fa90e8004b067523f1b790af87026473ed405bd7


Zero‑Dwell Threat Intelligence Report

A narrative, executive‑ready view into the malware’s behavior, exposure, and reliable defenses.
Generated: 2025-09-09 10:37:55 UTC

Executive Overview — What We’re Dealing With

This specimen has persisted long enough to matter. Human experts classified it as Malware, and the telemetry confirms a capable, evasive Trojan with real impact potential.

File
MailAgent1476Microsoft.exe
Type
PE32+ executable (GUI) x86-64 Mono/.Net assembly, for MS Windows
SHA‑1
fa90e8004b067523f1b790af87026473ed405bd7
MD5
aa0e86384f52957852dccbf3efe291b7
First Seen
2025-09-05 15:53:39.904990
Last Analysis
2025-09-05 18:47:59.436683
Dwell Time
0 days, 2 hours, 54 minutes

Extended Dwell Time Impact

For 2+ hours, this malware remained undetected — a limited but sufficient window for the adversary to complete initial execution and establish basic system access.

Comparative Context

Industry studies report a median dwell time closer to 21–24 days. This case represents rapid detection and containment within hours rather than days.

Timeline

Time (UTC) Event Elapsed
2023-01-09 12:25:23 UTC First VirusTotal submission
2025-09-09 07:42:40 UTC Latest analysis snapshot 973 days, 19 hours, 17 minutes
2025-09-09 10:37:55 UTC Report generation time 973 days, 22 hours, 12 minutes

Why It Matters

Every additional day of dwell time is not just an abstract number — it is attacker opportunity. Each day equates to more time for lateral movement, stealth persistence, and intelligence gathering.

Global Detection Posture — Who Caught It, Who Missed It

VirusTotal engines: 73. Detected as malicious: 53. Missed: 20. Coverage: 72.6%.

Detected Vendors

  • Xcitium
  • +52 additional vendors (names not provided)

List includes Xcitium plus an additional 52 vendors per the provided summary.

Missed Vendors

  • Acronis
  • Antiy-AVL
  • Baidu
  • ClamAV
  • CMC
  • DrWeb
  • Gridinsoft
  • Jiangmin
  • Kingsoft
  • NANO-Antivirus
  • Skyhigh
  • SUPERAntiSpyware
  • TACHYON
  • tehtris
  • Trapmine
  • VirIT
  • Webroot
  • Yandex
  • ZoneAlarm
  • Zoner

Why it matters: if any endpoint relies solely on a missed engine, this malware can operate with zero alerts. Prevention‑first controls close that gap regardless of signature lag.

Behavioral Storyline — How the Malware Operates

Dominant system-level operations (39.68% of behavior) suggest this malware performs deep system reconnaissance, privilege escalation, or core OS manipulation. It’s actively probing system defenses and attempting to gain administrative control.

Behavior Categories (weighted)

Weight values represent the frequency and intensity of malware interactions with specific system components. Higher weights indicate more aggressive targeting of that category. Each operation (registry access, file modification, network connection, etc.) contributes to the category’s total weight, providing a quantitative measure of the malware’s behavioral focus.

Category Weight Percentage
System 298 39.68%
Registry 190 25.30%
File System 114 15.18%
Process 96 12.78%
Misc 35 4.66%
Synchronization 8 1.07%
Threading 6 0.80%
Hooking 2 0.27%
Device 2 0.27%

MITRE ATT&CK Mapping

  • T1620 – invoke .NET assembly method
  • T1027.004 – compile .NET assembly
  • T1620 – invoke .NET assembly method
  • T1027.004 – compile .NET assembly
  • T1027.004 – compile CSharp in .NET
  • T1036 – Creates files inside the user directory
  • T1562.001 – Creates guard pages, often used to prevent reverse engineering and debugging
  • T1497 – Contains long sleeps (>= 3 min)
  • T1497 – May sleep (evasive loops) to hinder dynamic analysis
  • T1070.006 – Binary contains a suspicious time stamp
  • T1082 – Reads software policies
  • T1082 – Queries the volume information (name, serial number etc) of a device

Following the Trail — Network & DNS Activity

Outbound activity leans on reputable infrastructure (e.g., CDNs, cloud endpoints) to blend in. TLS sessions and
HTTP calls show routine beaconing and IP‑lookup behavior that can masquerade as normal browsing.

