Zero‑Dwell Threat Intelligence Report
A narrative, executive‑ready view into the malware’s behavior, exposure, and reliable defenses.
Generated: 2025-09-18 06:46:56 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
WinMail0Agent.exe
Type
PE32+ executable (GUI) x86-64 Mono/.Net assembly, for MS Windows
SHA‑1
7590e7eb8e8038565fff693e67e3ffc90204df6c
MD5
3ed0776db09f7ffa8421b284856eb20e
First Seen
2025-09-05 15:53:52.757393
Last Analysis
2025-09-05 18:47:59.694679
Dwell Time
0 days, 7 hours, 33 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2022-09-06 13:35:17 UTC | First VirusTotal submission | — |
| 2025-09-09 07:33:11 UTC | Latest analysis snapshot | 1098 days, 17 hours, 57 minutes |
| 2025-09-18 06:46:56 UTC | Report generation time | 1107 days, 17 hours, 11 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: 51. Missed: 22. Coverage: 69.9%.
Detected Vendors
- Xcitium
- +50 additional vendors (names not provided)
List includes Xcitium plus an additional 50 vendors per the provided summary.
Missed Vendors
- Acronis
- AhnLab-V3
- Antiy-AVL
- Baidu
- ClamAV
- CMC
- DrWeb
- google_safebrowsing
- Gridinsoft
- Jiangmin
- MaxSecure
- NANO-Antivirus
- SUPERAntiSpyware
- TACHYON
- tehtris
- Trapmine
- VBA32
- 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 (40.00% 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 | 302 | 40.00% |
| Registry | 190 | 25.17% |
| File System | 114 | 15.10% |
| Process | 96 | 12.72% |
| Misc | 35 | 4.64% |
| Synchronization | 8 | 1.06% |
| Threading | 6 | 0.79% |
| Hooking | 2 | 0.26% |
| Device | 2 | 0.26% |
MITRE ATT&CK Mapping
- T1129 – The process attempted to dynamically load a malicious function
- T1057 – The process has tried to detect the debugger probing the use of page guards.
- T1057 – The process attempted to detect a running debugger using common APIs
- 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 – Queries the volume information (name, serial number etc) of a device
- T1082 – Reads software policies
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 | 23.200.3.18 | United States | Akamai Technologies, Inc. |
| www.aieov.com | 13.248.169.48 | United States | Amazon 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 |
| www.aieov.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 |
| 5355 | 5 | udp |
| 53 | 6 | udp |
| 3702 | 1 | udp |
UDP Packets
| Source IP | Dest IP | Sport | Dport | Time | Proto |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 192.168.56.11 | 192.168.56.255 | 137 | 137 | 3.301870107650757 | udp |
| 192.168.56.11 | 224.0.0.252 | 49563 | 5355 | 3.2301759719848633 | udp |
| 192.168.56.11 | 224.0.0.252 | 54650 | 5355 | 3.23229718208313 | udp |
| 192.168.56.11 | 224.0.0.252 | 55601 | 5355 | 3.785874128341675 | udp |
| 192.168.56.11 | 224.0.0.252 | 60205 | 5355 | 3.241391181945801 | udp |
| 192.168.56.11 | 224.0.0.252 | 62798 | 5355 | 5.786710023880005 | udp |
| 192.168.56.11 | 239.255.255.250 | 62184 | 3702 | 3.239377975463867 | udp |
| 192.168.56.11 | 8.8.4.4 | 51690 | 53 | 6.598836183547974 | udp |
| 192.168.56.11 | 8.8.4.4 | 51899 | 53 | 5.959050178527832 | udp |
| 192.168.56.11 | 8.8.4.4 | 63439 | 53 | 22.05190396308899 | udp |
| 192.168.56.11 | 8.8.8.8 | 51690 | 53 | 7.598392009735107 | udp |
| 192.168.56.11 | 8.8.8.8 | 51899 | 53 | 6.958250045776367 | udp |
| 192.168.56.11 | 8.8.8.8 | 63439 | 53 | 21.051920175552368 | 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
87
Registry Set
0
Services Started
0
Services Opened
0
Registry Opened (Top 25)
| Key |
|---|
| HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework |
| HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Fusion |
| HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders |
| HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\0\Hashes |
| 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\WinMailAgentInstall.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\AppCompatFlags |
Show all (87 total)
| Key |
|---|
| 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\WinMailAgentInstall.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 |
Registry Set (Top 25)
Services Started (Top 15)
Services Opened (Top 15)
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.