Ave Maria Trojan [AVE_MARIA]
This trojan was first observed in late 2018, Ave Maria (stylised as AVE_MARIA) is an advanced information stealing trojan with similarities to the Orcus and Revenge remote access trojans.
Ave Maria is delivered via spam or phishing campaigns using a multi-stage infection process. A small Visual Basic script contained in the emails executes a PowerShell command to download an initial reconnaissance module. This module collects a range of information on the user and system before installing a second stage dropper. This second module will create an instance of a running process before downloading the final payload and injecting it into the process.
Once installed, Ave Maria will connect to a command and control (C2) server before attempting to bypass User Access Controls using a known PkgMgr.exe vulnerability. It will then extract user credentials from Microsoft Exchange or Outlook clients and send these back to the C2 server. Ave Maria is also able to decrypt credentials stored by the Mozilla Firefox browser using code taken from the KeePass open-source password manager plugin.
Indicators of Compromise
IP Addresses
- 192.3.162[.]161
- 194.5.98[.]139
URLs
- anglekeys.warzonedns[.]com
- list131.ignorelist[.]com
- masaimaranationalparkkenya[.]com/wp-admin/js/jsk/DSK.exe
- paste[.]ee/r/4AIl0
- paste[.]ee/r/cbaHS
- paste[.]ee/r/d8Xpk/0
- paste[.]ee/r/T36RL
- paste[.]ee/r/VsX9H
- paste[.]ee/r/YoY3z/0
- sentinelx[.]tk
- xinchingho[.]ml
SHA256 File Hashes
- 4576d9940db9a748378a7e7d8c0edc048529ed72ef5161ed4a75c5612da3d5d9
- 6fff30ad7d09e11e85614de11ea3607ed39c2c6ed2cca481d7e54b506c423707
- 237d1bca6e056df5bb16a1216a434634109478f882d3b1d58344c801d184f95d
- 7b5a8198138abc2436d92dfcd16f0be26e8783a51e42d2a4ad5334686f4c9140
- 02cb295e95881abca2fe85fadc4228a932a12ea0d1fa6b961a38d789e7b8287f
- 81043261988c8d85ca005f23c14cf098552960ae4899fc95f54bcae6c5cb35f1
- 021d01fe3793879f57a2942664fc7c096710e94e87ad13dc21467c12edf61546
Duncan is a technology professional with over 20 years experience of working in various IT roles. He has a interest in cyber security, and has a wide range of other skills in radio, electronics and telecommunications.