• Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
MUST READ

Microsoft uncovers macOS flaw allowing bypass TCC protections and exposing sensitive data

 | 

U.S. CISA adds Cisco ISE and PaperCut NG/MF flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

Critical WordPress Post SMTP plugin flaw exposes 200K+ sites to full takeover

 | 

Scattered Spider targets VMware ESXi in using social engineering

 | 

China-linked group Fire Ant exploits VMware and F5 flaws since early 2025

 | 

Allianz Life data breach exposed the data of most of its 1.4M customers

 | 

SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 55

 | 

Security Affairs newsletter Round 534 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION

 | 

Law enforcement operations seized BlackSuit ransomware gang’s darknet sites

 | 

Arizona woman sentenced for aiding North Korea in U.S. IT job fraud scheme

 | 

Operation CargoTalon targets Russia’s aerospace with EAGLET malware,

 | 

Unpatched flaw in EoL LG LNV5110R cameras lets hackers gain Admin access

 | 

Koske, a new AI-Generated Linux malware appears in the threat landscape

 | 

Mitel patches critical MiVoice MX-ONE Auth bypass flaw

 | 

Coyote malware is first-ever malware abusing Windows UI Automation

 | 

SonicWall fixed critical flaw in SMA 100 devices exploited in Overstep malware attacks

 | 

DSPM & AI Are Booming: $17.87B and $4.8T Markets by 2033

 | 

Stealth backdoor found in WordPress mu-Plugins folder

 | 

U.S. CISA adds CrushFTP, Google Chromium, and SysAid flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

U.S. CISA urges FCEB agencies to fix two Microsoft SharePoint flaws immediately and added them to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 
  • Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
  • Home
  • APT
  • Breaking News
  • Hacking
  • Malware
  • Stayin’ Alive campaign targets high-profile Asian government and telecom entities. Is it linked to ToddyCat APT?

Stayin’ Alive campaign targets high-profile Asian government and telecom entities. Is it linked to ToddyCat APT?

Pierluigi Paganini October 13, 2023

A cyberespionage campaign, tracked as Stayin’ Alive, targeted high-profile government and telecom entities in Asia.

Cybersecurity company Check Point uncovered a malicious activity, tracked as Stayin’ Alive, that is targeting high-profile government and telecom entities in Asian countries, including Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, and Kazakhstan.

The campaign has been active since at least 2021, threat actors employed downloaders and loaders to deploy next-stage malware. The first downloader discovered by the researchers, called CurKeep, was employed in attacks aimed at entities in Vietnam, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan.

The researchers pointed out that the basic characteristics of the tools used by the threat actors and their broad diversity, suggest that they are disposable tools employed for downloading and executing additional payloads. The tools have no code similarities with any known tool used by other threat actors. All the tools connect to the same infrastructure, which is associated with China-linked APT ToddyCat.

The APT group was discovered in June 2022 by Kaspersky which linked it to a series of attacks aimed at high-profile entities in Europe and Asia since at least December 2020.

The threat actors leverage spear-phishing emails to deliver archive files utilizing DLL side-loading schemes.

“Our investigation started with an e-mail sent in September 2022 to a Vietnamese telecom company and was uploaded to VirusTotal. The mail subject, CHỈ THỊ VỀ VIỆC QUY ĐỊNH QUẢN LÝ VÀ SỬ DỤNG USER, translates to “INSTRUCTIONS ON MANAGEMENT AND USE: USER REGULATIONS”, which might indicate the target works in the IT Department.” reads the analysis published by Checkpoint. “The email contains a ZIP attachment with two files inside: a legitimate signed file mDNSResponder.exe renamed to match the email, and the side-loaded DLL named dal_keepalives.dll. The execution starts by running the legitimate executable, signed by Zoom, which loads dal_keepalives.dll, which in turn loads a simple backdoor called “CurKeep.”

ToddyCat  Stayin' Alive campaign

The CurKeep payload is very small, it is 10kb in size, contains 26 functions and is not statically compiled with any library.

The main payload is composed of three primary functionalities, ‘report’, ‘shell’, and ‘file.’ Each functionality is assigned to a different message type that is sent to the C2 server. Upon execution, the payload initially runs the ‘report’ feature sending basic recon info to the C2, then it creates two separate threads that repeatedly run the shell and file functionalities.

  • report – CurKeep collects information about the infected machine.
  • shell – Sends the computer name in a JSON format encrypted with simple XOR encryption and base64 encoded to the C2. In turn, the C2 responds with strings of commands.
  • file – Sends the same message as the shell but use a different format.

The backdoor uses HTTP for its communications.

The analysis of the C2 allowed the researchers to discover other loader variants used by the threat actor, such as CurLu, CurCore, and CurLog.

“While untangling the ties between the different backdoors through their infrastructure fingerprints, we also uncovered a potential connection to ToddyCat, a known actor operating in the region. While we cannot say with complete confidence that ToddyCat is behind this campaign, it is apparent that both utilize the same infrastructure to pursue a similar set of targets.” concludes the report. “While those overlaps do not necessarily indicate the actor behind the “Stayin’ Alive” campaign is the same as the one behind ToddyCat, it is likely the two have a common nexus and share the same infrastructure. In this context, it is also worth noting that ToddyCat has been reported as operating in the same countries as the “Stayin’ Alive” campaign.”

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, ToddyCat)


facebook linkedin twitter

Hacking hacking news IT Information Security malware Pierluigi Paganini Security Affairs Security News Stayin' Alive campaign ToddyCat

you might also like

Pierluigi Paganini July 29, 2025
Microsoft uncovers macOS flaw allowing bypass TCC protections and exposing sensitive data
Read more
Pierluigi Paganini July 28, 2025
U.S. CISA adds Cisco ISE and PaperCut NG/MF flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
Read more

leave a comment

newsletter

Subscribe to my email list and stay
up-to-date!

    recent articles

    Microsoft uncovers macOS flaw allowing bypass TCC protections and exposing sensitive data

    Hacking / July 29, 2025

    U.S. CISA adds Cisco ISE and PaperCut NG/MF flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

    Security / July 28, 2025

    Critical WordPress Post SMTP plugin flaw exposes 200K+ sites to full takeover

    Security / July 28, 2025

    Scattered Spider targets VMware ESXi in using social engineering

    Cyber Crime / July 28, 2025

    China-linked group Fire Ant exploits VMware and F5 flaws since early 2025

    Hacking / July 28, 2025

    To contact me write an email to:

    Pierluigi Paganini :
    pierluigi.paganini@securityaffairs.co

    LEARN MORE

    QUICK LINKS

    • Home
    • Cyber Crime
    • Cyber warfare
    • APT
    • Data Breach
    • Deep Web
    • Digital ID
    • Hacking
    • Hacktivism
    • Intelligence
    • Internet of Things
    • Laws and regulations
    • Malware
    • Mobile
    • Reports
    • Security
    • Social Networks
    • Terrorism
    • ICS-SCADA
    • POLICIES
    • Contact me

    Copyright@securityaffairs 2024

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
    Cookie SettingsAccept All
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities...
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT