Padodor Trojan Dropper Deploying Embedded Payload Through Mandiant-Flagged Config


Zero‑Dwell Threat Intelligence Report

A narrative, executive‑ready view into the malware’s behavior, exposure, and reliable defenses.
Generated: 2025-11-13 21:19:30 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
5ndts5.exe
Type
PE32 executable (GUI) Intel 80386, for MS Windows
SHA‑1
bf9ec6d43f70f7667e02fbbc958f7810b387a956
MD5
e6e9d11467b48daa64c7aa1463fbb785
First Seen
2025-10-06 07:13:30.833211
Last Analysis
2025-10-06 13:37:17.505720
Dwell Time
0 days, 7 hours, 33 minutes

Extended Dwell Time Impact

For 6+ hours, this malware remained undetected — a several-hour window that allowed the adversary to complete initial compromise and begin early-stage persistence establishment.

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
2025-09-01 18:45:20 UTC First VirusTotal submission
2025-10-08 14:08:47 UTC Latest analysis snapshot 36 days, 19 hours, 23 minutes
2025-11-13 21:19:30 UTC Report generation time 64 days, 12 hours, 34 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: 71. Detected as malicious: 66. Missed: 5. Coverage: 93.0%.

Detected Vendors

  • Xcitium
  • +65 additional vendors (names not provided)

List includes Xcitium plus an additional 65 vendors per the provided summary.

Missed Vendors

  • CMC
  • google_safebrowsing
  • SUPERAntiSpyware
  • 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

Intensive file system activity (61.40% of behavior) indicates data harvesting, file encryption, or dropper behavior. The threat is actively searching for and manipulating files across the system.

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
File System 92238 61.40%
System 47624 31.70%
Process 6861 4.57%
Registry 2525 1.68%
Misc 480 0.32%
Synchronization 160 0.11%
Hooking 154 0.10%
Threading 107 0.07%
Network 42 0.03%
Device 21 0.01%
Services 14 0.01%
__Notification__ 4 0.00%

MITRE ATT&CK Mapping

  • T1027.002 – packed with generic packer
  • T1027 – encode data using XOR
  • T1045 – Manalize Local SandBox Packer Harvesting
  • T1027 – encode data using XOR
  • T1027.002 – packed with generic packer
  • T1050 – The process has tried to set its autorun on the system startup
  • T1060 – The process has tried to set its autorun on the system startup
  • T1112 – The process has tried to set its autorun on the system startup

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.aieov.com 13.248.169.48 United States Amazon Technologies Inc.
www.msftncsi.com 2.18.67.72 Europe Akamai Technologies

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
138 1 udp
5355 5 udp
53 53 udp
3702 1 udp

UDP Packets

Source IP Dest IP Sport Dport Time Proto
192.168.56.11 192.168.56.255 137 137 3.247087001800537 udp
192.168.56.11 192.168.56.255 138 138 9.363822937011719 udp
192.168.56.11 224.0.0.252 49563 5355 3.172945022583008 udp
192.168.56.11 224.0.0.252 54650 5355 3.175189971923828 udp
192.168.56.11 224.0.0.252 55601 5355 4.274198055267334 udp
192.168.56.11 224.0.0.252 60205 5355 3.1834049224853516 udp
192.168.56.11 224.0.0.252 62798 5355 5.7570579051971436 udp
192.168.56.11 239.255.255.250 62184 3702 3.18131685256958 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 50586 53 206.25961589813232 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 51628 53 40.790525913238525 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 51663 53 58.96306395530701 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 51690 53 6.9079530239105225 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 51880 53 58.96304202079773 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 51899 53 5.767704963684082 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 52464 53 175.96308994293213 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 53480 53 90.90044784545898 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 54684 53 140.55681490898132 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 55183 53 226.19698095321655 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 56213 53 26.43240189552307 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 56473 53 36.759631872177124 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 56666 53 73.04081392288208 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 58090 53 125.79079699516296 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 58800 53 191.13445806503296 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 58917 53 29.557585954666138 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 59770 53 27.884665966033936 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 60054 53 105.99367690086365 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 60334 53 42.77686905860901 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 61467 53 241.5404920578003 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 61507 53 42.77680802345276 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 62120 53 44.05623507499695 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 62329 53 28.009938955307007 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 63439 53 22.259970903396606 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 63550 53 58.96305990219116 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 64563 53 156.4628930091858 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 50586 53 205.2663369178772 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 51628 53 39.79186987876892 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 51663 53 57.965023040771484 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 51690 53 7.904612064361572 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 51880 53 57.966410875320435 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 51899 53 6.759844064712524 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 52464 53 174.96460795402527 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 53480 53 89.90146398544312 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 54684 53 139.56017994880676 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 54823 53 255.27703595161438 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 55183 53 225.20464491844177 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 56213 53 25.446452856063843 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 56473 53 35.76256203651428 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 56666 53 72.04330086708069 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 58090 53 124.79594206809998 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 58800 53 190.14076805114746 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 58917 53 28.557239055633545 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 59770 53 26.89882493019104 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 60054 53 105.008455991745 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 60334 53 41.77619791030884 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 61467 53 240.54267191886902 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 61507 53 41.776288986206055 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 62120 53 43.063469886779785 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 62329 53 27.015321969985962 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 63439 53 21.269577980041504 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 63550 53 57.96632194519043 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 64563 53 155.4677529335022 udp

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

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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