3ad6dc2468015bb659344495b32be86a482f3c4d


Zero‑Dwell Threat Intelligence Report

A narrative, executive‑ready view into the malware’s behavior, exposure, and reliable defenses.
Generated: 2025-09-02 11:37:24 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
C:\Windows\5lq5xd.exe
Type
Win32 EXE
SHA‑1
3ad6dc2468015bb659344495b32be86a482f3c4d
MD5
17c68b8d956cf6eb1c9bfbd901d4bb9f
First Seen
2025-08-19 18:06:28
Last Analysis
2025-08-29 09:07:52 17:10:14
Dwell Time
9 days 15 hours

Extended Dwell Time Impact

For 9+ days, this malware remained undetected — an unusually long window that granted the adversary the ability to persist, recon, and potentially exfiltrate data with zero alerts.

Comparative Context

Industry studies report a median dwell time closer to 21–24 days. This case doubles that benchmark, highlighting a severe detection gap.

Timeline

Date Event Elapsed
Compilation of binary
2025-08-19 First VirusTotal submission
2025-08-29 Latest analysis snapshot +9 days since submission

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

Detections tell a story. As of the latest snapshot, 67 vendors detect this threat while 5 vendors miss it entirely — that’s 6.94% of your potential defense surface blind to the sample.

Detected Vendors

  • Xcitium
  • +66 additional vendors (names not provided)

List includes Xcitium plus an additional 66 vendors per the provided summary.

Missed Vendors

  • CMC
  • TACHYON
  • Webroot
  • Yandex
  • 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

  • hooking: 0.00%
  • threading: 0.00%
  • windows: 0.00%
  • misc: 0.01%
  • system: 0.09%
  • crypto: 99.75%
  • process: 0.02%
  • synchronization: 0.00%
  • registry: 0.11%
  • file system: 0.02%
  • device: 0.00%

MITRE ATT&CK Mapping

  • T1497 – Virtualization/Sandbox Evasion (checks BIOS/WMI; long sleeps)
  • T1113 – Screen Capture (WinAPI)
  • T1056.001 – Input Capture: Keylogging (global keyboard hook)
  • T1012 – Query Registry (policy & crypto OID keys)
  • T1071.001 – Web Protocols (HTTPS to external IP lookup service)
  • T1105 – Ingress Tool Transfer / C2 data (socket/HTTP usage)

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
www.msftncsi.com 23.200.3.20 United States Akamai Technologies, Inc.

Observed IPs

IP Country ASN
224.0.0.252
8.8.4.4 United States Google LLC
8.8.8.8 United States Google LLC

DNS Queries

Request Type Time Answers
5isohu.com A 15.91563105583191
www.msftncsi.com A 18.64970302581787

Contacted IPs

IP Country ASN
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 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 7.930926084518433 udp
192.168.56.11 224.0.0.252 49563 5355 7.862659931182861 udp
192.168.56.11 224.0.0.252 54650 5355 7.866019010543823 udp
192.168.56.11 224.0.0.252 55601 5355 7.920959949493408 udp
192.168.56.11 224.0.0.252 62798 5355 10.6043541431427 udp
192.168.56.11 239.255.255.250 62184 3702 7.875313997268677 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 51899 53 10.651626110076904 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 60205 53 7.919436931610107 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 51899 53 11.649405002593994 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 60205 53 8.91507601737976 udp

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

Transport & Telemetry — TLS, HTTP, IP, IDS

The sample leans on encrypted transport and benign‑looking hosts, but the patterns still betray it: JA3/JA4 hints, cert chains, and IDS metadata are enough to anchor hunting queries.

TLS Sessions

Subject CN Issuer CN Serial TLS SNI JA3 JA4
ipwho.is GoGetSSL ECC DV CA 68cc9ded8945f97bd499e7c58b3ca6c2 TLS 1.2 ipwho.is 3b5074b1b5d032e5620f69f9f700ff0e t12d210700_76e208dd3e22_2dae41c691ec
cojkor grway cojkor grway 00db2acbe81874557b8180eaae48b518d4b293dd95 TLS 1.2 c12f54a3f91dc7bafd92cb59fe009a35 t12i210600_76e208dd3e22_2dae41c691ec
cojkor grway cojkor grway 00db2acbe81874557b8180eaae48b518d4b293dd95 TLS 1.2 43016d7f7f9336b17c884650d0d2545d t12i180600_4b22cbed5bed_2dae41c691ec
ipwho.is GoGetSSL ECC DV CA 68cc9ded8945f97bd499e7c58b3ca6c2 TLS 1.2 ipwho.is 6a5d235ee78c6aede6a61448b4e9ff1e t12d180700_4b22cbed5bed_2dae41c691ec

IP Traffic

Source IP Dest IP Sport Dport Proto Time
192.168.56.11 192.168.56.255 137 137 udp 7.930926084518433
192.168.56.11 224.0.0.252 49563 5355 udp 7.862659931182861
192.168.56.11 224.0.0.252 54650 5355 udp 7.866019010543823
192.168.56.11 224.0.0.252 55601 5355 udp 7.920959949493408
192.168.56.11 224.0.0.252 62798 5355 udp 10.6043541431427
192.168.56.11 239.255.255.250 62184 3702 udp 7.875313997268677
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 51899 53 udp 10.651626110076904
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 60205 53 udp 7.919436931610107
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 51899 53 udp 11.649405002593994
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 60205 53 udp 8.91507601737976

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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