HAFNIUM

HAFNIUM is a likely state-sponsored cyber espionage group operating out of China that has been active since at least January 2021. HAFNIUM primarily targets entities in the US across a number of industry sectors, including infectious disease researchers, law firms, higher education institutions, defense contractors, policy think tanks, and NGOs.[1][2]

ID: G0125
Associated Groups: Operation Exchange Marauder
Contributors: Daniyal Naeem, BT Security; Matt Brenton, Zurich Insurance Group; Mayuresh Dani, Qualys; Harshal Tupsamudre, Qualys
Version: 1.0
Created: 03 March 2021
Last Modified: 25 April 2021

Associated Group Descriptions

Name Description
Operation Exchange Marauder

[2]

Techniques Used

Domain ID Name Use
Enterprise T1583 .003 Acquire Infrastructure: Virtual Private Server

HAFNIUM has operated from leased virtual private servers (VPS) in the United States.[1]

.006 Acquire Infrastructure: Web Services

HAFNIUM has acquired web services for use in C2 and exfiltration.[1]

Enterprise T1071 .001 Application Layer Protocol: Web Protocols

HAFNIUM has used open-source C2 frameworks, including Covenant.[1]

Enterprise T1560 .001 Archive Collected Data: Archive via Utility

HAFNIUM has used 7-Zip and WinRAR to compress stolen files for exfiltration.[1][2]

Enterprise T1059 .001 Command and Scripting Interpreter: PowerShell

HAFNIUM has used the Exchange Power Shell module Set-OabVirtualDirectoryPowerShell to export mailbox data.[1][2]

Enterprise T1136 .002 Create Account: Domain Account

HAFNIUM has created and granted privileges to domain accounts.[2]

Enterprise T1132 .001 Data Encoding: Standard Encoding

HAFNIUM has used ASCII encoding for C2 traffic.[1]

Enterprise T1114 .002 Email Collection: Remote Email Collection

HAFNIUM has used web shells to export mailbox data.[1][2]

Enterprise T1567 .002 Exfiltration Over Web Service: Exfiltration to Cloud Storage

HAFNIUM has exfiltrated data to file sharing sites, including MEGA.[1]

Enterprise T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution

HAFNIUM has exploited CVE-2021-26855, CVE-2021-26857, CVE-2021-26858, and CVE-2021-27065 to compromise on-premises versions of Microsoft Exchange Server, enabling access to email accounts and installation of additional malware.[1][2][3]

Enterprise T1592 .004 Gather Victim Host Information: Client Configurations

HAFNIUM has interacted with Office 365 tenants to gather details regarding target's environments.[1]

Enterprise T1589 .002 Gather Victim Identity Information: Email Addresses

HAFNIUM has collected e-mail addresses for users they intended to target.[2]

Enterprise T1590 Gather Victim Network Information

HAFNIUM gathered the fully qualified domain names (FQDNs) for targeted Exchange servers in the victim's environment.[2]

.005 IP Addresses

HAFNIUM has obtained IP addresses for publicly-accessible Exchange servers.[2]

Enterprise T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

HAFNIUM has downloaded malware and tools--including Nishang and PowerCat--onto a compromised host.[1]

Enterprise T1095 Non-Application Layer Protocol

HAFNIUM has used TCP for C2.[1]

Enterprise T1003 .001 OS Credential Dumping: LSASS Memory

HAFNIUM has used procdump to dump the LSASS process memory.[1][2]

.003 OS Credential Dumping: NTDS

HAFNIUM has stolen copies of the Active Directory database (NTDS.DIT).[2]

Enterprise T1505 .003 Server Software Component: Web Shell

HAFNIUM has deployed multiple web shells on compromised servers including SIMPLESEESHARP, SPORTSBALL, China Chopper, and ASPXSpy.[1][2][3]

Enterprise T1218 .011 Signed Binary Proxy Execution: Rundll32

HAFNIUM has used rundll32 to load malicious DLLs.[2]

Enterprise T1078 .003 Valid Accounts: Local Accounts

HAFNIUM has used the NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM account to create files on Exchange servers.[3]

Software

ID Name References Techniques
S0073 ASPXSpy [2] Server Software Component: Web Shell
S0020 China Chopper [2][3] Application Layer Protocol: Web Protocols, Brute Force: Password Guessing, Command and Scripting Interpreter: Windows Command Shell, Data from Local System, File and Directory Discovery, Indicator Removal on Host: Timestomp, Ingress Tool Transfer, Network Service Scanning, Obfuscated Files or Information: Software Packing, Server Software Component: Web Shell
S0029 PsExec [2] Create Account: Domain Account, Create or Modify System Process: Windows Service, Lateral Tool Transfer, Remote Services: SMB/Windows Admin Shares, System Services: Service Execution

References