Malware spam with "nm.pdf" attachment

Currently underway is a malicious spam run with various subjects, for example:

Scan_5902
Document_10354
File_43359

Senders are random, and there is no body text. In all cases there is a PDF attached named nm.pdf with an MD5 of D4690177C76B5E86FBD9D6B8E8EE23ED or 6B305C5B59C235122FD8049B1C4C794D (and possibly more). Detection rates at VirusTotal are moderate [1] [2].

The PDF file contains an embedded Word .docm macro document. Hybrid Analysis [3] [4] is partly successful, but it shows a run-time error for the malicious code, but it does demonstrate that malicious .docm file is dropped with a detection rate of 15/58.

Putting the .docm file back into Hybrid Analysis and Malwr [5] [6] shows the same sort of results, namely a download from:

easysupport.us/f87346b

Given that this seems to be coming from the Necurs botnet, this is probably Locky or Dridex.

UPDATE

A contact pointed out this Hybrid Analysis which looks like basically the same thing, only in this sample the download seems to work. Note the references to "jaff" in the report, which matches this Tweet about something called "Jaff ransomware".

That report also gives two other locations to look out for:

trialinsider.com/f87346b
fkksjobnn43.org/a5/

This currently gives a recommended blocklist of:
47.91.107.213
trialinsider.com
easysupport.us

Malware spam: DHL Shipment 458878382814 Delivered

Another day and another fake DHL message leading to an evil .js script.

From: DHL Parcel UK [redacted]
Sent: 02 May 2017 09:30
To: [redacted]
Subject: DHL Shipment 458878382814 Delivered

You can track this order by clicking on the following link:
https://www.dhl.com/apps/dhltrack/?action=track&tracknumbers=458878382814&language=en&opco=FDEG&clientype=ivother

Please do not respond to this message. This email was sent from an unattended mailbox. This report was generated at approximately 08:15 am CDT on 02/05/2017.

All weights are estimated.

The shipment is scheduled for delivery on or before the scheduled delivery displayed above. DHL does not determine money-back guarantee or delay claim requests based on the scheduled delivery. Please see the DHL Service Guide for terms and conditions of service, including the DHL Money-Back Guarantee, or contact your DHL customer support representative.

This tracking update has been sent to you by DHL on behalf of the Requestor [redacted]. DHL does not validate the authenticity of the requestor and does not validate, guarantee or warrant the authenticity of the request, the requestor's message, or the accuracy of this tracking update.

Standard transit is the date the package should be delivered by, based on the selected service, destination, and ship date. Limitations and exceptions may apply. Please see the DHL Service Guide for terms and conditions of service, including the DHL Money-Back Guarantee, or contact your DHL Customer Support representative.

In this case the link goes to parkpaladium.com/DHL24/18218056431/  and downloads a file DHL-134843-May-02-2017-55038-8327373-1339347112.js which looks like this.

According to Malwr and Hybrid Analysis the script downloads a binary from micromatrices.com/qwh7zxijifxsnxg20mlwa/ (77.92.78.38  - UK2, UK) and then subsequently attempts communication with

75.25.153.57 (AT&T, US)
79.170.95.202 (XL Internet Services, Netherlands)
87.106.148.126 (1&1, Germany)
78.47.56.162 (Mediaforge, Germany)
81.88.24.211 (dogado GmbH, Germany)
92.51.129.235 (Host Europe, Germany)
74.50.57.220 (RimuHosting, US)

The dropped binary has a VirusTotal detection rate of 10/60.

Recommended blocklist:
77.92.78.38
75.25.153.57
79.170.95.202
87.106.148.126
78.47.56.162
81.88.24.211
92.51.129.235
74.50.57.220

Malware spam: Scotiabank / "Secure email communication" / Secure.Mail@scotiabankmail.com

This fake financial spam leads to malware:

From:    ScotiaBank [Secure.Mail@scotiabankmail.com]
Date:    27 April 2017 at 14:13
Subject:    Secure email communication
Signed by:    scotiabankmail.com


Scotia Secure Email Logo
Secure mail waiting: (Secure)
Scotiabank has sent you a secure, encrypted e-mail message. To view this e-mail, please visit "Scotiabank Secure Email Service" or check attach file. For further information on how to use this service please reffer to "the Secure Email User Guide".
The email you receive from Scotiabank, including any attachments, may contain confidential and/or privileged information for the intended recipient(s) only and the sender does not waive any related legal rights or privilege. Any use or disclosure of the information by an unintended recipient is unauthorized and prohibited. If you have received an email message in error, please delete the entire message, including attachments if any, and inform us by return email. 

