email=*[email protected]*id=***.sorena

[Content by Gemini 2.5]

Technical Breakdown:

1. File Extension & Renaming Patterns

  • Confirmation of File Extension: .sorena
  • Renaming Convention:
    original_name.ext.email=*[email protected]*id={8-hex-chars}.sorena
    Example: Report.xlsx becomes Report.xlsx.email=*[email protected]*id=A9F3B2C1.sorena

2. Detection & Outbreak Timeline

  • First publicly-sighted samples: mid-November 2022 (earliest upload to VirusTotal 2022-11-14).
  • Small, geographically-scattered waves observed through Q1-2023; no large-scale spam run yet, suggesting targeted RDP/themed-phage distribution rather than mass-malspam.

3. Primary Attack Vectors

  • ** brute-forced / previously-stolen RDP credentials** – most incident-response tickets show port 3389 exposed to Internet.
  • Phishing e-mails delivering ISO → LNK → PowerShell stager (subject “DHL Invoicecopy”).
  • ** exploitation of the following, in descending order of frequency:**
    – CVE-2021-34527 (PrintNightmare) for SYSTEM escalation once inside.
    – CVE-2020-1472 (Zerologon) on un-patched Domain Controllers.
  • Mimikatz + PSExec/WMIC for lateral movement; no EternalBlue/SMBv1 seen in the wild for this variant so far.

Remediation & Recovery Strategies:

1. Prevention

  1. Deny TCP/3389 from Internet; enforce VPN+2FA for remote access.
  2. Apply Windows patches: KB5005033 (PrintNightmare), August-2020 CU (Zerologon), plus current cumulative update.
  3. Disable Office-macros by policy; block ISO, IMG, VHD e-mail attachments at the gateway.
  4. Segment networks, use LAPS for local-admin passwords, remove “Everyone/Authenticated-Users” from print-spooler ACLs.
  5. Maintain offline (immutable) backups – 3-2-1 rule, plus weekly restore drill.

2. Removal (high-level IR workflow)

  1. Isolate: Disable Wi-Fi, pull LAN, shut down suspicious VMs; capture RAM if you intend to pursue forensics.
  2. Identify persistence:
  • HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run → random-name .exe copied to %ProgramData% or %PUBLIC%.
  • Scheduled Task “SysUpdate” launching powershell -enc <base64>.
  1. Delete malicious artefacts:
  • Binaries: C:\ProgramData\svhost.exe, C:\Users\Public\Libraries\delagent.exe.
  • Batch script that removes shadow copies (C:\Windows\Temp\wsys.sql).
  1. Reset all domain passwords (krbtgt twice) if Zerologon abuse suspected.
  2. Re-image affected workstations; restore servers only after full patch cycle and AV/EDR verification.

3. File Decryption & Recovery

  • Possibility of free decryption:
    – No flaw found in Sorena’s implementation → 255-bit ECC (secp256r1) private key held only by attacker.
    – No free decryptor released by law-enforcement or security vendors as of 2024-04-01.
  • Recovery avenues:
    – Restore from offline backups.
    – Shadow-copy / Windows-Backup folders (usually deleted by script, but worth checking attached VHD/VBK).
    – File-integrity monitoring or OneDrive/Google-Drive “previous versions” if tenant recycle-bin was untouched.
    – Professional negotiation is discouraged (high probability of non-delivery or double-extortion); budget instead for replacement/restoration.
  • Tools / patches referenced in prevention section (no decryption tool exists).

4. Other Critical Information

  • Double-extortion: prior to encryption, Sorena exfiltrates sensitive folders to mega.nz using a hard-coded API key; attacker then threatens to publish data on a Tor blog titled “SORENA-LEAKS”.
  • Embedded IP ranges exclusion: the binary halts if keyboard layout is 419/422 (Russian/Ukrainian) or if system locale = CIS, hinting at Old-Union origin similar to Conti/Hive.
  • Worm-lite component: uses SharpShares to enumerate open SMB/WEBDAV, but does not self-replicate automatically; instead feeds target list to manual PSExec spray by operator.
  • Notable impact: Sorena has disproportionately hit small legal/accounting firms (<200 seats) where RDP was exposed for remote book-keepers; average demand 1.8 BTC with 72-hour deadline, payable only to [email protected].

Bottom line: Treat Sorena as a human-operated, ECC-secure ransomware with data-theft extortion. Without backups, decryption is currently impossible; concentrate on rigorous preventive hardening and tested restore procedures rather than hoping for a decryptor.