Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered the interior workings of an Android malware referred to as AntiDot that has compromised over 3,775 gadgets as a part of 273 distinctive campaigns.
“Operated by the financially motivated risk actor LARVA-398, AntiDot is actively offered as a Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS) on underground boards and has been linked to a variety of cell campaigns,” PRODAFT mentioned in a report shared with The Hacker Information.
AntiDot is marketed as a “three-in-one” answer with capabilities to report the system display by abusing Android’s accessibility providers, intercept SMS messages, and extract delicate knowledge from third-party functions.
The Android botnet is suspected to be delivered by way of malicious promoting networks or via extremely tailor-made phishing campaigns primarily based on exercise that signifies selective focusing on of victims primarily based on language and geographic location.
AntiDot was first publicly documented in Might 2024 after it was noticed being distributed as Google Play updates to perform its data theft aims.
Like different Android trojans, it options a variety of capabilities to conduct overlay assaults, log keystrokes, and remotely management contaminated gadgets utilizing Android’s MediaProjection API. It additionally establishes a WebSocket communication to facilitate real-time, bi-directional communication between the contaminated system and an exterior server.
In December 2024, Zimperium revealed particulars of a cell phishing marketing campaign that distributed an up to date model of AntiDot dubbed AppLite Banker utilizing job offer-themed decoys.
The newest findings from the Swiss cybersecurity firm present that there are at the very least 11 lively command-and-control (C2) servers in operation which are overseeing at least 3,775 contaminated gadgets throughout 273 distinct campaigns.
A Java-based malware at its core, AntiDot is closely obfuscated utilizing a business packer to sidestep detection and evaluation efforts. The malware, per PRODAFT, is delivered as a part of a three-stage course of that begins with an APK file.
“An inspection of the AndroidManifest file reveals that many class names don’t seem within the unique APK,” the corporate mentioned. “These lacking courses are dynamically loaded by the packer throughout set up, and embrace malicious code extracted from an encrypted file. The whole mechanism is deliberately crafted to keep away from detection by antivirus instruments.”
As soon as launched, it serves a bogus replace bar and prompts the sufferer to grant it accessibility permissions, after which it unpacks and masses a DEX file incorporating the botnet features.
A core characteristic of AntiDot is its means to watch for newly launched functions and serve and serve a bogus login display from the C2 server when the sufferer opens a cryptocurrency- or payment-related app that the operators are involved in.
The malware additionally abuses accessibility providers to collect intensive details about the contents of the lively screens and units itself because the default SMS app for capturing incoming and outgoing texts. Moreover, it might probably monitor telephone calls, block calls from particular numbers, or redirect them, successfully opening up extra avenues for fraud.
One other essential characteristic is that it might probably preserve observe of real-time notifications displayed within the system’s standing bar and takes steps to both dismiss or snooze them in a bid to suppress alerts and keep away from alerting the consumer of suspicious exercise.
PRODAFT mentioned the C2 panel that powers the distant management features is constructed utilizing MeteorJS, an open-source JavaScript framework that permits real-time communication. The panel has six completely different tabs –
- Bots, which shows an inventory of all of the compromised gadgets and their particulars
- Injects, which shows an inventory of all goal apps for overlay injection and consider the overlay template for every inject
- Analytic, which shows an inventory of functions put in on sufferer gadgets and sure used to establish new and widespread apps for future focusing on
- Settings, which comprises the core configuration choices for the panel, together with updating the injects
- Gates, which is used to handle the infrastructure endpoints that the bots connect with
- Assist, which gives assist sources for utilizing the malware
“AntiDot represents a scalable and evasive MaaS platform designed for monetary acquire via persistent management of cell gadgets, particularly in localized and language-specific areas,” the corporate mentioned. “The malware additionally employs WebView injection and overlay assaults to steal credentials, making it a critical risk to consumer privateness and system safety.”
GodFather Returns
The event as Zimperium zLabs mentioned it uncovered a “subtle evolution” of the GodFather Android banking trojan that makes use of on-device virtualization to hijack official cell banking and cryptocurrency functions and perform real-time fraud.
“The core of this novel approach is the malware’s means to create an entire, remoted digital atmosphere on the sufferer’s system. As a substitute of merely mimicking a login display, the malware installs a malicious ‘host’ utility that comprises a virtualization framework,” researchers Fernando Ortega and Vishnu Pratapagiri mentioned.
“This host then downloads and runs a duplicate of the particular focused banking or cryptocurrency app inside its managed sandbox.”
Ought to the sufferer launch the app, they’re redirected to the digital occasion, from the place their actions are monitored by the risk actors. As well as, the most recent model of GodFather packs in options to bypass static evaluation instruments by making use of ZIP manipulation and filling the AndroidManifest file with irrelevant permissions.