Opening the attached document SecureMail.doc leads to a simple page that tries to get you to enable Active Content (not recommended!).

Hybrid Analysis shows a download from elevationstairs.ca/fonts/dde60c5776c175c54d23d2b0c.png [70.33.246.140 - Host Papa, US] leading to a dropped file Pscou.exe which has a detection rate of 11/61 and appears to be Upatre.

Malwr Analysis of the downloaded file shows attempted communications to:

82.146.94.86 (Ringnett, Norway)
8.254.243.46 (Level 3, US)
217.31.111.153 (Ringnett, Norway)

scotiabankmail.com has been registered specifically for this attack, or you can block the sending IP of 89.40.216.186 (City Network Hosting AB, Sweden)

Recommended blocklist:
scotiabankmail.com [email]
89.40.216.186 [email]
70.33.246.140
82.146.94.86
8.254.243.46
217.31.111.153

Malware spam: Royal Mail Grоup / "Delivery attempt fail notice"

This fake Royal Mail email leads to malware.

From: Aretha Stickles [mailto:support@360modshop.com]
Sent: 27 April 2017 12:31
Subject: Delivery attempt fail notice

Dеаr customеr [redacted]

Your pаrcel has been in the post office for a very long time.
You must to receive it it within five days.

TRACKING: RB379949016UK
Expeсted Delivery Dаte: April 21, 2017
Class: Packagе Servicеs
Sеrvicе: Delivery Confirmatiоn
Stаtus: eNote Sent
Tо downloаd thе shipping invоicе, visit the link:

http://www.rоyalmail.cоm/business/services/sending/parcels-uk/3463434535

If you do not take it within the specified time, we will have to return it to the sender.
Please print out an order for your pack and take it at the post office.

Kind Regards,

© Royal Mail Grоup Ltd. 2017. All rights rеsеrved

Despite the link appearing to be from "royalmail.com" it's actually a Google redirector..

https://www.google.com/url?hl=ru&q=http://centregold.org&source=gmail&ust=1493375994142000&usg=AFQjCNHEBmT_B17AS-dHem213ejXdbjNAg#bkfhzzat

This bounces to centregold.org [185.133.40.23 - Krek Ltd, Russia] then a load balancer at rns.tobeylabs.com/tracking/delivery/tracking.php?id=554 [31.148.219.65 - KingServers, Netherlands] then either http://booniff.com/delivery/Pack_9356667UK.zip [216.24.167.58 - Amino Communications, US] or https://purolator.topatlantanursinghomelawyer.com/tracking/parcel/Notification_37352742UK.zip [185.159.80.100 - KingServers, Netherlands].

Note that the name of the .ZIP is generated dynamically, so there is some variation in filenames.

Inside the ZIP files is a malicious script (e.g. Pack_9356667UK.js) which according to Hybrid Analysis then communicates with a website at 31.148.219.208 [the same KingServers /24 as before!] and it drops a file mstsc.exe with VirusTotal detection rate of 11/57.

Recommended blocklist:
31.148.219.0/24
185.133.40.0/24
185.159.80.0/24
216.24.167.58

Malware spam: "Copy of your 123-reg invoice" / no-reply@123-reg.co.uk

This fake financial spam does not come from 123-Reg (nor is it sent to 123-Reg customers). It has a malicious attachment.

From     no-reply@123-reg.co.uk
Date     Wed, 19 Apr 2017 17:19:51 +0500
Subject     Copy of your 123-reg invoice ( 123-093702027 )

Hi [redacted],

Thank you for your order.

Please find attached to this email a receipt for this payment.

Help and support

If you are still stuck why not contact our support team? Simply visit our 123-reg
Support Centre and click on the Ask a Question tab.

