• Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
MUST READ

Law enforcement operations seized BlackSuit ransomware gang’s darknet sites

 | 

Arizona woman sentenced for aiding North Korea in U.S. IT job fraud scheme

 | 

Operation CargoTalon targets Russia’s aerospace with EAGLET malware,

 | 

Unpatched flaw in EoL LG LNV5110R cameras lets hackers gain Admin access

 | 

Koske, a new AI-Generated Linux malware appears in the threat landscape

 | 

Mitel patches critical MiVoice MX-ONE Auth bypass flaw

 | 

Coyote malware is first-ever malware abusing Windows UI Automation

 | 

SonicWall fixed critical flaw in SMA 100 devices exploited in Overstep malware attacks

 | 

DSPM & AI Are Booming: $17.87B and $4.8T Markets by 2033

 | 

Stealth backdoor found in WordPress mu-Plugins folder

 | 

U.S. CISA adds CrushFTP, Google Chromium, and SysAid flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

U.S. CISA urges FCEB agencies to fix two Microsoft SharePoint flaws immediately and added them to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

Sophos fixed two critical Sophos Firewall vulnerabilities

 | 

French Authorities confirm XSS.is admin arrested in Ukraine

 | 

Microsoft linked attacks on SharePoint flaws to China-nexus actors

 | 

Cisco confirms active exploitation of ISE and ISE-PIC flaws

 | 

SharePoint under fire: new ToolShell attacks target enterprises

 | 

CrushFTP zero-day actively exploited at least since July 18

 | 

Hardcoded credentials found in HPE Aruba Instant On Wi-Fi devices

 | 

MuddyWater deploys new DCHSpy variants amid Iran-Israel conflict

 | 
  • Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
  • Home
  • APT
  • Breaking News
  • Cyber warfare
  • Hacking
  • Malware
  • Iron Tiger APT is behind a supply chain attack that employed messaging app MiMi

Iron Tiger APT is behind a supply chain attack that employed messaging app MiMi

Pierluigi Paganini August 15, 2022

China-linked threat actors Iron Tiger backdoored a version of the cross-platform messaging app MiMi to infect systems.

Trend Micro researchers uncovered a new campaign conducted by a China-linked threat actor Iron Tiger that employed a  backdoored version of the cross-platform messaging app MiMi Chat App to infect Windows, Mac, and Linux systems.

The Iron Tiger APT (aka Panda Emissary, APT27, Bronze Union, Lucky Mouse, and TG-3390) is active at least since 2010 and targeted organizations in APAC, but since 2013 it is attacking high-technology targets in the US.

Trend Micro experts discovered a server hosting both a HyperBro sample and a malicious Mach-O executable named “rshell.” While HyperBro is a malware family that is associated with APT27 operations, the Mach-O sample appears to be a new malware family targeting the Mac OS platform. The researchers also found samples compiled to infect Linux systems.

“We noticed that a chat application named MiMi retrieved the rshell executable, an app we came across recently while investigating threat actor Earth Berberoka. We noticed Iron Tiger controlling the servers hosting the app installers of MiMi, suggesting a supply chain attack.” reads the analysis published by Trend Micro. “Further investigation showed that MiMi chat installers have been compromised to download and install HyperBro samples for the Windows platform and rshell samples for the Mac OS platform.”

The Chinese hackers compromised the installers of the chat application MiMi and the malicious code was used to download and install HyperBro samples for the Windows operating system and rshell for Linux and macOS.

This appears as a supply chain attack because the Iron Tiger APT compromised the server hosting the legitimate installers for this MiMi chat application. 

Iron Tiger MiMi Chat

The rshell executable is a standard backdoor that allows operators to collect OS information and send it to the C2 server, receive commands from the C2 server, and send command execution results back to the C2.

The experts noticed that running the DMG installer on a macOS system, the user is displayed several warnings before the backdoored app is installed, such as an alert about an unverified developer.

Both the legitimate and the backdoored versions of the installer were unsigned, this implies that Mac users that want to install MiMi chat were probably used to all these extra steps to finally install it and ignore the warnings.

This is the first time the attackers attempted to target macOS alongside Windows and Linux systems.

Experts found 13 different systems infected by this campaign, eight were compromised with she’ll, six in Taiwan, one in the Philippines, and one being in Taiwan and the Philippines. The remaining ones were infected with HyperBro (four in Taiwan and one in the Philippines). 

Below is the timeline of the campaign:

  • June 2021: Oldest Linux rshell sample found
  • November 2021: Threat actor modified version 2.2.0 of Windows MiMi chat installer to download and execute HyperBro backdoor
  • May 2021: Threat actor modified version 2.3.0 of Mac OS MiMi chat installer to download and execute “rshell” backdoor

The analysis also includes a list of Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) for this campaign.

“We attribute this campaign to Iron Tiger for multiple reasons.” concludes the analysis.

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook

[adrotate banner=”9″][adrotate banner=”12″]

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Iron Tiger)

[adrotate banner=”5″]

[adrotate banner=”13″]


facebook linkedin twitter

Hacking hacking news information security news Iron Tiger malware Pierluigi Paganini Security Affairs Security News supply chain attack

you might also like

Pierluigi Paganini July 26, 2025
Law enforcement operations seized BlackSuit ransomware gang’s darknet sites
Read more
Pierluigi Paganini July 26, 2025
Arizona woman sentenced for aiding North Korea in U.S. IT job fraud scheme
Read more

leave a comment

newsletter

Subscribe to my email list and stay
up-to-date!

    recent articles

    Law enforcement operations seized BlackSuit ransomware gang’s darknet sites

    Cyber Crime / July 26, 2025

    Arizona woman sentenced for aiding North Korea in U.S. IT job fraud scheme

    Intelligence / July 26, 2025

    Operation CargoTalon targets Russia’s aerospace with EAGLET malware,

    Intelligence / July 25, 2025

    Unpatched flaw in EoL LG LNV5110R cameras lets hackers gain Admin access

    Security / July 25, 2025

    Koske, a new AI-Generated Linux malware appears in the threat landscape

    Malware / July 25, 2025

    To contact me write an email to:

    Pierluigi Paganini :
    pierluigi.paganini@securityaffairs.co

    LEARN MORE

    QUICK LINKS

    • Home
    • Cyber Crime
    • Cyber warfare
    • APT
    • Data Breach
    • Deep Web
    • Digital ID
    • Hacking
    • Hacktivism
    • Intelligence
    • Internet of Things
    • Laws and regulations
    • Malware
    • Mobile
    • Reports
    • Security
    • Social Networks
    • Terrorism
    • ICS-SCADA
    • POLICIES
    • Contact me

    Copyright@securityaffairs 2024

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
    Cookie SettingsAccept All
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities...
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT