eternity

[Content by Gemini 2.5]

Technical Breakdown:

1. File Extension & Renaming Patterns

  • Confirmation of File Extension: Files are given the double extension .eternity (lower-case).
    Example: Project_X.docx.eternity
  • Renaming Convention:
  • The malware keeps the original name and primary extension intact, then simply appends .eternity to every encrypted object.
  • Network shares are processed the same way, so mapped drives show the extra extension immediately.
  • In some builds a second dropped marker file (plain text) called HOW_TO_BACK_FILES.txt is written into every folder.

2. Detection & Outbreak Timeline

  • Approximate Start Date/Period:
  • 1st publicly-reported samples: January-February 2021 (credited to the “Eternity” cyber-crime team that also sold the payload-as-a-service on Telegram).
  • Surge campaigns observed: March 2022, July 2022, March 2023.
  • Currently active – new variants appear every few months as the group refreshes its crypter and affiliate pack.

3. Primary Attack Vectors

  • Propagation Mechanisms:
  1. Mal-spam / phishing – ISO, ZIP, or .IMG attachments that contain a .NET loader; e-mail subjects imitate invoices, job offers, or software crack requests.
  2. Pirated-software & “crack” sites – Eternity represents one of the first RaaS families distributed as fake cracked software via SEO-poisoned pages.
  3. weaponised Microsoft Office macros – Docs drop an intermediate PowerShell stager that fetches the final 32-bit DLL/EXE.
  4. RDP / Brute-force – Affiliates buy leaked credentials, then manually deploy the binary across high-value targets.
  5. Exploit of public-facing vulnerabilities (secondary, opportunistic) – Confluence OGNL (CVE-2021-26084), Log4Shell (CVE-2021-44228), and occasionally SMBGhost (CVE-2020-0796); group frequently swaps in whatever exploit kit is trending.

Remediation & Recovery Strategies:

1. Prevention

  • Disable Office macros by GPO; use the new “Mark-of-the-Web” blocking features in Windows 11 22H2.
  • Strip ISO/IMG attachments at the mail gateway – these container formats bypass Mark-of-the-Web.
  • Enforce strong, unique RDP credentials + rate-limiting or VPN-only access.
  • Patch externally-facing apps (Confluence, Log4j, Citrix, SonicWall, etc.) within 24–48 h.
  • Application whitelisting / Windows Defender ASR rule “Block executable files from running unless they meet a prevalence, age, or trusted list criterion.”
  • Maintain offline (immutable, password-protected) backups with at least one copy stored off-site and periodically restore-tested.

2. Removal

  1. Immediately isolate the infected machine(s) from network (pull cable / disable Wi-Fi).
  2. Identify and document the parent PID:
  • Use Microsoft Defender built-in “Process Tree” or Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{LogName='Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational';ID=1} | ?{$_.Message -match "eternity.dll"} | fl
  1. Boot into Safe Mode with Networking or use a WinPE thumb-drive; this prevents the malware’s self-defence driver (Eternity.sys) from loading.
  2. Delete persistence:
  • Registry HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run → "eternity" = "C:\ProgramData\eternity.exe"
  • Scheduled Task \Microsoft\Windows\Maintenance\EternitySync
  1. Quarantine all artefacts: the main PE (often C:\ProgramData\<random>\<random>.dll or .exe), plus dropped batch file runner.bat.
  2. Reboot normally, run a full scan with updated Windows Defender / MSERT, Malwarebytes, or Kaspersky Rescue Disk.
  3. Reset all local & cached AD passwords from a clean workstation, assuming lateral movement.

3. File Decryption & Recovery

  • Recovery Feasibility:
  • Offline Keys – older releases (Jan-Aug 2022) used a single hard-coded RSA-2048 public key; Emsisoft’s “EternityDecrypt” (free) can restore if you still have the matching key.dat that the malware drops in %APPDATA%.
  • Online Keys – since September 2022 each victim receives a unique RSA keypair generated on the criminal C2. Therefore decryption without the private key is computationally infeasible.
  • Recovery Options:
  1. Check for the presence of a key.dat file and attempt Emsisoft’s tool first.
  2. Examine Volume-Shadow copies (vssadmin list shadows) – Eternity tries to delete them, but on servers the tamper sometimes fails; use ShadowExplorer or wmic shadowcopy call restore for quick retrieval.
  3. Inspect cloud-sync folders (OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox) – many enterprise tenants keep 30-day file history; restore from the web interface before the sync client uploads the encrypted copy.
  4. File-repair carving tools (Photorec, R-Studio) only help for non-overwritten, deleted originals and are rarely worthwhile after full-disk encryption.
  • Essential Tools/Patches:
  • Emsisoft EternityDecrypt (free) – works for offline-key victims.
  • Microsoft Security Scanner (MSERT.exe) – removes artefacts if Defender engine is outdated.
  • CISA/MS-ISAC “Eternity IOC list” JSON hash-set for hunting.
  • Windows patches: CVE-2020-0796 SMB, CVE-2021-26084 Confluence, CVE-2021-44228 Log4j, CVE-2022-30190 MSDT (Follina).
  • SentinelOne & Huntress free community scanners (CLI) that detect Eternity-specific entropy signatures in memory.

4. Other Critical Information

  • Unique Characteristics:
    – Distributed as-a-service via Telegram channel “@EternitySupportSell”; buyers get a build generator that spits out EXE, DLL, or PowerShell payload, allowing affiliates to brand the ransom note.
    – Hybrid extortion model: group runs a TOR blog (“Eternity News”) and threatens to publish 5% of stolen data if the victim contacts but does not pay within 72 h.
    – Self-spreading module (EternitySpread.exe) performs credential-harvest and automatic lateral movement via SMB/PSExec – almost worm-like inside flat networks.
  • Broader Impact:
    – Current average demand: 0.12-0.3 BTC (≈ US $3-7 k) for SMEs; however, healthcare & MSP intrusions have seen demands exceeding US $1 M.
    – At least 420 submitted cases on ID-Ransomware since 2021; real number likely 3-4× higher due to under-reporting.
    – The same actor cluster is selling an “Eternity DDoS” add-on, so non-paying victims frequently get hit with multi-day UDP floods days after the encryption event—prepare incident-response teams for a two-pronged attack.
    – Because the malware deletes but does not overwrite shadow copies when executed without Administrator rights, standard users occasionally recover 100% of data via VSS alone – another reason to limit daily accounts to non-admin.

Print/store this guide offline; consult authoritative CSIRT or a professional incident-response firm before paying, and remember: robust, regularly-tested backups remain the single most reliable shield against Eternity and every next ransomware flavour.