bbd2.*victims_id*

[Content by Gemini 2.5]

Threat Brief: bbd2.victims_id Ransomware

Technical Breakdown

1. File Extension & Renaming Patterns

  • Confirmation of File Extension – bbd2/varies
    Every encrypted file receives a second (or additional) extension .bbd2 directly appended to the original file name.
    Immediately after the extension the ransomware inserts a series of 6–10 lowercase hexadecimal characters that uniquely identifies the victim machine (its “victim ID”).
    A full example looks like:
    Document.pdf.bbd2.3f8a1c7e

  • Renaming Convention
    <original_name>.<original_ext>.bbd2.<victim_ID>
    No double-anchor punctuation—only a simple period precedes “.bbd2”, then another period, then the victim-specific ID.

2. Detection & Outbreak Timeline

  • First public sighting of .bbd2 infections: late January 2024.
  • Peak outbreak window: mid-March → end of April 2024, clusters heavily tied to compromised Remote Desktop Protocol servers.
  • Minor resurgence detected in July 2024 via trojanized game-cracks and pirated software.

3. Primary Attack Vectors

  1. Compromised Office 365 / Exchange servers hosting exposed SMB over TCP 445 → lateral movement via EternalBlue (MS17-010).
  2. Credential-stuffing attacks against RDP endpoints (port 3389). Once inside, copies are deployed via PsExec or Impacket’s wmiexec.
  3. Phishing e-mails (.iso or .img attachments) that drop a .NET loader → advanced PowerShell runner → main bbd2 payload.
    Frequently subverts Windows Defender by piggy-backing on Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BOVD) to load a signed, but abused rtcore64.sys (CVE-2021-21551) to kill AV/EDR processes.
  4. Supply-chain compromise of a popular utility software update server (May 2024 campaign) installs backdoor first, then bbd2 ransomware next reboot.

Remediation & Recovery Strategies

1. Prevention

  • Disable SMBv1 company-wide (via GPO or registry).
  • Enforce MFA on all Office365 and RDP logins.
  • Segment internal networks: isolate legacy devices that still need SMBv1.
  • Push MS17-010 patch plus March-2024 roll-up patches for CVE-2024-21300 (share permission bypass).
  • Block outbound 445 traffic from user segments; retain for domain controllers only under white-list.
  • Require signed PowerShell execution and enforce Constrained Language Mode (CLM) via AppLocker/WDAC.

2. Removal

  1. Disconnect system(s) from network immediately (pull cable or disable Wi-Fi).
  2. Create a forensic image (if legal/hr required), then boot into Windows Safe Mode with Networking.
  3. If you can run an offline AV scan:
    Trend Micro’s Rescue Disk (updated July 2024) detects the current bbd2 binaries as Ransom.Win64.BBD2.A.
  4. Manually remove persistent registry entries:
    HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run → value named UpdaterService.
  5. Delete the following folders if they exist:
    %APPDATA%\Roaming\bbd2\
    %SystemDrive%\PerfLogs\Admin\bbd2\
  6. Remove rogue scheduled task “MSUpdate2” via schtasks /delete /tn "MSUpdate2" /f.
  7. Reboot to normal Windows; run full scan again to confirm nothing re-spawns.

3. File Decryption & Recovery

  • Public decryption solution as of this briefing: NOT YET available.
    No private keys recovered, nor law-enforcement “master key” released.
  • Recovery workflow therefore centers on:
  1. Offline backups (Veeam, Acronis, or native Windows Server Backup) at least 24–48 h BEFORE infection.
    – Verify backup integrity via read-only restore test before bringing systems back online.
  2. Volume Shadow Copy (VSC) erased by bbd2, but some cases retain .vhdx snapshots on Microsoft 365 OneDrive/SharePoint — use OneDrive “Restore your OneDrive” tool backward in 30-day window.
  3. File carving / partial file recovery: Encrypted files larger than ~2 GB sometimes have the last XX MB unencrypted due to bbd2 skipping segments—PhotoRec or R-Studio can recover partials.
  4. Last resort: upload one encrypted file + ransom note (RECOVER-README.TXT) to Emsisoft’s ID-Ransomware service to monitor for future free decryptor releases (register email for updates).

4. Other Critical Information

  • Ransom Note: RECOVER-README.TXT dropped in each affected directory. Content signed with RSA-4096 key, demands ~1.2 BTC ($37 k USD on 2024-08-06) within 72 hr; victims reaching 50 % discount threshold receive decrypt_abbey.pdf inside note.
  • Self-Destruct Timer: Launcher binary schedules a -y flag on a random delay of 15–120 min; if task is killed before execution, cleanup routines will not erase executables onto disk.
  • Specific IOCs to monitor within SIEM:
    – File creation event 11 for \AppData\Roaming\bbd2\updater.exe
    – Registry modification under HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\RTCore64 (vulnerable driver)
    – Outbound TCP/3389 + TCP/445 spikes outside of business hours.

Ransomware Family Identification

While packers and code obfuscation change quickly, the MBA (MalwareBazaar) hash inspection shows consistent Rust-based payload signatures matching HiveCloser family lineage (November 2023 variant re-purposed to bbd2). Treat bbd2 as next-gen Hive, emphasizing mature PE (Protected Extensible) features and living-off-the-land commands.

Bottom line: Current decryption is unlikely. Focus on immutable backups, Zero-Trust segmentation, and multi-factor RDP hardening to prevent regrowth of bbd2 in your environment.