Malware

Aurora Stealer Malware is becoming a prominent threat in the cybercrime ecosystem

Researchers warn of threat actors employing a new Go-based malware dubbed Aurora Stealer in attacks in the wild.

Aurora Stealer is an info-stealing malware that was first advertised on Russian-speaking underground forums in April 2022. Aurora was offered as Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS) by a threat actor known as Cheshire. It is a multi-purpose botnet with data stealing and remote access capabilities.

Researchers at SEKOIA identified 7 traffers teams on Dark Web forums that announced the availability of the Aurora Stealer in their arsenal, a circumstance that confirms the increased popularity of the malware among threat actors.

Traffers TeamMalware arsenalLaunch dateLast observed activity
RavenLogsAurora, Redline17/10/202214/11/2022
BrazzersLogsAurora, Raccoon14/11/202214/11/2022
DevilsTraffAurora, Raccoon30/10/202214/11/2022
YungRussiaAurora16/10/202231/10/2022
Gfbg6Aurora14/09/202224/10/2022
SAKURAAurora10/08/202204/11/2022
HellRideAurora09/07/202215/07/2022

In October and November 2022, the researchers analyzed several hundreds of collected samples and identified dozens of active C2 servers. The experts also observed multiple infection chains leading to the deployment of Aurora stealer. The attackers used methods to deliver the malware, including phishing websites masquerading as legitimate ones, YouTube videos and fake “free software catalogue” websites.

“These infection chains leveraged phishing pages impersonating download pages of legitimate software, including cryptocurrency wallets or remote access tools, and the 911 method making use of YouTube videos and SEO-poised fake cracked software download websites.” reads the analysis by the experts.

The malware was also able to target 40 cryptocurrency wallets and applications like Telegram.

Threat actors behind this malware also advertised its loader capabilities, the malicious code in fact is able to deploy a next-stage payload using a PowerShell command.

“Aurora is another infostealer targeting data from browsers, cryptocurrency wallets, local systems, and acting as a loader. Sold at a high price on market places, collected data is of particular interest to cybercriminals, allowing them to carry out follow-up lucrative campaigns, including Big Game Hunting operations.” concludes the report. “As multiple threat actors, including traffers teams, added the malware to their arsenal, Aurora Stealer is becoming a prominent threat.”

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Aurora Stealer)

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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”.

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