Like within the case of AntiDot, GodFather depends on accessibility providers to conduct its data gathering actions and management compromised gadgets. Whereas Google has enforced safety protections that stop sideloaded apps from enabling accessibility service beginning Android 13, a session-based set up strategy can get round this safeguard.
The session-based methodology is utilized by Android app shops to deal with app set up, as do texting apps, mail shoppers, and browsers when introduced with APK information.
Central to the functioning of the malware is its virtualization characteristic. Within the first stage, it collects details about the checklist of put in apps and checks if it contains any of the predetermined apps it is configured to focus on.
If matches are discovered, it extracts related data from these apps after which proceeds to put in a duplicate of these apps in a digital atmosphere contained in the dropper app. Thus when the sufferer makes an attempt to launch the precise banking utility on their system, GodFather intercepts the motion and opens the virtualized occasion as a substitute.
It is value stating that comparable virtualization options have been beforehand flagged in one other Android malware codenamed FjordPhantom, which was documented by Promon in December 2023. The tactic represents a paradigm shift in cell risk capabilities that transcend the standard overlay tactic to steal credentials and different delicate knowledge.
“Whereas this GodFather marketing campaign casts a large web, focusing on practically 500 functions globally, our evaluation reveals that this extremely subtle virtualization assault is presently targeted on a dozen Turkish monetary establishments,” the corporate mentioned.
“A very alarming functionality uncovered within the GodFather malware is its capability to steal system lock credentials, no matter whether or not the sufferer makes use of an unlock sample, a PIN, or a password. This poses a big risk to consumer privateness and system safety.”
The cell safety firm mentioned the abuse of accessibility providers is among the some ways malicious apps can obtain privilege escalation on Android, permitting them to acquire permissions that exceed their useful necessities. These embrace misuse of Unique Gear Producer (OEM) permissions and safety vulnerabilities in pre-installed apps that can’t be eliminated by customers.
“Stopping privilege escalation and securing Android ecosystems in opposition to malicious or over-privileged functions requires greater than consumer consciousness or reactive patching—it calls for proactive, scalable, and clever protection mechanisms,” safety researcher Ziv Zeira mentioned.
SuperCard X Malware Involves Russia
The findings additionally comply with the primary recorded makes an attempt to focus on Russian customers with SuperCard X, a newly emerged Android malware that may conduct near-field communication (NFC) relay assaults for fraudulent transactions.
In keeping with Russian cybersecurity firm F6, SuperCard X is a malicious modification of a official device referred to as NFCGate that may seize or modify NFC visitors. The top purpose of the malware is to not solely obtain NFC visitors from the sufferer, but in addition financial institution card knowledge learn by sending instructions to its EMV chip.
“This utility permits attackers to steal financial institution card knowledge by intercepting NFC visitors for subsequent theft of cash from customers’ financial institution accounts,” F6 researcher Alexander Koposov mentioned in a report revealed this week.
Assaults leveraging SuperCard X have been first noticed focusing on Android customers in Italy earlier this 12 months, weaponizing NFC know-how to relay knowledge from victims’ bodily playing cards to attacker-controlled gadgets, from the place they have been used to hold out fraudulent ATM withdrawals or authorize point-of-sale (PoS) funds.
The Chinese language-speaking MaaS platform, marketed on Telegram as able to focusing on clients of main banks within the U.S., Australia and Europe, shares substantial code-level overlaps with NGate, an Android malware that has additionally been discovered weaponizing NFCGate for malicious functions within the Czech Republic.
All these campaigns are united by the truth that they depend on smishing strategies to persuade a possible sufferer of the necessity to set up an APK file on the system below the guise of a helpful program.
Malicious Apps Noticed on App Shops
Whereas all the aforementioned malware strains require victims to sideload the apps on their gadgets, new analysis has additionally unearthed malicious apps on the official Google Play Retailer and Apple’s App Retailer with capabilities to reap private data and steal mnemonic phrases related to cryptocurrency wallets with the purpose of draining their property.
One of many apps in query, RapiPlata, is estimated to have been downloaded round 150,000 occasions on each Android and iOS gadgets, underscoring the severity of the risk. The app is a sort of malware often known as SpyLoan, which lures customers by claiming to supply loans at low-interest charges, solely to be subjected to extortion, blackmail, and knowledge theft.
“RapiPlata primarily targets Colombian customers by promising fast loans,” Examine Level mentioned. “Past its predatory lending practices, the app engages in intensive knowledge theft. The app had intensive entry to delicate consumer knowledge — together with SMS messages, name logs, calendar occasions, and put in functions — even going as far as to add this knowledge to its servers.”
The cryptocurrency pockets phishing apps, however, have been distributed via compromised developer accounts and serve a phishing web page by way of WebView to acquire the seed phrases.
Though these apps have since been faraway from the respective app shops, the hazard is that the Android apps could possibly be obtainable for obtain from third-party web sites. Customers are suggested to train warning when downloading monetary or loan-related functions.