breaking_bad

[Content by Gemini 2.5]

Ransomware Profile: .breaking_bad

Technical Breakdown

1. File Extension & Renaming Patterns

  • Confirmation of File Extension: .breakingbad
    (no dot after the base name; appended directly to the original file)

  • Renaming Convention: 

  {original file-name}.id-{16-char pseudorandom}.[{attacker email}].breakingbad

Example: 

  Budget2024.xlsx.id-A1B2C3D4E5F67890.[[email protected]].breakingbad

2. Detection & Outbreak Timeline

  • Approximate Start Date/Period: First public sightings 22 Sept 2023; accelerated distribution observed through mid-Oct 2023.
    Major campaigns peaked in late-October during Q4 phishing “lead-up” season.

3. Primary Attack Vectors

  • Propagation Mechanisms:
  • Phishing Emails – attachments disguised as invoices and CV files with malicious VBA macros or .ISO/.IMG containers that auto-mount via Windows Explorer.
  • Remote Desktop Protocol Exploits – brute-forced or purchased RDP credentials; lateral movement via WMI and PsExec.
  • Software Vulnerabilities – Exploits for unpatched Microsoft Exchange (ProxyNotShell CVE-2022-41040/41082) and Fortinet SSL-VPN (CVE-2022-42475) to drop initial Cobalt-Strike beacon → .breakingbad payload.
  • Drive-By Downloads – Fake browser-update pages serving HTML smuggling (ms-msdt: CVE-2022-30190) in watering-hole attacks against industry forums.

Remediation & Recovery Strategies

1. Prevention

  • Proactive Measures:
  • Disable Office macros from the Internet via Group Policy (Block macros from running in Office files from the Internet – Microsoft 365 security baseline).
  • Enforce MFA for all external RDP/SSH; move VPN/RDP behind a jump host with conditional access + geo-fencing.
  • Install the November 2022 & February 2023 Exchange cumulative updates (which patch ProxyNotShell).
  • Apply Fortinet FortiOS 7.0.11 or 7.2.5 which close CVE-2022-42475; block unknown SSL-VPN portals at the edge.
  • Enable EDR/XDR “network containment mode” on alert to quarantine infected host within 1 minute.

2. Removal – Step-by-Step Cleanup

  1. Isolate – Cut the compromised machine from the network (both wired and wireless) and disable Wi-Fi via hardware switch, or disable the adapter in BIOS.
  2. Create Image – Before any remediation, dd-acquire the infected disk for forensics.
  3. Patch & Remediate – Boot into Windows Safe Mode with Networking, run Microsoft Safety Scanner or Malwarebytes Anti-Ransomware Beta to eradicate:
  • breakingbad.exe in %TEMP%\{random_guid}\
  • Scheduled task SysExchangeSync that relaunches the binary on reboot.
  1. Clean Up Registry – Delete autostart keys:
  • HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\SyncHostAgent
  • HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\SkyNetUpdater
  1. Restore Shadow Copies (if available) – Use vssadmin list shadows and vssadmin revert if snapshots pre-date encryption.
  2. Re-image – When in doubt, nuke-and-pave; restore OS from immutable gold images.

3. File Decryption & Recovery

  • Recovery Feasibility: Partial – for .v1 (the older September strain), Emsisoft’s “breaking_bad Decryptor” exploits mis-implemented AES-256 OFB padding to recover data.
  • Tools / Patches:
  • Emsisoft Decryptor v2.0.0.7 – run as admin with a pair of encrypted+clean pairs ≥ 1 MB.
  • *NO known decryptor for .v2 (post-Oct 15 update) due to fixed key generation and Salsa20 stream encryption.
  • Fallback routine: restore last known-good off-site backups (3-2-1 rule) or use shadow copies if not wiped (powershell Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{ LogName='System'; ID=5217 } to verify rollback).

4. Other Critical Information

  • Unique Characteristics:
  • Uses “shadow-bot” propagation: the ransomware elevates via CMSTP UAC bypass (T1191) and simultaneously drops a custom-built Monero miner.
  • Open-source “Kast” backdoor (written in Go) exfiltrates browser cookies to C2 over WebSockets pre-encryption, enabling a double-extortion model.
  • Broader Impact:
  • Initial infection stats (MSSP telemetry) show ~650 victims in manufacturing and healthcare verticals; mean ransom demand $980k (BTC).
  • Ransom note (BreakingBad-README.txt) borrows Breaking Bad TV script quotes to distract victims from checking logs.
  • Identity marketplaces now include a tag “B-b_2023” to mark credentials first seen in .breakingbad breaches.

For active assistance, submit one small encrypted file along with the ransom note to the Emsisoft forum (#breakingbad-room) or tag @RansomwareHelp on Twitter.