Hacking Team Uses UEFI BIOS Rootkit
Figure 1. Technical support provided by Hacking Team
Figure 2. Files copied when the UEFI BIOS rootkit is installed
This means that when the BIOS rootkit is installed, the existence of the agents are checked each time the system is rebooted. If they do not exist, the agent scout.exe is installed in the following path: \Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\6To_60S7K_FU06yjEhjh5dpFw96549UU.
Figure 3. The RCS agents installed in the target systems>
Figure 4. Scoute.exe (the agent's name in debug mode) is deployed to every user in \Users\[username]\Appdata
Figure 5. Deployment of scoute.exe
- Make sure UEFI SecureFlash is enabled
- Update the BIOS whenever there is a security patch
- Set up a BIOS or UEFI password
DATE | UPDATE |
July 5 | The Italian company Hacking Team was hacked, with more than 400GB of confidential company data made available to the public. |
July 7 |
Three exploits – two for Flash Player and one for the Windows kernel—were initially found in the information dump. One of these [CVE-2015-5119] was a Flash zero-day. The Windows kernel vulnerability (CVE-2015-2387) existed in the open type font manager module (ATMFD.dll) and can be exploited to bypass the sandbox mitigation mechanism. The Flash zero-day exploit (CVE-2015-5119) was added into the Angler Exploit Kit and Nuclear Exploit Pack. It was also used in limited attacks in Korea and Japan. |
July 11 | Two new Flash zero-day vulnerabilities, CVE-2015-5122 and CVE-2015-5123, were found in the hacking team dump. |
July 13 | Further analysis of the hacking team dump revealed that the company used UEFI BIOS rootkit to keep their Remote Control System (RCS) agent installed in their targets’ systems. |
July 14 | A new zero-day vulnerability (CVE-2015-2425) was found in Internet Explorer. |
July 16 | On the mobile front, a fake news app designed to bypass Google Play was discovered. |
July 20 | A new zero-day vulnerability (CVE-2015-2426) was found in Windows, which Microsoft fixed in an out-of-band patch. |
July 21 | Analysis of the RCSAndroid spying tool revealed that Hacking Team can listen to calls and roots devices to get in. |
July 28 | A recent campaign compromised Taiwan and Hong Kong sites to deliver Flash exploits related to Hacking Team. |