Is the Abaddon RAT the first malware using Discord as C&C?

Abaddon is the first RAT that uses the freeware instant messaging and VoIP app and digital distribution platform Discord as a command & control server.

Researchers from MalwareHunterTeam have spotted a new piece of remote access trojan (RAT) dubbed ‘Abaddon’ that is likely the first malware using the Discord platform as command and control. The Abaddon malware connects to the Discord command and control server to check for new commands to execute.

Experts also warn that the author of the malware also developed a malware feature.

In the past, other threat actors already abused the Discord platform for different purposes, such as using it as a stolen data drop.

“In the past, we have reported on how threat actors use Discord as a stolen data drop or have created malware that modifies the Discord client to have it steal credentials and other information.” reported Bleeping Computer that first reported the news.

Abaddon implements data-stealing feature, it was designed to steal multiple data from the infected host, including Chrome cookies, saved credit cards, and credentials, Steam credentials, Discord tokens and MFA information.

The malware also collects system information such as country, IP address, and hardware information.

According to Bleeping Computer the malware supports the following commands:

Steal a file or entire directories from the computer
Get a list of drives
Open a reverse shell that allows the attacker to execute commands on the infected PC.
Launch in-development ransomware (more later on this).
Send back any collected information and clear the existing collection of data.

The malicious code connects to the Command & Control every ten seconds for new tasks to execute.

Experts pointed out that the malware also implements the commands to encrypt files of the infected system and decrypt them.

The ransomware feature appears to be under development.

[adrotate banner=”9″]

[adrotate banner=”12″]

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Abaddon)

[adrotate banner=”5″]

[adrotate banner=”13″]

Pierluigi Paganini

Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.