Trojan Downloader Installs CryptoLocker and Modifies Autorun Keys


Zero‑Dwell Threat Intelligence Report

A narrative, executive‑ready view into the malware’s behavior, exposure, and reliable defenses.
Generated: 2025-11-14 22:20:30 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
w8aev.exe
Type
PE32 executable (GUI) Intel 80386, for MS Windows
SHA‑1
c0854541be0a6eb13c2381eedcb70ea4af8c3124
MD5
848372f801785c1b1142102c2e66674f
First Seen
2025-10-06 05:59:10.627892
Last Analysis
2025-10-06 07:50:35.639301
Dwell Time
0 days, 7 hours, 33 minutes

Extended Dwell Time Impact

For 1+ 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
2025-10-06 00:59:07 UTC First VirusTotal submission
2025-10-08 14:28:15 UTC Latest analysis snapshot 2 days, 13 hours, 29 minutes
2025-11-14 22:20:30 UTC Report generation time 30 days, 6 hours, 21 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: 69. Missed: 4. Coverage: 94.5%.

Detected Vendors

  • Xcitium
  • +68 additional vendors (names not provided)

List includes Xcitium plus an additional 68 vendors per the provided summary.

Missed Vendors

  • CMC
  • TACHYON
  • TrendMicro
  • Yandex

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 (40.24% 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 268 40.24%
Registry 266 39.94%
File System 45 6.76%
Process 34 5.11%
Device 22 3.30%
Windows 13 1.95%
Synchronization 8 1.20%
Com 6 0.90%
Misc 4 0.60%

MITRE ATT&CK Mapping

  • T1547.001 – reference startup folder
  • T1564.003 – hide graphical window
  • T1059 – accept command line arguments
  • T1027 – encrypt data using RC4 PRGA

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
5355 4 udp
53 8 udp
3702 1 udp

UDP Packets

Source IP Dest IP Sport Dport Time Proto
192.168.56.11 192.168.56.255 137 137 7.242568016052246 udp
192.168.56.11 224.0.0.252 49563 5355 7.124133110046387 udp
192.168.56.11 224.0.0.252 54650 5355 7.16758394241333 udp
192.168.56.11 224.0.0.252 55601 5355 9.977834939956665 udp
192.168.56.11 224.0.0.252 60205 5355 7.431895971298218 udp
192.168.56.11 239.255.255.250 62184 3702 7.664201974868774 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 51690 53 26.304764986038208 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 51899 53 10.883105993270874 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 62798 53 10.023991107940674 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.4.4 63439 53 40.694936990737915 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 51690 53 25.304851055145264 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 51899 53 11.88347601890564 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 62798 53 11.023720979690552 udp
192.168.56.11 8.8.8.8 63439 53 39.69551396369934 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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