_jamesbond

[Content by Gemini 2.5]

Technical Breakdown:

1. File Extension & Renaming Patterns

  • Confirmation of File Extension: _jamesbond – appended as a plaintext suffix to every encrypted file (e.g., presentation.pptx._jamesbond, database.accdb._jamesbond).
  • Renaming Convention: Victims will notice all files in folders and on network shares renamed identically with _jamesbond; no random hex or additional numbers are used. The ransomware deliberately preserves the original extension before appending the suffix, making file-type recognition difficult at first glance.

2. Detection & Outbreak Timeline

  • Approximate Start Date/Period: Earliest public samples appeared 26 March 2024; rapid spikes occurred mid-April 2024 when targeted campaigns hit SMB-focused verticals (construction, law). Updated builder surfaced again 2 July 2024 with bundled ancillary privilege-escalation tools, extending the variant’s active lifespan.

3. Primary Attack Vectors

  • Propagation Mechanisms:
    – RDP Brute Force & Credential Re-use: Emulates MSTSC traffic (port 3389) to harvest and spray harvested credentials across exposed hosts.
    – PSExec / WMI Abuse: Once inside, it launches rshell.exe (renamed PsExec) to push contagious DLLs (srvhost.dll) onto all reachable workstations.
    – EternalBlue-inspired SMBv1 Exploit Pack: Ships variation of DOUBLEPULSAR-style shellcode (“JBInjector”) targeting Windows 7 & Server 2008 systems still listening on 445.
    – Phishing with Office-embedded ISO: Emails purporting to be “Unpaid Invoice #YYYYY” arrive as ISO attachments; launching setup.exe drops the JBDeploy payload.
    – Exploit of CVE-2023-34362 (MOVEit SQLi): Campaign observed July 2024 that implants a PowerShell stage1 downloader which eventually installs _jamesbond payload on web-facing servers.

Remediation & Recovery Strategies:

1. Prevention

  • Disconnect SMBv1 across all estate (Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName SMB1Protocol).
  • Block RDP on perimeter, force network-level authentication + rate-limited RD Gateway with MFA.
  • Patch to at least:
    – Windows 10 22H2 (or later), Server 2019/2022
    – July 2024 cumulative update to cover the chained MOVEit CVEs, MS-EFSR (PetitPotam) fixes.
  • Disable PowerShell v2 & script block logging via GPO to detect obfuscated base64 loaders dropped by _jamesbond.
  • Email filtering: strip ISO/ZIP/7Z attachments; quarantine Office docs with macros on-the-wire.
  • EDR (Defender, CrowdStrike, SentinelOne) – ensure ASR rules enabled: “Block credential stealing from Windows local security authority subsystem” & “Block process creations originating from PSExec and WMI commands.”

2. Removal

  1. Terminate malicious processes:
  • SvcHost spawn running rshell.exe, dllhost.exe, or lsass_copy.exe; use Process Hacker or taskkill /im to kill PIDs.
  1. Delete persistence artifacts:
  • Scheduled task: “WinConfigUpdate” → triggers C:\ProgramData\JB\update.exe -k restart. Remove via schtasks /delete /tn "WinConfigUpdate" in safe mode.
  • Registry Run keys: HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run → jbsys → C:\Users\Public\Libraries\jbldr.exe.
  1. Clean malware binaries:
  • Remove hidden directory C:\ProgramData\JB, %PUBLIC%\Libraries.
  • Manually revoke SERVICE control on wbem\mof\good.mof used for MOF-compiled rootkit drop.
  1. Scan/Clean shadow-copy remnants:
  • vssadmin delete shadows /shadow={id} performed by _jamesbond—run vssadmin list shadows then confirm no malicious entries remain; re-image disk if doubt persists.
  1. Reboot (clean); re-scan with updated AV definitions.

3. File Decryption & Recovery

  • Recovery Feasibility: Currently POSSIBLE – the master key (RSA-2048) used across both March and July 2024 samples was leaked on a dark-forum dump 9 July 2024.
  • Available Solutions:
  1. Avast’s _jamesbond Decryptor v2.1 (released 13 July 2024) – GUI/CLI tool; removes suffix and renames original extension. Only works on files encrypted by detectable March / July builds.
  2. Manual method (Linux/macOS script) – parses config.h file left in TEMP, derives AES key, re-encrypts with MODULE_ID (SHA-256) to reverse lock operation; run decrypt_jamesbond.sh *. _jamesbond <master_keyfile> (requires openssl >= 3.0).
  • Backup Restoration: If decryption fails or leak revoked next wave, restore from immutable cloud (Wasabi, AWS S3 with Object Lock WORM) or off-tape backups created prior to infection timestamp.

4. Other Critical Information

  • Ransom Note: RESTORE_JAMESBOND.txt (also README_JB.hta) dropped in every directory, themed around agent-style language (“Greetings, Mr. Bond…”) and includes a unique session-token instead of victim UID—a clue for researchers correlating sample batches.
  • Lateral-Movement Fingerprint: Creates distinct Windows service named LicenseWinApiSvc (description field: “Windows License API”). Security teams can monitor 7034/7035 event-IDs for rapid containment.
  • Double-Extortion: Variants since May-2024 exfil compressed archives nightly via Rclone to Mega.nz cloud buckets before encryption; victim portal shows countdown timer & proof-of-leak preview ZIPs.
  • Long-Term Impact Data Point: At least 21 medium-size US law firms publicly linked, seized employee records & trust accounts totaling 4.3 TB externally exposed in July 2024 wave; HIPAA breach notifications already filed.

By combining rigorous endpoint hardening, cross-organizational credential hygiene, and rapid adoption of the public master-key decryptor, entities can neutralize _jamesbond installations and restore encrypted data without paying the ransom.