• 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

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

 | 

U.S. CISA urges to immediately patch Microsoft SharePoint flaw adding it to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

Microsoft issues emergency patches for SharePoint zero-days exploited in "ToolShell" attacks

 | 

SharePoint zero-day CVE-2025-53770 actively exploited in the wild

 | 

Singapore warns China-linked group UNC3886 targets its critical infrastructure

 | 

U.S. CISA adds Fortinet FortiWeb flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 54

 | 

Security Affairs newsletter Round 533 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION

 | 

Radiology Associates of Richmond data breach impacts 1.4 million people

 | 

Fortinet FortiWeb flaw CVE-2025-25257 exploited hours after PoC release

 | 

Authorities released free decryptor for Phobos and 8base ransomware

 | 
  • 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
  • WatchBog cryptomining botnet now uses Pastebin for C2

WatchBog cryptomining botnet now uses Pastebin for C2

Pierluigi Paganini September 13, 2019

A new cryptocurrency-mining botnet tracked as WatchBog is heavily using the Pastebin service for command and control (C&C) operations.

Cisco Talos researchers discovered a new cryptocurrency-mining botnet tracked as WatchBog is heavily using the Pastebin service for command and control.

The WatchBog bot is a Linux-based malware that is active since last year, it targets systems to mine for the Monero virtual currency.

“Cisco Incident Response (CSIRS) recently responded to an incident involving the Watchbog cryptomining botnet. The attackers were able to exploit CVE-2018-1000861 to gain a foothold and install the Watchbog malware on the affected systems.” states the analysis published by Cisco Talos.

“This Linux-based malware relied heavily on Pastebin for command and control (C2) and operated openly. CSIRS gained an accurate understanding of the attacker’s intentions and abilities on a customer’s network by analyzing the various Pastebins.”

Recently, experts at Intezer researchers have spotted a strain of the Linux mining that also scans the Internet for Windows RDP servers vulnerable to the Bluekeep.

WatchBog

The new WatchBog variant includes a new spreader module along with exploits for the following recently patched vulnerabilities in Linux applications:

  • CVE-2019-11581 (Jira)
  • CVE-2019-10149 (Exim)
  • CVE-2019-0192 (Solr)
  • CVE-2018-1000861 (Jenkins)
  • CVE-2019-7238 (Nexus Repository Manager 3)

The malware also includes scanners for Jira and Solr flaws along with Brute-forcing module for CouchDB and Redis installs.

The operators behind the WatchBog botnet claim to be able to identify vulnerabilities in enterprise systems “before any ‘real’ hackers could do so,” and offer their protection services. However, every time the operators identify vulnerable hosts, the systems are recruited in the crypto-mining botnet,

“During the investigation, Cisco IR found signs of hosts becoming a part of a separate botnet around the time of the Watchbog activity. This raises serious doubts about the “positive” intentions of this adversary.” continues Talos.

During the installation phase, the bot checks for running processes associated with other cryptocurrency miners, then it will use a script to terminate them.

Then determines whether it can write to various directories, checks the system architecture, and then makes three attempts to download and install a ‘kerberods’ dropper using wget or curl. .

The installation script also retrieves the contents of a Pastebin URL containing a Monero wallet ID and mining information, then it downloads the miner. The script also checks if the ‘watchbog‘ process is running, if it is not founb, the ‘testa‘ or ‘download’ functions are called to install the version of the miner that match the target architecture.

The ‘testa‘ function is used to facilitate the infection process, is responsible for writing the various configuration data used by the miner.

The script downloads encoded Pastebins as a text file and gives it execution permissions. The script finally starts the Watchbog process and deletes the text file.

The ‘download’ function performs similar operations by writing the contents retrieved from various file locations, once determined the target architecture it installs the appropriate miner.

The WatchBog uses SSH for lateral movements, a specific script also checks for the existence of SSH keys into the target systems in the attempt to use it while targeting other systems.

Talos researchers also noticed that threat actors leverage a Python script that scans for open Jenkins and Redis ports on the host’s subnet for lateral movement. Attackers also rely on cron jobs to achieve persistence and attempt to cover their tracks by erasing or overwriting files and logs.

“Unpatched web applications vulnerable to known CVEs are a major target for attackers. Adversaries can leverage the vulnerability to gain a foothold into the web server and network environment in which the web server is deployed.” concludes the report. “The best way to prevent such activity would be to ensure that all enterprise web applications are up to date,” Talos notes.

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

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – WatchBog, malware)

[adrotate banner=”5″]

[adrotate banner=”13″]


facebook linkedin twitter

Hacking hacking news information security news malware Pierluigi Paganini Security Affairs Security News

you might also like

Pierluigi Paganini July 24, 2025
U.S. CISA adds CrushFTP, Google Chromium, and SysAid flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
Read more
Pierluigi Paganini July 23, 2025
U.S. CISA urges FCEB agencies to fix two Microsoft SharePoint flaws immediately and added them to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
Read more

leave a comment

newsletter

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

    recent articles

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

    Hacking / July 24, 2025

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

    Hacking / July 23, 2025

    Sophos fixed two critical Sophos Firewall vulnerabilities

    Security / July 23, 2025

    French Authorities confirm XSS.is admin arrested in Ukraine

    Cyber Crime / July 23, 2025

    Microsoft linked attacks on SharePoint flaws to China-nexus actors

    APT / July 23, 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