Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered the inside workings of an Android malware referred to as AntiDot that has compromised over 3,775 units 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” resolution with capabilities to file 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 through malicious promoting networks or by extremely tailor-made phishing campaigns primarily based on exercise that signifies selective concentrating 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 units 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 not less than 11 energetic command-and-control (C2) servers in operation which can be overseeing at least 3,775 contaminated units 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 embody malicious code extracted from an encrypted file. Your entire 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 capabilities.
A core function of AntiDot is its means to observe 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 focused on.
The malware additionally abuses accessibility providers to assemble intensive details about the contents of the energetic screens and units itself because the default SMS app for capturing incoming and outgoing texts. Moreover, it will possibly monitor telephone calls, block calls from particular numbers, or redirect them, successfully opening up extra avenues for fraud.
One other necessary function is that it will possibly preserve monitor 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 capabilities is constructed utilizing MeteorJS, an open-source JavaScript framework that allows real-time communication. The panel has six totally different tabs –
- Bots, which shows a listing of all of the compromised units and their particulars
- Injects, which shows a listing of all goal apps for overlay injection and consider the overlay template for every inject
- Analytic, which shows a listing of functions put in on sufferer units and certain used to determine new and standard apps for future concentrating 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 hook up with
- Assist, which provides assist assets for utilizing the malware
“AntiDot represents a scalable and evasive MaaS platform designed for monetary achieve by persistent management of cell units, 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 severe 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 professional 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 surroundings 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 newest 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 units. Whereas Google has enforced safety protections that forestall sideloaded apps from enabling accessibility service beginning Android 13, a session-based set up strategy can get round this safeguard.
The session-based technique is utilized by Android app shops to deal with app set up, as do texting apps, mail shoppers, and browsers when offered with APK recordsdata.
Central to the functioning of the malware is its virtualization function. Within the first stage, it collects details about the listing of put in apps and checks if it consists of 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 surroundings 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 mentioning that comparable virtualization options had 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 normal overlay tactic to steal credentials and different delicate knowledge.
“Whereas this GodFather marketing campaign casts a large web, concentrating on almost 500 functions globally, our evaluation reveals that this extremely subtle virtualization assault is at present centered 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 major 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 practical necessities. These embody misuse of Unique Gear Producer (OEM) permissions and safety vulnerabilities in pre-installed apps that can not be eliminated by customers.
“Stopping privilege escalation and securing Android ecosystems towards 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 observe 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.
Based on Russian cybersecurity firm F6, SuperCard X is a malicious modification of a professional software referred to as NFCGate that may seize or modify NFC visitors. The tip 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 printed this week.
Assaults leveraging SuperCard X had been first noticed concentrating on Android customers in Italy earlier this yr, weaponizing NFC expertise to relay knowledge from victims’ bodily playing cards to attacker-controlled units, from the place they had 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 concentrating on prospects 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 methods 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 units, 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 belongings.
One of many apps in query, RapiPlata, is estimated to have been downloaded round 150,000 instances on each Android and iOS units, underscoring the severity of the risk. The app is a sort of malware often called 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,” Verify 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 by compromised developer accounts and serve a phishing web page through 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 out there for obtain from third-party web sites. Customers are suggested to train warning when downloading monetary or loan-related functions.
