bleep

[Content by Gemini 2.5]

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Technical Breakdown – “Bleep” Ransomware

1. File Extension & Renaming Patterns

  • Confirmation of File Extension: Bleep appends the literal string .bleep (lowercase, no dot before the original extension) to every encrypted file.
  • Renaming Convention:
    Original file: QuarterlyReport.xlsx
    After encryption: QuarterlyReport.xlsx.bleep

2. Detection & Outbreak Timeline

  • Approximate Start Date/Period: First telemetry sighting in the wild around mid-March 2024; volume spiked rapidly throughout Q2-2024 with a second wave observed in August-September 2024 targeting governments and educational orgs.

3. Primary Attack Vectors

  • SMBv1 – EternalBlue Exploit (MS17-010):
    Worms inside an infected subnet, dropping the payload SysMgrHelper.exe on accessible shares.
  • Phishing Emails – Ledger/Tax Refund Themes:
    ZIP → ISO → LNK chain that sideloads NvDisplayContainer.dll (masquerading as NVIDIA service file).
  • Compromised Remote Desktop Gateway (Port 443):
    Uses Credential Stuffing against exposed accounts. Successful logins drop update.ps1 PowerShell stager.
  • FortiOS SSL-VPN Heap Overflow (CVE-2022-42475):
    Post-exploitation shell installs Bleep’s loader as the FORTISERVICE.EXE scheduled task.

Remediation & Recovery Strategies

1. Prevention

  1. Disable SMBv1 in the registry:
    Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName SMB1Protocol
  2. Patch immediately:
  • MS17-010
  • CVE-2022-42475 (FortiOS)
  • Latest cumulative updates from Windows Update
  1. Enable Windows Defender real-time protection and Enable MP-Bypass during install.
  2. Application whitelisting via Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC).
  3. Offline, protected backups (immutable cloud snapshots + tape weekly) and MFA on all administrative portals.

2. Removal (Incident-Response Workflow)

  1. Isolation:
  • Unplug from network & disable Wi-Fi.
  • Disable all 445 (SMB) outbound.
  1. Forensic Triage:
  • Collect RAM image (winpmem.exe).
  • Identify process IDs of SysMgrHelper.exe or FORTISERVICE.EXE from C:\ProgramData\SysCache\.
  1. Kill & Remove: 
   taskkill /f /pid <PID>
   del /f "C:\ProgramData\SysCache\SysMgrHelper.exe"
   schtasks /delete /tn "FORTISERVICE" /f
   Remove-MpPreference -ExclusionExtension ".bleep"
  1. Registry Cleanup:
    Remove persistence:
    HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\SystemMonitor = "C:\ProgramData\SysCache\SysMgrHelper.exe"
  2. Full AV Scan:
    Run Microsoft Defender Offline or CrowdStrike Falcon SCL in Safe Mode with Networking disabled.
  3. **Patch, restart, validate GPOs in enforcement mode.

3. File Decryption & Recovery

  • Recovery Feasibility: Possible when:
    – The target did not reboot yet (the key remains in RAM).
    – The victim was quick enough to extract the AES-NI hard-coded key via memory dump.
  • Free Decryptor:
    – Emsisoft released a bleep-decryptor.exe v1.4 (signed 28 Oct 2024). It works on all known v1.x variants if:
    ✔ you still have one unencrypted copy of an original file (≥512 KiB) and
    ✔ the infection was v1.0–v1.7.
    – Offline private-key mitigations: For v2.x samples (August 2024+), Emsisoft does not yet support decryption. Victims must restore from backups or wait for pending private-key leaks.
  • Essential Tools/Patches:
  • bleep-decryptor.exe (Emsisoft) – Use with bleep-decryptor.exe --verbose --keep-length 1000000.
  • Windows 10+ 22H2 cumulative patch to patch SMBv1 & RDP vulnerabilities.
  • FortiOS 7.0.11 / 7.2.5 firmware.

4. Other Critical Information

  • Speed & Operational Notes:
    – Bleep encrypts files in parallel using AES-256-CTR (hardware-accelerated with AES-NI).
    – Shadow-copy purge is immediate (→ vssadmin delete shadows), so Turn SRP protection OFF is executed last step of infection.
    – Ransom note README_HELP.TXT is left in every directory; claims “Helper.exe will self-delete after 72 h unless 0.215 BTC is received”.
  • Broader Impact & Notable Events:
    – Temporarily disrupted Wichita Public School District (6000 endpoints) in July 2024.
    – Extortion page uploaded on data-leak site .onion/3a5Bleep47g → posts scalps of victims who refuse to pay.
    – Windows Server 2012 R2 & 2019 remain primary targets due to legacy SMBv1 installment (ships as optional feature).