Contacted Domains

Domain IP Country ASN/Org
www.msftncsi.com 23.200.3.10 United States Akamai Technologies, Inc.

Observed IPs

IP Country ASN/Org
224.0.0.252
239.255.255.250
8.8.4.4 United States Google LLC
8.8.8.8 United States Google LLC

DNS Queries

Request Type
www.msftncsi.com A
5isohu.com A

Contacted IPs

IP Country ASN/Org
224.0.0.252
239.255.255.250
8.8.4.4 United States Google LLC
8.8.8.8 United States Google LLC

Port Distribution

Port Count Protocols
137 1 udp
138 1 udp
5355 4 udp
53 4 udp
3702 1 udp

UDP Packets

Source IP Dest IP Sport Dport Time Proto
192.168.56.11 192.168.56.255 137 137 7.327121019363403 udp
192.168.56.11 192.168.56.255 138 138 13.40306305885315 udp
192.168.56.11 224.0.0.252 49563 5355 7.171663045883179 udp
192.168.56.11 224.0.0.252 54650 5355 7.184643983840942 udp
192.168.56.11 224.0.0.252 55601 5355 9.98189902305603 udp
192.168.56.11 224.0.0.252 60205 5355 7.18713903427124 udp
192.168.56.11 239.255.255.250 62184 3702 7.189342975616455 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 51899 53 10.543792009353638 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 62798 53 10.029736042022705 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 51899 53 11.544044971466064 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 62798 53 11.028297185897827 udp

Hunting tip: alert on unknown binaries initiating TLS to IP‑lookup services or unusual CDN endpoints — especially early in execution.

Persistence & Policy — Registry and Services

Registry and service telemetry points to policy awareness and environment reconnaissance rather than noisy persistence. Below is a compact view of the most relevant keys and handles; expand to see the full lists where available.

Registry Opened

138

Registry Set

0

Services Started

0

Services Opened

0

Registry Opened (Top 25)

