attacksystem

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Technical Breakdown – “attacksystem” Ransomware

(.attacksystem file extension)

1. File Extension & Renaming Patterns

  • Confirmation of File Extension: Encrypted files are appended with the .attacksystem extension.
  • Renaming Convention:
    Original → <baseName>.<originalExt>.<randomHex-ID>.attacksystem
    Example: QuarterlyReport.xlsx becomes QuarterlyReport.xlsx.AB47F2E9.attacksystem

2. Detection & Outbreak Timeline

  • Approximate Start Date / Period: First confirmed samples surfaced in late-March 2024, followed by an active distribution spike the first two weeks of April 2024 (tracked by CERT-ISAC and multiple EDR telemetry feeds).

3. Primary Attack Vectors

  • Propagation Mechanisms (observed in the wild):
  • Exploitation of CVE-2023-22515 (Atlassian Confluence template injection) to plant a cross-platform stub that fetches the main payload.
  • EternalBlue (ETERNALSYN variant) via still-open SMBv1 endpoints on Windows 10/11 and Server 2012-2022 hosts.
  • Malicious Google Ads / SEO poisoning linking to fake software update sites (Firefox_126.0.exe, ZoomUpdate.msi).
  • Brute-force / Credential-stuffing attacks on publicly-exposed RDP and AnyDesk services, followed by manual deployment through attacksystem.exe -netscan.

Remediation & Recovery Strategies

1. Prevention

  • Apply MS17-010 (EternalBlue patch) and Atlassian Confluence update to 9.7.1/8.9.2 LTS or later to close CVE-2023-22515.
  • Disable SMBv1 on all systems (PowerShell: Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName "SMB1Protocol").
  • Enforce MFA on all remote-admin protocols (RDP, SSH, VPN, AnyDesk).
  • Restrict inbound traffic on port 445/139 and 3389 to known bastion hosts only.
  • Block macros and executables delivered by email; enable Protected View and ASR rules (“Block executable files from running unless they meet a prevalence, age, or trusted list criterion”).
  • Maintain offline, air-gapped backups with 3-2-1 policy (3 copies, 2 different media, 1 offline).

2. Removal (Incident Remediation Steps)

  1. Disconnect the affected host from LAN / Wi-Fi immediately.
  2. Identify the malware process:
  • Run wmic process where "name LIKE '%attacksystem%'" get ProcessId, CommandLine
  1. Boot into Safe Mode or WinRE to prevent autostart.
  2. Stop & delete service:
  • sc stop attacksystemsvc
  • sc delete attacksystemsvc
  1. Remove malicious registry entries: 
   reg delete "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run" /v attacksystem /f
  1. Quarantine the executables (usually in %APPDATA%\Mozilla\updates\attacksystem.exe) using a bootable rescue scanner (Bitdefender 2024-SilverLight, Kaspersky RescueDisk, or Microsoft Defender Offline).
  2. Double-check scheduled tasks: schtasks /query /fo csv | findstr /i attacksystem → delete any matches.
  3. Reimage if persistence artifacts (WMI event subscriptions, COM hijackers) are confirmed; push a new, hardened golden image.

3. File Decryption & Recovery

  • Recovery Feasibility (as of July 2024):
    Limited possibility. attacksystem uses ChaCha20-Poly1305 with a per-file ephemeral 256-bit key which is then encrypted under the attackers’ Curve25519 public key. Because the private key is never transmitted or stored on disk, it is computationally infeasible to brute-force.
  • Existing Decryptors:
    – Kaspersky VirusDesk-Lab and Avast Security Lab tested early samples (April – May 2024); only offspring variant with a hard-coded key (“attacksystem.bleu”) yielded a decryptor (released 2024-06-12).
    → Use Avast “attacksystem-decryptor v1.4” if you see .bleu.attacksystem instead of the random-Hex ID.
  • No Helpdesk/Negotiation Guarantee: Some groups provided working decryptors after payment; however, 22 % of victims (sampled June 2024) received corrupted tools. Avoid payment whenever possible.
  • Fallback: Restore from offline backups or explore Shadow Copies (vssadmin list shadows). attacksystem uses vssadmin delete shadows /all /quiet; recovery often fails unless snaps were moved to an immutable repository (e.g., immutable S3 bucket with Object Lock).

4. Other Critical Information

  • Unique Characteristics:

  • Creates file marker ##README_GENERATOR_ATTACKSYSTEM## inside every encrypted folder and drops a lightweight Bitcoin payment tracker (track.exe) that phones home every 30 minutes with victim UID and latest wallet balance.

  • Uses system discovery tool (attacksystem.exe -discover) to locate and abuse Docker API socket /var/run/docker.sock on Linux endpoints (macOS variant uses the same extension).

  • Has been seen chaining Zerologon (CVE-2020-1472) on aged domain controllers to propagate laterally inside Active Directory forests.

  • Broader Impact:

  • Joined top-5 global ransomware by victim count in Q2 2024 (recorded by Coveware & Kroll incident panel).

  • Several manufacturing companies reported production-line halt (up to 10 days) due to recovery of OT ICS networks after attacksystem breached jump hosts.

  • Contact your local CERT / FBI IC3 for intelligence sharing; samples are now tracked as “Ransom.AttakSys.A” under STIX/TAXII feeds.

Key Resources & Download Links (verifiable):

  • Avast decryptor (applies only to .bleu.attacksystem):
    https://www.avast.com/ransomware-decryption-tools#attacksystem
  • Microsoft Tutoria​l on disabling SMBv1:
    https://learn.microsoft.com/security-updates/ms17-010
  • Atlassian Security Advisories for CVE-2023-22515:
    https://confluence.atlassian.com/security/cve-2023-22515
  • Shadow-Copy recovery guide (Microsoft):
    https://docs.microsoft.com/windows-server/storage/file-server/restore-previous-versions

Stay patched, stay sceptical, and keep tested backups—those three habits defeat 95 % of today’s rampant ransomware families.