Publications

PrideLocker - a new fork of Babuk ESX encryptor

05/12/2022 A few months after the leak of Babuk source code in September 2021, new ransomware families with very similar capabilities already seem to emerge. During an incident response, Synacktiv's CSIRT detected a new ESX encryptor dubbed PrideLocker that is based on Babuk ESX encryptor, with new additions. This article provides an in-depth analysis of PrideLocker, and a method using IDAPython to decrypt its strings, as well as tips to detect its encryption capabilities.

A dive into Microsoft Defender for Identity

23/11/2022 We recently analyzed the detection capabilities of Microsoft Defender for Identity, a cloud-based security solution which is the successor of Microsoft Advanced Threat Analytics and part of Microsoft Defender 365. This article will present its architecture, analyze its detection logic and abilities and present some bypasses, as well as general Red Team advices to stay under the Blue Team’s radar.

Legitimate RATs: a comprehensive forensic analysis of the usual suspects

20/10/2022 Legitimate remote access tools are more and more part of threat actors toolbox: in order to gain remote access on targets, keep persistence, deploy malicious payload as well as leveraging trusted connections between an IT provider and its customers. Therefore, detection and incident response teams must have a good grasp on traces left by those tools on the system. In this context, this article aims to collect host forensic evidence of four famous legitimate remote access tools.

PHP filters chain: What is it and how to use it

18/10/2022 Searching for new gadget chains to exploit deserialization vulnerabilities can be tedious. In this article we will explain how to combine a recently discovered technique called PHP filters [LOKNOP-GIST], to transform file inclusion primitives in PHP applications to remote code execution. To support our explanations we will rely on a Laravel file inclusion gadget chains that was discovered during this research.

Persistent PHP payloads in PNGs: How to inject PHP code in an image – and keep it there !

10/10/2022 During the assessment of a PHP application, we recently came across a file upload vulnerability allowing the interpretation of PHP code inserted into valid PNG files. However, the image processing performed by the application forced us to dig deeper into the different techniques available to inject PHP payloads into this particular file format - and to make it persist through image transformations. These investigations allowed us to successfully exploit the vulnerability, and are summarized in this article.

Traces of Windows remote command execution

13/09/2022 A real ninja leaves no traces. However, in the Windows context, a lot of information are disseminated when performing actions and can be leveraged by DFIR analysts. Focusing on remote command execution techniques used by attackers and red-teamers, this article aims to get a collection of artifacts that can collected by analysts.

Exploiting CVE-2022-24816: A code injection in the jt-jiffle extension of GeoServer

12/08/2022 During one of our assessments we came across a server running GeoServer version 2.17.2. This version is outdated and affected by multiple security vulnerabilities. Among those vulnerabilities, one looked more promising than the others: CVE-2022-24816. This vulnerability is a code injection flaw in jt-jiffle that leads to an unauthenticated remote code execution.

CVE-2022-31813: Forwarding addresses is hard

26/07/2022 A few weeks ago, version 2.4.54 of Apache HTTPD server was released. It includes a fix for CVE-2022-31813, a vulnerability we identified in mod_proxy that could affect unsuspecting applications served by an Apache reverse proxy. Let's see why it is rated as low in the software changelog and why it still matters. TL;DR: when in doubt, patch!

CCleaner forensics

20/06/2022 During a ransomware attack, right after the ransomware was launched, we noticed the use of CCleaner as an anti-forensic tool to cover the attacker’s action. The following article aims to explore some key features of this tool from a forensic perspective. We will see how to identify the items that have been deleted and how they could be recovered. We focused on the free desktop version v6.00.9727.

Ready For IT 2022: Back to attacks on new digital uses

08/06/2022 Thanks to Ready for IT organizers so we can shared a feedback regarding our incident response services (CSIRT Synacktiv) and red team activities. Below is a summary of the intervention.