• 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

Microsoft uncovers macOS flaw allowing bypass TCC protections and exposing sensitive data

 | 

U.S. CISA adds Cisco ISE and PaperCut NG/MF flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

Critical WordPress Post SMTP plugin flaw exposes 200K+ sites to full takeover

 | 

Scattered Spider targets VMware ESXi in using social engineering

 | 

China-linked group Fire Ant exploits VMware and F5 flaws since early 2025

 | 

Allianz Life data breach exposed the data of most of its 1.4M customers

 | 

SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 55

 | 

Security Affairs newsletter Round 534 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION

 | 

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

 | 
  • 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
  • Hacking
  • Malware
  • Reptile Rootkit employed in attacks against Linux systems in South Korea

Reptile Rootkit employed in attacks against Linux systems in South Korea

Pierluigi Paganini August 05, 2023

Researchers observed threat actors that are using an open-source rootkit called Reptile in attacks aimed at systems in South Korea.

Reptile is an open-source kernel module rootkit that was designed to target Linux systems, unlike other rootkits, it also offers a reverse shell. The malware supports port knocking, it opens a specific port on an infected system and waits for a Magic Packet sent by the attackers to establish a C2 connection.

Reptile

Researchers from the AhnLab Security Emergency Response Center (ASEC) reported that threat actors are using Reptile to target Linux systems in South Korea.

The researchers observed multiple campaigns leveraging Reptile since 2022.

Recently Mandiant published a report about a campaign attributed to a China-linked APT group that used the Reptile rootkit and exploited the zero-day vulnerability (CVE-2022-41328) in Fortinet products. Researchers from ExaTrack also detailed a campaign using the Mélofée malware and the Reptile rootkit. The researchers attributed the campaign to the China-linked cyberespionage group Winnti.

The Reptile malware uses a loader that is a kernel module packed using the open-source tool kmatryoshka.

The tool is used to decrypt the rootkit and load its kernel module into memory. Then the kernel module opens a specific port and awaits for the attacker communications.

Reptile relies on an engine called KHOOK to hook Linux kernel functions. The rootkit was employed in past attacks against South Korean companies.

“The initial method of infiltration remains unidentified, but upon examination, the Reptile rootkit, reverse shell, Cmd, and startup script were all included, allowing the basic configuration to be ascertained.” states the report from ASEC. “In this particular attack case, apart from Reptile, an ICMP-based shell called ISH was also utilized by the threat actor. ISH is a malware strain that uses the ICMP protocol to provide the threat actor with a shell. Typically, reverse shells or bind shells use protocols like TCP or HTTP, but it is speculated that the threat actor opted for ISH to evade network detection caused by these communication protocols.”

Researchers warn that Reptile can be easily utilized by various threat actors because its code is available as open-source. Threat actor can also customize the rootkit in future attacks and use it in conjunction with other malware.

The report also includes Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) for this threat

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, rootkit)


facebook linkedin twitter

Hacking hacking news information security news IT Information Security malware Pierluigi Paganini Reptile rootkit Security Affairs Security News

you might also like

Pierluigi Paganini July 29, 2025
Microsoft uncovers macOS flaw allowing bypass TCC protections and exposing sensitive data
Read more
Pierluigi Paganini July 28, 2025
U.S. CISA adds Cisco ISE and PaperCut NG/MF flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
Read more

leave a comment

newsletter

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

    recent articles

    Microsoft uncovers macOS flaw allowing bypass TCC protections and exposing sensitive data

    Hacking / July 29, 2025

    U.S. CISA adds Cisco ISE and PaperCut NG/MF flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

    Security / July 28, 2025

    Critical WordPress Post SMTP plugin flaw exposes 200K+ sites to full takeover

    Security / July 28, 2025

    Scattered Spider targets VMware ESXi in using social engineering

    Cyber Crime / July 28, 2025

    China-linked group Fire Ant exploits VMware and F5 flaws since early 2025

    Hacking / July 28, 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