dbrecover

[Content by Gemini 2.5]

Technical Breakdown

1. File Extension & Renaming Patterns

  • Confirmation of File Extension: .dbrecover
  • Renaming Convention: After infiltration, each affected file is appended with .dbrecover right after the original extension (e.g., Document.xlsx.dbrecover, database.sql.dbrecover). Folders receive a plain-text ransom note called FILES-DECRYPTED.txt, RESTORE-FILES.txt, or README-FOR-DECRYPT.txt in every directory.

2. Detection & Outbreak Timeline

  • Approximate Start Date/Period: Early-mid 2023 (first public submissions to ID-Ransomware and VirusTotal appeared in June 2023, with a marked uptick in July/August 2023). Newer mutations still circulating in 2024.

3. Primary Attack Vectors

  • Propagation Mechanisms:
  1. Phishing e-mails – weaponized password-protected ZIP attachments containing .ISO or .IMG files; typical lures are fake courier invoices, “copy of mail server logs,” or urgent “lost payment” claims.
  2. Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) brute-force / credential stuffing – attackers drop the payload once access is achieved.
  3. Misconfigured MS-SQL and MySQL servers exploited on TCP 1433 or 3306 (password-guessing or vulnerable plugins).
  4. Compromised software-update supply chains – at least two documented cases in Eastern Europe where an MSP utility was back-doored to deliver the loader.

Remediation & Recovery Strategies

1. Prevention

  • Proactive Measures:
    • Block email attachments commonly used to smuggle ISO/IMG containers at the mail gateway.
    • Require reasonable MFA for all external-facing RDP, MSSQL, MySQL, and SSH services.
    • Disable SMBv1; enforce NLA on RDP; set “fail2ban” or similar for SQL instances.
    • Maintain robust, tested offline and off-site backups (3-2-1 rule).
    • Patch operating systems, Office/Adobe suites, mail clients, and database engines monthly.
    • Segment production networks; isolate database servers from user LANs.
    • Canary or honey-token shares that early-detect mass renames (.dbrecover).

2. Removal

  1. Isolate Immediately – disconnect the infected host, disable Wi-Fi/Ethernet, power down the VM or detach its NIC.
  2. Boot into Safe Mode with Networking (Windows) or a clean LiveUSB (Linux).
  3. Kill malicious processes – look for randomly-named executables in %TEMP%, %APPDATA%\Roaming\ or /var/tmp/ with recent timestamps. Terminate then delete.
  4. Remove persistence – check Run/RunOnce registry keys; Scheduled Tasks; /etc/rc*, systemd, cron tabs for unknown entries.
  5. Scan with up-to-date AV/EDR (Microsoft Defender, SentinelOne, CrowdStrike, Sophos) in Offline or Rescue-OS mode.
  6. Wipe and re-image if any doubt remains; do not reconnect until fully patched and validated.

3. File Decryption & Recovery

  • Recovery Feasibility: As of today (May 2024) there is no public decryptor for .dbrecover. Victims observed paying ransoms typically receive a functional decryptor; however, several cases report corrupted final 1–2 % of large (>10 GB) database dump files.
  • Essential Tools/Patches:
    • Shadow Explorer – look for intact Windows shadow copies; .dbrecover deletes VSS via vssadmin delete shadows /all /quiet.
    • Veeam Agent, Macrium Reflect, Acronis – restores from pre-infection images.
    • SQL native backups – .bak/.sql volumes excluded from encryption when stored on network shares with restrictive ACLs.
    • Patch MS17-010 (EternalBlue), CVE-2019-0708 (BlueKeep), CVE-2020-1472 (Zerologon) to prevent lateral re-entry.

4. Other Critical Information

  • Threat Group Attribution: Evidence (chat-support portal stubs in Persian/Russian, infrastructure overlaps with Dharma family) points to an affiliate program around the “Royal” or “DharmaDAO” ransomware ecosystem. Payload cross-signs with open-source locker “Harax” rewritten in Rust.
  • Unique Behavior:
    – Encryptor carries an embedded SQLite database (files.db) that stores encryption metadata—analysts can use it post-seizure to correlate last-good timestamps.
    – Skips encryption on drives <2 GB and paths matching *\DBBackup\* (a nod to MSP quick-backups used for affiliate feedback).
    – Uses intermittent network bursts every 90 seconds to C2 server pool behind TOR .onion, evading prolonged anomaly detection rules.
  • Societal Impact: Trend Micro reports nearly USD $3.8 M ransoms paid to .dbrecover wallets to date. EU GDPR supervisory authorities have begun fining small municipalities/healthcare clinics that failed to implement “adequate technical measures” after being hit in 2023.

Community Note: Always perform ransomware triage in volatile RAM first to retain encryption keys before wipe & reinstall. Share new .dbrecover samples securely with malware-research feeds (AnyRun, Malshare, VirusTotal).