3]
Enterprise T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

POWERSTATS can retrieve and execute additional PowerShell payloads from the C2 server.[3]
Enterprise T1559 .001 Inter-Process Communication: Component Object Model

POWERSTATS can use DCOM (targeting the 127.0.0.1 loopback address) to execute additional payloads on compromised hosts.[3]
.002 Inter-Process Communication: Dynamic Data Exchange

POWERSTATS can use DDE to execute additional payloads on compromised hosts.[3]
Enterprise T1036 .004 Masquerading: Masquerade Task or Service

POWERSTATS has created a scheduled task named "MicrosoftEdge" to establish persistence.[4]
Enterprise T1027 .001 Obfuscated Files or Information: Binary Padding

POWERSTATS has used useless code blocks to counter analysis.[5]
.010 Obfuscated Files or Information: Command Obfuscation

POWERSTATS uses character replacement, PowerShell environment variables, and XOR encoding to obfuscate code. POWERSTATS's backdoor code is a multi-layer obfuscated, encoded, and compressed blob. [3][4] POWERSTATS has used PowerShell code with custom string obfuscation [5]
Enterprise T1057 Process Discovery

POWERSTATS has used get_tasklist to discover processes on the compromised host.[5]
Enterprise T1090 .002 Proxy: External Proxy

POWERSTATS has connected to C2 servers through proxies.[3]
Enterprise T1053 .005 Scheduled Task/Job: Scheduled Task

POWERSTATS has established persistence through a scheduled task using the command "C:\Windows\system32\schtasks.exe" /Create /F /SC DAILY /ST 12:00 /TN MicrosoftEdge /TR "c:\Windows\system32\wscript.exe C:\Windows\temp\Windows.vbe".[4]
Enterprise T1029 Scheduled Transfer

POWERSTATS can sleep for a given number of seconds.[3]
Enterprise T1113 Screen Capture

POWERSTATS can retrieve screenshots from compromised hosts.[3][5]
Enterprise T1518 .001 Software Discovery: Security Software Discovery

POWERSTATS has detected security tools.[3]
Enterprise T1218 .005 System Binary Proxy Execution: Mshta

POWERSTATS can use Mshta.exe to execute additional payloads on compromised hosts.[3]
Enterprise T1082 System Information Discovery

POWERSTATS can retrieve OS name/architecture and computer/domain name information from compromised hosts.[3][5]
Enterprise T1016 System Network Configuration Discovery

POWERSTATS can retrieve IP, network adapter configuration information, and domain from compromised hosts.[3][5]
Enterprise T1033 System Owner/User Discovery

POWERSTATS has the ability to identify the username on the compromised host.[5]
Enterprise T1047 Windows Management Instrumentation

POWERSTATS can use WMI queries to retrieve data from compromised hosts.[3][4]

Groups That Use This Software

ID Name References
G0069 MuddyWater

[1][3][4][2][7]

References

  1. Lancaster, T.. (2017, November 14). Muddying the Water: Targeted Attacks in the Middle East. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  2. Symantec DeepSight Adversary Intelligence Team. (2018, December 10). Seedworm: Group Compromises Government Agencies, Oil & Gas, NGOs, Telecoms, and IT Firms. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  3. Singh, S. et al.. (2018, March 13). Iranian Threat Group Updates Tactics, Techniques and Procedures in Spear Phishing Campaign. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  4. ClearSky Cyber Security. (2018, November). MuddyWater Operations in Lebanon and Oman: Using an Israeli compromised domain for a two-stage campaign. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  1. Lunghi, D. and Horejsi, J.. (2019, June 10). MuddyWater Resurfaces, Uses Multi-Stage Backdoor POWERSTATS V3 and New Post-Exploitation Tools. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  2. FBI, CISA, CNMF, NCSC-UK. (2022, February 24). Iranian Government-Sponsored Actors Conduct Cyber Operations Against Global Government and Commercial Networks. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  3. ClearSky. (2019, June). Iranian APT group ‘MuddyWater’ Adds Exploits to Their Arsenal. Retrieved May 14, 2020.