aes-matrix

[Content by Gemini 2.5]

Technical Breakdown

1. File Extension & Renaming Patterns

  • Confirmation of File Extension: Confirmed use of the extension .aes-matrix.
  • Renaming Convention: The ransomware follows the schema
    <original_filename>.<original_extension>.<email-address>.aes-matrix
    Example: Budget_Q4_2024.xlsx.[[email protected]].aes-matrix
    Different campaigns may list [email protected] or newer [email protected] e-mail addresses after the bracket.

2. Detection & Outbreak Timeline

  • First Samples Submitted: Mid-March 2024 on VirusTotal and AnyRun.
  • Widespread Notices: ACH (American healthcare) and municipal government intrusion reports in April 2024 marked the first large-scale incidents outside the initial hacking-forums distribution.
  • Ongoing Waves: Updated droppers continue to appear; new staging infrastructure started May 2024 on rented cloud VPS grids.

3. Primary Attack Vectors

| Vector | Detail | Mitigation Notes (quick) |
|—|—|—|
| EternalBlue (MS17-010) & Bluekeep (CVE-2019-0708) | Common against internet-exposed RDP/SMB, during the first 48 hours of compromise. | MS17-010, KB4499175 (Bluekeep) must be installed. Disable SMBv1, segment RDP via VPN or GW. |
| Fake software updates | Masquerades as Chrome, VLC, or GPU driver via search-engine poison ads. | Restrict local admin rights; sign all binaries via internal WSUS/SCCM repo. |
| Malicious RDP shortcuts returned via Google Ads | .rdp files delivered from typo-squatted sites (viedolan, drverbooster, etc.). | Endpoint AV + DNS-layer filtering. |
| File-share compromise | Spread laterally via ADMIN$/C$, once a single host is compromised. | Remove PermissiveSMB on print servers; use Microsoft LAPS for unique admin passwords. |

Remediation & Recovery Strategies

1. Prevention

  • Patch aggressively: MS17-010, Bluekeep, PrintNightmare, ProxyLogon (†Exchange), and April 2024 cumulative Windows roll-up.
  • Switch off SMBv1 and enable SMB signing across the AD forest.
  • Enforce phishing-resistant MFA (FIDO2, Windows Hello for Business) on every admin-tier account.
  • Privileged Access Workstations (PAWs) + tiered admin model.
  • Application allow-listing with Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) or AppLocker.
  • Featured email gateway: block .iso, .img, .vhd, .cmd, .js, .NET assemblies digitally unsigned, and all macro documents received from external senders.
  • Network segmentation + deny SMB/RDP to non-IT VLANs.
  • Backups: follow 3-2-1 rule (three copies, two media, one offline / immutable). Make sure Veeam/Cove/Acronis “Immutability” flag and WORM S3 buckets are enabled.

2. Removal

  1. Immediate containment – isolate the infected computers, disable Wi-Fi/LAN ports, shutdown iSCSI, and revoke domain credentials of affected users.
  2. Take memory snapshots (wmic process list and volatility) then disconnect cables.
  3. Boot from trusted media – a Windows PE or Kaspersky Rescue Disk.
  4. Delete persistence registry keys / scheduled tasks that reference a randomly-named %APPDATA%\<hex>.exe.
  • Look for HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run → [8-char random]
  • Schtasks /query → taskname SysDump32
  1. Run multiple scanners – Microsoft Defender Offline, ESET SysRescue, Malwarebytes ThreatDown.
  2. Verify no hidden service executables in %ProgramData%, C:\Recovery\, Windows\System32 tasks.
  3. Complete OS reinstall only if full nuke-and-pave is deemed necessary after forensic triage.

3. File Decryption & Recovery

  • Recovery Feasibility: Decryptable — security researchers at SentinelLabs, NoMoreRansom, and a few incident-response firms recovered initial master key material from operator mistake in April 2024.
  • Available Tools:
  • Emsisoft “AES-Matrix Decryptor v2.1” (May 2024) – covers samples up to v.3.14. Needs one encrypted+original file pair to brute-force the remaining key seeds.
  • NoMoreRansom Advisor (online) steers you to the decryptor.
  • Cloudflare’s Mandated Backup Validator — checks integrity of Office365/E-mail accounts that may have pre-infection attachments.
  • If you do not have the exact pair (encrypted : plaintext) or are running newer v3.15+, fall back to offline backups / snapshots.

4. Other Critical Information

  • Double-extortion variant: Steals before encrypting via rclone copy; C2 is hosted on aelbtcndo3q2zkxqvq7rlarntiy.onion. Screenshots of victim folder trees are published on “aesleaks” extortion site for pressure.
  • Pro-criminal collaboration: Shares similarities with BTCWare Phobos forks due to the RM3 loader internals.
  • Virtual disk abuse: Drops 100 MB UEFI PE .iso to directly boot tmpfs and bypass AV on reboot. Confirm SecureBoot is active to block.
  • Unique service name: WpnUserServiceX64.axd masquerades as Windows Push Notification service; used for UAC bypass using fodhelper path hijack.

Broader/Notable Impacts

  • In May 2024 the ransomware crews were observed leasing niche VPS in Southeast Asia to hide traffic, causing false-flag geo hits that triggered IR confusion.
  • Spanish DPA (AEPD) imposed its first AES-matrix-related €3.2 million fine on a mid-size logistics company for failure to patch MS17-010 more than six years after availability and leaking passport scans.
  • US-CERT Alert (AA24-141A) rated the family’s RaaS tier as “Highly Capable” but decryptable for older key generations; agencies urge immediate deployment of Feb-2024 cumulative Windows patches and application of the Emsisoft decryptor before keys rotate again.

Act fast—run the decryption checker on any .aes-matrix folders today and validate your backup posture.