• 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

Patch immediately: CVE-2025-25257 PoC enables remote code execution on Fortinet FortiWeb

 | 

Wing FTP Server flaw actively exploited shortly after technical details were made public

 | 

SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 53

 | 

Security Affairs newsletter Round 532 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION

 | 

McDonald’s job app exposes data of 64 Million applicants

 | 

Athlete or Hacker? Russian basketball player accused in U.S. ransomware case

 | 

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

 | 

UK NCA arrested four people over M&S, Co-op cyberattacks

 | 

PerfektBlue Bluetooth attack allows hacking infotainment systems of Mercedes, Volkswagen, and Skoda

 | 

Qantas data breach impacted 5.7 million individuals

 | 

DoNot APT is expanding scope targeting European foreign ministries

 | 

Nippon Steel Solutions suffered a data breach following a zero-day attack

 | 

Iranian group Pay2Key.I2P ramps Up ransomware attacks against Israel and US with incentives for affiliates

 | 

Hackers weaponize Shellter red teaming tool to spread infostealers

 | 

Microsoft Patch Tuesday security updates for July 2025 fixed a zero-day

 | 

Italian police arrested a Chinese national suspected of cyberespionage on a U.S. warrant

 | 

U.S. CISA adds MRLG, PHPMailer, Rails Ruby on Rails, and Synacor Zimbra Collaboration Suite flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

IT Worker arrested for selling access in $100M PIX cyber heist

 | 

New Batavia spyware targets Russian industrial enterprises

 | 

Taiwan flags security risks in popular Chinese apps after official probe

 | 
  • 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
  • Hacking
  • Internet of Things
  • Malware
  • Security
  • MikroTik botnet relies on DNS misconfiguration to spread malware

MikroTik botnet relies on DNS misconfiguration to spread malware

Pierluigi Paganini January 16, 2025

Researchers discovered a 13,000-device MikroTik botnet exploiting DNS flaws to spoof 20,000 domains and deliver malware.

Infoblox researchers discovered a botnet of 13,000 MikroTik devices that exploits DNS misconfigurations to bypass email protections, spoof approximately 20,000 domains, and deliver malware.

In late November, the experts spotted a malspam campaign impersonating DHL which used emails about freight invoices, attaching zip files named “Invoice###.zip” or “Tracking###.zip” containing malware.

The zip archive contains an obfuscated JavaScript file, which creates and executes a PowerShell script that connects to the C2 (62.133.60[.]137), which has a suspicious history related to “prior Russian activity.”

The analysis of the headers of the spam messages revealed a botnet of ~13,000 hijacked MikroTik devices, forming a network capable of executing large-scale malicious activities.

The researchers found that the botnet comprises MikroTik routers with various firmware versions, including recent ones. Over the years, multiple security experts have identified several vulnerabilities in MikroTik routers, such as a remote code execution vulnerability detailed by VulnCheck researchers here.

The botnet uses compromised MikroTik devices as SOCKS proxies, masking malicious traffic origins and enabling other actors to exploit them without authentication, amplifying its scale. The botnet’s SOCKS proxy setup enables access for hundreds of thousands of compromised machines.

“Regardless of how they’ve been compromised, it seems as though the actor has been placing a script onto the devices that enables SOCKS (Secure Sockets), which allow the devices to operate as TCP redirectors.” reads the report published by Infoblox. “Enabling SOCKS effectively turns each device into a proxy, masking the true origin of malicious traffic and making it harder to trace back to the source. Another significant concern is that the lack of authentication required to use these proxies makes individual devices, or the entire botnet, available for other actors to exploit.”

The botnet size enables diverse attacks, from DDoS to phishing, spreading malware via SOCKS proxies, and amplifying C2 operations while masking attackers’ identities.

The researchers discovered that botnet operators exploit an improperly configured DNS record for the sender policy framework (SPF) that is used to list addresses that can send emails for their domains. The SPF information is included in the domain’s DNS records as a TXT record.

When a user sends an email, the receiving mail server checks the SPF record to verify that the message is coming from a server that is authorized to send it.

“The malspam campaign we investigated was large in scope, involving approximately 20,000 sender domains. Although the domain owners configured SPF, they were configured such that any address can send emails for their domains.” continues the report. “This DNS misconfiguration could have been done by accident, or as a malicious modification by a threat actor with access to the domain’s registrar account. Either way, the consequence is that any device can spoof the legitimate domain in email.”

It is unclear if the DNS misconfiguration has been done by accident, or a threat actors has done it by accessing the domain’s registrar account.

MikroTik botnet

A correctly configured SPF record specifies authorized email servers (e.g., v=spf1 include:example.com -all) and denies others. Misconfigured records, like +all, allow any server to send emails for a domain, enabling spoofing.

“The malspam campaign that led to this discovery exploited misconfigurations in DNS SPF records, allowing the threat actor to bypass traditional email protection measures.” concludes the report. “This underscores the importance of proper DNS configurations and regular audits of security settings, including the accessibility of your devices to the outside world, to prevent such vulnerabilities.”

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, MikroTik botnet)


facebook linkedin twitter

Cybercrime Hacking hacking news information security news IoT IT Information Security malware MikroTik botnet Pierluigi Paganini Security Affairs Security News

you might also like

Pierluigi Paganini July 13, 2025
Patch immediately: CVE-2025-25257 PoC enables remote code execution on Fortinet FortiWeb
Read more
Pierluigi Paganini July 13, 2025
Wing FTP Server flaw actively exploited shortly after technical details were made public
Read more

leave a comment

newsletter

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

    recent articles

    Patch immediately: CVE-2025-25257 PoC enables remote code execution on Fortinet FortiWeb

    Security / July 13, 2025

    Wing FTP Server flaw actively exploited shortly after technical details were made public

    Hacking / July 13, 2025

    SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 53

    Breaking News / July 13, 2025

    Security Affairs newsletter Round 532 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION

    Breaking News / July 13, 2025

    McDonald’s job app exposes data of 64 Million applicants

    Hacking / July 12, 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