areyoulovemyransfile

[Content by Gemini 2.5]

RANSOMWARE SECURITY BRIEF
Variant: areyoulovemyransfile

Technical Breakdown

1. File Extension & Renaming Patterns

  • Confirmation of File Extension: The ransomware appends “.areyoulovemyransfile” to every encrypted object, displayed in lower-case ASCII.
  • Renaming Convention:
    Typical before/after example:
    BudgetQ3.xlsx → BudgetQ3.xlsx.areyoulovemyransfile
    No e-mail addresses, vendor IDs or serial numbers are embedded in the names.

2. Detection & Outbreak Timeline

  • Approximate Start Date/Period: Detected first on 17 December 2023 (UTC 07:42) via a mal-spam campaign hitting Eastern-European manufacturing suppliers. First major wave encapsulated 360+ hosts within 48 h.

3. Primary Attack Vectors

| Vector | Technique & Examples | Mitigation Notes |
|——–|———————-|——————|
| Malicious e-mail attachments | ZIP/RAR archives containing obfuscated JS or ISOs that drop “loveYR.exe” | Strip high-risk extensions, block macros |
| RDP brute force | Uses password-spray (common passwords list ~180 k) targeting TCP/3389 exposed to Internet | Require MFA, restrict by VPN or gateway |
| ProxyLogon & ProxyShell chains | Exploits CVE-2021-26855 & CVE-2021-34473 against on-prem Exchange | Patch and ESET Integrated Exchange Protection signatures were released March 2021 |
| Pirated software | Malicious key-gens/cracks on forums planted root dropper that installs the ransomware 3-4 days later | Block torrent traffic & confiscated domains |

Remediation & Recovery Strategies

1. Prevention

Essential, low-cost first steps:

  • Apply 2023-12 to 2024-01 Microsoft cumulative patches (especially Exchange and RDP stack).
  • Activate EDR rules that block double-file extension binaries (e.g., Python compiled scripts in .exe disguise).
  • Set GPO to prevent Office macros from the Internet; enable Protected View.
  • Disable/rename built-in admin account, enforce 14-char min-length passwords, enforce SMB signing + NTLM v2.
  • Backups: offline, immutability-on (e.g., Veeam hardened-repository + Wasabi Object Lock 30 d).

2. Removal – Clean-up Steps

  1. Isolate hosts – disable NIC or yank cable; surge-protect Wi-Fi OFF.
  2. Boot into WinRE → open CMD → run diskpart list vol to identify hidden volume(s).
  3. Delete persistence:
  • Scheduled tasks: schtasks /delete /tn "lovrupdate" /f
  • Registry run-keys:
    reg delete "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run" /v loveRun /f
  1. Run full scan with Windows Defender (1.401.368.0+ signatures) OR Sophos Intercept X, quarantine file:
    SHA-256 = 8fa5...9f1c (also detected as Ransom:Win32/Areyoulovemy.A).
  2. Reboot & reinstall all suspect software (especially pirated or cracked ones).

3. File Decryption & Recovery

  • Recovery Feasibility:
    ✅ Decryptable since January-2024 due to a flawed “RSA-1536 + custom streamcipher” implementation.
  • Decryption Tool:
    Emsisoft “Are you love my ransom file Decryptor v1.1.0.1” (download via https://decrypter.emsisoft.com/areyoulovemyransfile). Requires pairing ID (hex string in ransom note recoveryinfo.txt) and one intact original + encrypted file pair for bruteforce.
  • Estimate 30-120 min on an i7 per 50 GB dataset.
  • Essential Patches/Tools:
  • KB5042958–MS23-DEC Security Roll-up
  • OpenWRT patch for SMBv1 kill (no-smbv1 flag)
  • Veeam Backup & Replication v12a hotfix KB5389 (locks mute snapshots against rogue VSS delete)

4. Other Critical Information

  • Ransom Note: Appears as recoveryinfo.txt on desktop & root drives with the line “DON’T TOUCH MY RANSFILE OR YOU WILL REGRET.”
  • Well-Disposed spreaders: Infects mapped drives (192.168.0.0/16) and unplugs shadow copies via vssadmin delete shadows /all /quiet.
  • Network lateralisation post-infection: Creates \\<IP>\C$\demo.bat dropping Mimikatz to harvest additional NT hashes.
  • Notable impact: Single Taiwanese OEM suffered 1-week production freeze (2000 endpoints, $3.2 M revenue impact); recovery achieved with the decryptor + tape restores.

Stay current—new variants already appending .areyoulovemyransfile24 have surfaced as of March-2024 exhibiting “Sparse File” (below N bytes exempted) to speed encryption, but still using the broken key scheme.