The sophisticated supply chain attack that resulted in millions of users downloading a backdoored version of the popular CCleaner PC software utility was the work of state-sponsored Chinese hackers, according to a new report.
The attack started with the compromise of a CCleaner server in early July, which allowed hackers to inject backdoor code in two versions of the tool, namely 32-bit CCleaner v5.33.6162 and CCleaner Cloud v1.07.3191. Between August 15 and September 12, over 2.27 million users downloaded the infected binaries.
Investigation into the attack revealed that the backdoored code was only the first stage of the intended user compromise, and that a second-stage payload had been delivered to a small number of selected targets.
After finding the backup of a deleted database containing information on the infected machines, investigators discovered that a total of 1,646,536 unique machines (based on MAC addresses) reported to the command and control (C&C) server. The stage 2 payload, however, was served to only 40 of them.
Soon after the investigation started, the security researchers looking into the incident discovered some connections to a known group of Chinese hackers, but no definite attribution was made.
Now, Intezer researchers suggest that the attack was state-sponsored and that it can indeed be attributed to Chinese hackers that are part of the Axiom group.
Also referred to as APT17 or DeputyDog, the group was previously associated with Operation Aurora, which started in 2009 and targeted companies such as Google, Adobe Systems, Juniper Networks, Rackspace, Yahoo, Symantec, Northrop Grumman, and Dow Chemical. The group specializes in supply chain attacks and Operation Aurora is considered one of the most sophisticated incidents ever.
According to Intezer, an analysis of the stage 2 payload used in the CCleaner attack provided a clear link to the Chinese hackers after the first payload (the backdoor in the installer) revealed shared code with Axiom group.
While looking at the backdoor, the researchers discovered unique code implementation “only previously seen in APT17 and not in any public repository.” Now, they reveal that the stage 2 payload contains code that is an exact match to APT17 malware seen before.
“The author probably copied and pasted the code, which is what often happens to avoid duplicative efforts: rewriting the same code for the same functionality twice. Due to the uniqueness of the shared code, we strongly concluded that the code was written by the same attacker,” Intezer’s Jay Rosenberg notes.
Analysis of the stage 2 payload revealed that one of the dropped modules is another backdoor designed to connect to a few domains. It would also connect to an IP to grab the next stage payload, which the researchers haven’t been able to identify until now.
“The complexity and quality of this particular attack has led our team to conclude that it was most likely state-sponsored. Considering this new evidence, the malware can be attributed to the Axiom group due to both the nature of the attack itself and the specific code reuse throughout that our technology was able to uncover,” Rosenberg concludes.
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