• 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

Cisco removed the backdoor account from its Unified Communications Manager

 | 

U.S. Sanctions Russia's Aeza Group for aiding crooks with bulletproof hosting

 | 

Qantas confirms customer data breach amid Scattered Spider attacks

 | 

CVE-2025-6554 is the fourth Chrome zero-day patched by Google in 2025

 | 

U.S. CISA adds TeleMessage TM SGNL flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

A sophisticated cyberattack hit the International Criminal Court

 | 

Esse Health data breach impacted 263,000 individuals

 | 

Europol dismantles €460M crypto scam targeting 5,000 victims worldwide

 | 

CISA and U.S. Agencies warn of ongoing Iranian cyber threats to critical infrastructure

 | 

U.S. CISA adds Citrix NetScaler flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

Canada bans Hikvision over national security concerns

 | 

Denmark moves to protect personal identity from deepfakes with new copyright law

 | 

Ahold Delhaize data breach affected over 2.2 Million individuals

 | 

Facebook wants access to your camera roll for AI photo edits

 | 

SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 51

 | 

Security Affairs newsletter Round 530 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION

 | 

The FBI warns that Scattered Spider is now targeting the airline sector

 | 

LapDogs: China-nexus hackers Hijack 1,000+ SOHO devices for espionage

 | 

Taking over millions of developers exploiting an Open VSX Registry flaw

 | 

OneClik APT campaign targets energy sector with stealthy backdoors

 | 
  • 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
  • Breaking News
  • Cyber Crime
  • Malware
  • Cryptojacking campaign targets exposed Docker APIs

Cryptojacking campaign targets exposed Docker APIs

Pierluigi Paganini June 19, 2024

A malware campaign targets publicly exposed Docker API endpoints to deliver cryptocurrency miners and other payloads.

Researchers at Datadog uncovered a new cryptojacking campaign linked to the attackers behind Spinning YARN campaign.

The threat actors target publicly exposed and unsecured Docker API endpoints for initial access.

The attack begins with the threat actor scanning the internet to find hosts with Docker’s default port 2375 open. After locating a valid host, they perform Docker reconnaissance by querying the Docker host’s version using the docker version command. Following this confirmation, the attacker starts the exploitation phase by attempting to create an Alpine Linux container and using Docker’s Binds parameter to map the host’s root directory (/) to a directory within the container (/mnt). Below is the command snippet used in the campaign:

"Image": "alpine",
"HostConfig": {
  "Binds": ["/:/mnt"]
}

If this step is successful, the attacker gains access to the Docker host’s underlying filesystem through the /mnt directory inside the container, allowing them to escalate their privileges.

In addition to defining the container image and host configuration parameters, the attacker executes a shell command within the container itself to set the root of subsequent processes.

The attackers were observed deploying multiple payloads, including a remote access tool (chkstart) that downloads and executes additional malicious payloads and a tool to perform lateral movement (exeremo) used to propagate the malware via SSH.

The threat actors used a a shell script named “vurl” to retrieve the malicious payloads from a server under their control. The script includes another shell script called “b.sh” that, in turn, packs a Base64-encoded binary named “vurl” and is also responsible for fetching and launching a third shell script known as “ar.sh” (or “ai.sh”).

“After the attacker gains initial access and achieves execution via cron, the next stage of the campaign is to fetch and execute a new shell script—b.sh. This script contains a base64-encoded tar archive of a new binary named vurl. The script decodes and extracts this binary to /usr/bin/vurl, overwriting the existing shell script version, before fetching and executing one of two shell scripts—ar.sh or ai.sh.” reads the report published by the researchers.

The attackers use an unusual persistence mechanism by modifying existing systemd services and using the ExecStartPost configuration option to execute malicious commands.

The shell script “ar.sh” is used for multiple purposes including setting up a working directory, installing tools to scan the internet for vulnerable hosts, remove existing cron entries, weaken the system by disabling firewalls, clearing shell history, and preventing new lines from being added to the history file.

The script is ultimately used to fetch the next-stage payload “chkstart.”

Attackers used Golang binary, such as vurl, to set up a remote access and download additional tools from a remote server. The experts observed attackers downloading “m.tar,” and an XMRig miner called “top,”.

Docker malware

“This update to the Spinning YARN campaign shows a willingness to continue attacking misconfigured Docker hosts for initial access. The threat actor behind this campaign continues to iterate on deployed payloads by porting functionality to Go, which could indicate an attempt to hinder the analysis process, or point to experimentation with multi-architecture builds.” concludes the report.

“Although the likely objective of this campaign is to deploy an XMRig miner to compromised hosts, the attackers also ensured that they maintain access to victim machines via SSH. Maintaining remote code execution to victim hosts could mean that attackers can leverage their access for additional objectives”

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Docker)


facebook linkedin twitter

cryptojacking Cybercrime Docker Hacking hacking news information security news IT Information Security malware Pierluigi Paganini Security Affairs Security News XMR

you might also like

Pierluigi Paganini July 02, 2025
Cisco removed the backdoor account from its Unified Communications Manager
Read more
Pierluigi Paganini July 02, 2025
U.S. Sanctions Russia's Aeza Group for aiding crooks with bulletproof hosting
Read more

leave a comment

newsletter

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

    recent articles

    Cisco removed the backdoor account from its Unified Communications Manager

    Security / July 02, 2025

    U.S. Sanctions Russia's Aeza Group for aiding crooks with bulletproof hosting

    Cyber Crime / July 02, 2025

    Qantas confirms customer data breach amid Scattered Spider attacks

    Cyber Crime / July 02, 2025

    CVE-2025-6554 is the fourth Chrome zero-day patched by Google in 2025

    Hacking / July 02, 2025

    U.S. CISA adds TeleMessage TM SGNL flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

    Hacking / July 02, 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