Thank you for choosing 123-reg.

The 123-reg team.
https://www.123-reg.co.uk

The invoice number is randomly generated. The attachment is a PDF file with a name matching the invoice number (e.g. 123-093702027-reg-invoice.pdf).

This PDF file appears to drop an Office document according to VirusTotal results.

Hybrid Analysis shows the document dropping a malicious executable with a detection rate of 15/61. It appears to contact the following IPs (some of which contain legitimate sites):

216.87.186.15 (Affinity Internet, US)
216.177.132.93 (Alentus Corporation, US)
152.66.249.132 (Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest)
85.214.113.207 (Strato AG, Germany)
192.184.84.119 (RamNode LLC, US)

The general prognosis seems to be that this is dropping the Dridex banking trojan.

Recommended blocklist:
216.87.186.15
216.177.132.93
152.66.249.132
85.214.113.207
192.184.84.119

Malware spam: "RE: RE: ftc refund" / secretary@ftccomplaintassistant.com

This fake FTC email leads to malware. Curiously, it was sent to a company that received a multimillion dollar FTC fine, but this is almost definitely a coincidence.

From:    Federal Trade Commission [secretary@ftccomplaintassistant.com]
Date:    17 April 2017 at 15:25
Subject:    RE: RE: ftc refund


It seems we can claim a refund from the FTC.
Check this out and give me a call.
https://www.ftc.gov/refunds/company/companyname.com/FTC_refund_recipientname.doc
Thank you
James Newman
Senior Accountant
secretary@ftccomplaintassistant.com
212-0061570

The link in the email actually goes to a URL beginning http://thecomplete180.com/view.php?id= followed by a Base 64 encoded string that appears to be 6281 + recipient email address + 5434 (so for president@whitehouse.gov it would be http://thecomplete180.com/view.php?id=NjI4MXByZXNpZGVudEB3aGl0ZWhvdXNlLmdvdjU0MzQ=)

Obviously this downloaded document is up to no good, but the VirusTotal detection rates are only 5/56. The Word document itself tries to persuade victims to enable macros, which would be a bad idea.

Automated analysis [1] [2] shows network traffic to:

wasstalwihis.com/bdk/gate.php
littperevengpa.com/ls5/forum.php
littperevengpa.com/mlu/forum.php
littperevengpa.com/d1/about.php
hybridinformatica.com.br/blog/wp-content/themes/twentyeleven/inc/a1
hybridinformatica.com.br/blog/wp-content/themes/twentyeleven/inc/1
hybridinformatica.com.br/blog/wp-content/themes/twentyeleven/inc/2

It also appears to start sending traffic via Tor, which is a good reason to monitor Tor on your network. All sorts of files are dropped, most of which don't seem to be particularly malicious. "Gate.php" indicates a Pony downloader, but this does look like a tricky bugger.

Out of the domains contacted, littperevengpa.com and wasstalwihis.com shared the same registrant details and look fairly evil. We can associate the same registrant with the following domains:

soinwarep.com
ronwronsednot.com
withwasnothar.com
dingandrinfe.com
troverylit.com
derby-au.com
utonerutoft.com
situghlacsof.com
tinjecofsand.com
fortotrolhec.com
fydoratot.com
redwronwassdo.com
ronkeddari.com
littperevengpa.com
suranfortrep.com
newbillingplace.com
usps-daily-delivery.com
ringcentral-fax-inbox.com
wassheckgehan.com
wasstalwihis.com
meredondidn.com
satertdiut.com
vernothesled.com
veuntedund.com
ranwithtorsdo.com
notwipaar.com
dintrogela.com
adp-monthly-billling.com
rigakeddo.com
random-billing.com
hetoftinbut.com
hemlittratdidn.com

Perhaps more usefully, we can associate that registrant with the following IPs:

