The threat actors behind the Rhadamanthys information stealer have added new advanced features to the malware, including using artificial intelligence (AI) for optical character recognition (OCR) as part of what’s called “Seed Phrase Image Recognition.”
“This allows Rhadamanthys to extract cryptocurrency wallet seed phrases from images, making it a highly potent threat for anyone dealing in cryptocurrencies,” Recorded Future’s Insikt Group said in an analysis of version 0.7.0 of the malware.
“The malware can recognize seed phrase images on the client side and send them back to the command-and-control (C2) server for further exploitation.”
First discovered in the wild in September 2022, Rhadamanthys has emerged as one of the most potent information stealers that are advertised under the malware-as-a-service (MaaS) model, alongside Lumma and others.
The malware continues to have an active presence despite suffering bans from underground forums like Exploit and XSS for targeting entities within Russia and the former Soviet Union, with its developer, who goes by the name “kingcrete” (aka “kingcrete2022”), finding ways to market the new versions on Telegram, Jabber, and TOX.
The cybersecurity company, which is set to be acquired by Mastercard for $2.65 billion, said the stealer is sold on a subscription basis for $250 per month (or $550 for 90 days), allowing its customers to harvest a wide range of sensitive information from compromised hosts.
This includes system information, credentials, cryptocurrency wallets, browser passwords, cookies, and data stored in various applications, while simultaneously taking steps to complicate analysis efforts within sandboxed environments.
Version 0.7.0, the most recent version of Rhadamanthys released in June 2024, significantly improves upon its predecessor 0.6.0, which came out in February 2024.
It comprises a “complete rewrite of both client-side and server-side frameworks, improving the program’s execution stability,” Recorded Future noted. “Additionally, 30 wallet-cracking algorithms, AI-powered graphics, and PDF recognition for phrase extraction were added. The text extraction capability was enhanced to identify multiple saved phrases.”
Also included is a feature to allow threat actors to run and install Microsoft Software Installer(MSI) files in an apparent effort to evade detection by security solutions installed on the host. It further contains a setting to prevent re-execution within a configurable time frame.
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| Rhadamanthys’s high-level infection chain |
A noteworthy aspect of Rhadamanthys is its plugin system that can augment its capabilities with keylogger, cryptocurrency clipper, and reverse proxy functionality.
“Rhadamanthys is a popular choice for cybercriminals,” Recorded Future said. “Coupled with its rapid development and innovative new features, it is a formidable threat all organizations should be aware of.”
The development comes as Google-owned Mandiant detailed Lumma Stealer’s use of customized control flow indirection to manipulate the execution of the malware.
“This technique thwarts all binary analysis tools including IDA Pro and Ghidra, significantly hindering not only the reverse engineering process, but also automation tooling designed to capture execution artifacts and generate detections,” researchers Nino Isakovic and Chuong Dong said.
Rhadamanthys and Lumma, alongside other stealer malware families like Meduza, StealC, Vidar, and WhiteSnake, have also been found releasing updates in recent weeks to collect cookies from the Chrome web browser, effectively bypassing newly introduced security mechanisms like app-bound encryption.
On top of that, the developers behind the WhiteSnake Stealer have added the ability to extract CVC codes from credit cards stored in Chrome, highlighting the ever-evolving nature of the malware landscape.
That’s not all. Researchers have identified an Amadey malware campaign that deploys an AutoIt script, which then launches the victim’s browser in kiosk mode to force them to enter their Google account credentials. The login information is stored in the browser’s credential store on disk for subsequent harvesting by stealers such as StealC.
These ongoing updates also follow the discovery of new drive-by download campaigns that deliver information stealers by tricking users into manually copying and executing PowerShell code to prove they are human by means of a deceptive CAPTCHA verification page.
As part of the campaign, users searching for video streaming services on Google are redirected to malicious URL that urges them to press the Windows button + R to launch the Run menu, paste an encoded PowerShell command, and execute it, according to CloudSEK, eSentire, Palo Alto Networks Unit 42, and Secureworks.
The attack, which ultimately delivers stealers such as Lumma, StealC, and Vidar, is a variant of the ClickFix campaign documented in recent months by ReliaQuest, Proofpoint, McAfee Labs, and Trellix.
“This novel attack vector poses significant risk, as it circumvents browser security controls by opening a command prompt,” Secureworks said. “The victim is then directed to execute unauthorized code directly on their host.”
Phishing and malvertising campaigns have also been observed distributing Atomic macOS Stealer (AMOS), Rilide, as well as a new variant of a stealer malware called Snake Keylogger (aka 404 Keylogger or KrakenKeylogger).
Furthermore, information stealers like Atomic, Rhadamanthys, and StealC have been at the heart of over 30 scam campaigns orchestrated by a cybercrime gang known as Marko Polo to conduct cryptocurrency theft across platforms by impersonating legitimate brands in online gaming, virtual meetings and productivity software, and cryptocurrency.
“Marko Polo primarily targets gamers, cryptocurrency influencers, and software developers via spear-phishing on social media — highlighting its focus on tech-savvy victims,” Recorded Future said, adding “likely tens of thousands of devices have been compromised globally.”