Key
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework\Policy
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework\Policy\v4.0
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework\InstallRoot
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework\CLRLoadLogDir
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework\UseLegacyV2RuntimeActivationPolicyDefaultValue
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework\OnlyUseLatestCLR
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework\Policy\Standards
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework\Policy\Standards\v4.0.30319
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Fusion
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Fusion\NoClientChecks
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework\v4.0.30319\SKUs
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework\v4.0.30319\SKUs\default
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP\v4\Full
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP\v4\Full\Release
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework\DisableConfigCache
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\f727e1f4abf0dd039a6bb7951fd8b5595da5f632919c5bfac7975265b02b44cd.exe
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion\CacheLocation
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion\DownloadCacheQuotaInKB
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion\EnableLog
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion\LoggingLevel
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion\ForceLog
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion\LogFailures
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion\LogResourceBinds
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion\FileInUseRetryAttempts
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion\FileInUseMillisecondsBetweenRetries
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion\UseLegacyIdentityFormat
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion\DisableMSIPeek
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\DevOverrideEnable
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework\NGen\Policy\v4.0
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework\NGen\Policy\v4.0\OptimizeUsedBinaries
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETFramework\Policy\Servicing
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\StrongName
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework\UseRyuJIT
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework\FeatureSIMD
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion\PublisherPolicy\Default
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion\PublisherPolicy\Default\Latest
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion\PublisherPolicy\Default\index14
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion\PublisherPolicy\Default\LegacyPolicyTimeStamp
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion\PublisherPolicy\Default\v4.0_policy.4.0.System__b77a5c561934e089
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion\PublisherPolicy\Default\policy.4.0.System__b77a5c561934e089
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion\PublisherPolicy\Default\v4.0_policy.4.0.System.Configuration__b03f5f7f11d50a3a
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion\PublisherPolicy\Default\policy.4.0.System.Configuration__b03f5f7f11d50a3a
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion\PublisherPolicy\Default\v4.0_policy.4.0.System.Xml__b77a5c561934e089
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion\PublisherPolicy\Default\policy.4.0.System.Xml__b77a5c561934e089
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Fusion
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\0\Hashes
Show all (138 total)
Key
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\0\Paths
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\0\UrlZones
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\131072\Hashes
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\131072\Paths
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\131072\UrlZones
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\262144\Hashes
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\262144\Paths
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\262144\UrlZones
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\4096\Hashes
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\4096\Paths
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\4096\UrlZones
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\65536\Hashes
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\65536\Paths
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\65536\UrlZones
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETFramework\Policy\APTCA
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETFramework\Policy\Servicing
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETFramework\Policy\Standards
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETFramework\policy\standards\v4.0.30319
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETFramework\policy\v4.0
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETFramework\v4.0.30319\SKUs\default
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\AppModel\Lookaside\Packages
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Fusion
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Fusion\PublisherPolicy\Default\policy.4.0.System.Configuration__b03f5f7f11d50a3a
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Fusion\PublisherPolicy\Default\policy.4.0.System.Xml__b77a5c561934e089
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Fusion\PublisherPolicy\Default\policy.4.0.System__b77a5c561934e089
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Fusion\PublisherPolicy\Default\v4.0_policy.4.0.System.Configuration__b03f5f7f11d50a3a
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Fusion\PublisherPolicy\Default\v4.0_policy.4.0.System.Xml__b77a5c561934e089
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Fusion\PublisherPolicy\Default\v4.0_policy.4.0.System__b77a5c561934e089
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP\v4\Full
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\OLE
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\file.exe
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Segment Heap
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Policies\Microsoft\Cryptography\Configuration
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework\NGen\Policy\v4.0
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework\Policy\
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework\v4.0.30319\SKUs\
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Fusion
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Fusion\PublisherPolicy\Default
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\OLE\Tracing
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Ole
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Ole\FeatureDevelopmentProperties
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Rpc
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\StrongName
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\GRE_Initialize
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\file.exe
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\MUI\Settings
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Rpc
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Display
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\0\Hashes
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\0\Paths
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\0\UrlZones
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\131072\Hashes
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\131072\Paths
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\131072\UrlZones
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\262144\Hashes
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\262144\Paths
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\262144\UrlZones
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\4096\Hashes
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\4096\Paths
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\4096\UrlZones
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\65536\Hashes
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\65536\Paths
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\65536\UrlZones
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\LevelObjects
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\ComputerName\ActiveComputerName
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Error Message Instrument\
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem\
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa\FipsAlgorithmPolicy
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Nls\CustomLocale
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Nls\ExtendedLocale
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Nls\Sorting\Ids
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Nls\Sorting\Versions
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot\Option
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Srp\GP\DLL
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\Setup
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings
HKEY_CURRENT_USER_Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft
HKEY_CURRENT_USER_Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Ole
HKEY_CURRENT_USER_Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Ole\FeatureDevelopmentProperties
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\executable.exe
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\executable.exe

Registry Set (Top 25)

What To Do Now — Practical Defense Playbook

  • Contain unknowns: block first‑run binaries by default — signatures catch up, containment works now.
  • EDR controls: alert on keyboard hooks, screen capture APIs, VM/sandbox checks, and command‑shell launches.
  • Registry watch: flag queries/sets under policy paths (e.g., …\FipsAlgorithmPolicy\*).
  • Network rules: inspect outbound TLS to IP‑lookup services and unexpected CDN endpoints.
  • Hunt broadly: sweep endpoints for the indicators above and quarantine positives immediately.

Dwell time equals attacker opportunity. Reducing execution privileges and egress shrinks that window even when vendors disagree.

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