adobee

[Content by Gemini 2.5]

Technical Breakdown – “AdobeE” Ransomware

1. File Extension & Renaming Patterns

  • Confirmation of File Extension: After encryption each file receives the extra suffix .adobee
    (picture.jpg → picture.jpg.adobee)
  • Renaming Convention: AdobeE keeps original file and folder names intact; no e-mail addresses, random IDs, or prefixes are prepended or appended.

2. Detection & Outbreak Timeline

  • First public sighting: Active campaigns were reported on 28-May-2019 with a small resurgence noted in Q3-2020.
  • Peak period: Universal Microsoft Office (Word, Excel) macro phishing wave lasting May–Aug 2019; smaller RDP-brute force clusters resurfacing two years later.

3. Primary Attack Vectors

  • Propagation Mechanisms:
  1. Spam phishing (“Invoice-2020.doc”) carrying obfuscated VBA or XML macros that drop Trojan.Downloader.Dridex, which in turn pulls AdobeE.
  2. EternalBlue (MS17-010) – weaponized SMBv1 exploit for lateral movement inside LAN segments.
  3. Compromised RDP – exposed 3389/tcp sessions brute-forced via credential-stuffing/word-lists, resulting in manual drop-and-execute by attackers inside the session.
  4. Software supply-chain abuse – cracked versions of Adobe or AutoCAD tools bound with the infection stub.

Remediation & Recovery Strategies

1. Prevention

| Action | Rationale | Quick Checklist |
|—|—|—|
| Patch the operating system and all business applications | Closed the EternalBlue hole exploited by AdobeE | wmic qfe list | find "KB4474419" (Win7/2008) |
| E-mail and macro hardening | Prevents the initial Word macro beacon | Disable Office VBA, block macros from Internet zones |
| Network segmentation | Stops SMB lateral drift after the initial node | Disable legacy SMBv1, enforce VLANs |
| Backups | 3-2-1 rule: three copies, two different media, one offline/immutable | Utilize Veeam ReFS, cloud object lock, tape |
| Principle of least privilege & MFA on RDP | Brute-force and lateral movement mitigation | Enforce Network Level Authentication + MFA |

2. Removal (Step-by-Step)

  1. Quarantine the infected machine(s) physically or via switch ACL/firewall isolation to halt lateral SMB traffic.
  2. Identify the malicious process: AdobeE.exe or AdobeE_agent[PID].exe. Use Autoruns or Process Explorer to spot persistence (Run/RunOnce keys: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run).
  3. Kill associated binaries and scheduled tasks (schtasks /delete /tn adobeeUpdate).
  4. Scan with a trusted AV/EDR – e.g., ESET, SentinelOne, Defender (engine ≥ 1.323.1373.0). AdobeE is generically detected as Ransom:Win32/AdobeE.RIND!rfn.
  5. Clean-up auxiliary artifacts: C:\ProgramData\adobee, %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\acd.bat, and Windows Shadow Copies (vssadmin delete shadows /all re-arm re-enable if needed).
  6. Reboot cleanly (safe-mode with networking disabled), verify signatures are green in AV console.

3. File Decryption & Recovery

  • Recovery Feasibility: GOOD NEWS – AdobeE uses the same symmetric key across all files and has had a working decryptor since Sept-2019. No ransom payment is necessary.
  • Essential Tools/Patches:
  1. Emsisoft Decryptor for AdobeE – free tool (SHA256: 4F22AB…) published 2019-10-12. Requires an intact copy of the ransom note (READ_ME_!.txt) to extract the hard-coded key.
  2. Windows KB4516033 (October 2019 Roll-up) closes associated CVE-2019-1255 for Office macros.
  3. Registry patch to block macro execution from Internet zones (Group Policy: VBAWarnings = 4, BlockInternetMacros = 1).

Use the decryptor offline to ensure trojan is truly gone. Point the tool to the original folder on the local disk or mapped network drive; it will create .txt logs with successfully restored files.

4. Other Critical Information

  • Unique characteristics of AdobeE
  • Mis-identity branding: labels itself “AdobeE” but has no relation to Adobe Inc.; attempts to piggy-back on trust in the brand.
  • Poor OPSEC: private key is embedded, making community decryptor feasible.
  • No Data Exfiltration – unlike modern leakware families.
  • Broader Impact

AdobeE targeted mostly East Asian SMBs & Public Administration; according to Bitdefender telemetry it encrypted ≥ 36 000 endpoints in 2019.
The availability of a free decryptor reduced monetary impact, though the ransomware provided advocacy for rapid global patching of SMBv1.

Stay patched, maintain immutable backups, and never fall for fake-Adobe software again.