178.170.189.254 [hostname: nejokexulag.example.com] (Servachok Ltd, Russia)
185.146.1.4 (PS Internet Company LLC, Kazakhstan)
185.48.56.63 (Sinarohost, Netherlands)
185.80.53.76 (HZ Hosting, Bulgaria)
188.127.237.232 (SmartApe, Russia)
193.105.240.2 (Sia Vps Hosting, Latvia)
194.1.239.63 [hostname: nejokexulag.example.com] (Internet Hosting Ltd, Russia)
195.54.163.94 (PE Dobrogivskiy Muroslav Petrovich, Ukraine)
212.116.113.108 (Prometey Ltd, Russia)
46.148.26.87 [hostname: nejokexulag.infium.net] (Infium UAB, Ukraine)
47.90.202.88 (Alibaba.com, China)
77.246.149.100 [hostname: nejokexulag.e-vds.ru] (E-planet Ltd, Russia)
87.118.126.207 (Keyweb AG, Germany)
88.214.236.158 (Overoptic Systems, Russia)
91.230.211.67 [hostname: nejokexulag.freeopti.ru] (Optibit LLC, Russia)
93.189.43.36 (NTCOM, Russia)

This gives us a pretty useful minimum blocklist:

178.170.189.254
185.146.1.4
185.48.56.63
185.80.53.76
188.127.237.232
193.105.240.2
194.1.239.63
195.54.163.94
212.116.113.108
46.148.26.87
47.90.202.88
77.246.149.100
87.118.126.207
88.214.236.158
91.230.211.67
93.189.43.36

Malware spam: "Company Documents" / WebFilling@companieshousemail.co.uk and companieshouseemail.co.uk plus others

This spam email does not come from Companies House, but is instead a simple forgery with a malicious attachment:

From:    Companies House [WebFilling@companieshousemail.co.uk]
Date:    13 April 2017 at 11:10
Subject:    Company Documents
Signed by:    companieshousemail.co.uk

Company Documents This message has been generated in response to the company complaint submitted to Companies House WebFiling service. Please note: all forms must be answered or the form will be returned. Service Desk tel +44 (0)303 8097 432 or email enquiries@companieshouse.gov.uk Note: This email was sent from a notification-only email address which cannot accept incoming email. Please do not reply directly to this message.   Companies House  Crown way Maindy Cardiff CF14 3UZ

Documents.doc 48K

---

I observed the email coming from the fake domains companieshousemail.co.uk and companieshouseemail.co.uk  but it looks like there may be more. Email is being send from servers in the 94.237.36.0/24 range (Upcloud Ltd, Finland) and I can see other servers set up to do the same thing:

companieshouseemail.co.uk  94.237.36.104
companieshouseemail.co.uk  94.237.36.145
companieshousemail.co.uk  94.237.36.146
companieshousemail.co.uk  94.237.36.147
companieshousesecure.co.uk  94.237.36.150
companieshousesecure.co.uk  94.237.36.151

Blocking email from the entire 94.237.36.0/24 range at least temporarily might be prudent.

The WHOIS details for these indicate they were registered today with presumably fake details, but that the registrar Nominet have somehow "verified".

Registrant:
Charlene hogg

Registrant type:
Unknown

Registrant's address:
37 Maberley Road
London
SE19 2JA
United Kingdom

Data validation:
Nominet was able to match the registrant's name and address against a 3rd party data source on 13-Apr-2017

Registrar:
GoDaddy.com, LLP. [Tag = GODADDY]
URL: http://uk.godaddy.com

Relevant dates:
Registered on: 13-Apr-2017
Expiry date:  13-Apr-2019
Last updated:  13-Apr-2017

Registration status:
Registered until expiry date.

Name servers:
ns29.domaincontrol.com
ns30.domaincontrol.com

All the attachments I have seen are the same with a current detection rate of 6/55. Hybrid Analysis of the document shows it downloading a component from shuswapcomputer.ca/images/banners/bannerlogo.png and a malicious executable %APPDATA%\pnwshqr.exe is dropped with a detection rate of 14/62.

Automated analysis of the binary [1] [2] show potentially malicious traffic going to:

107.181.161.221 (Total Server Solutions, US)
185.25.51.118 (Informacines sistemos ir technologijos UAB aka bacloud,com, Lithuania)

There are probably other destinations too. The payload appears to be Dyre / Dyreza.

Recommended blocklist:
94.237.36.0/24 (temporary email block only)
shuswapcomputer.ca
185.25.51.118
107.181.161.221