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Ramsay

Ramsay is a Windows malware framework associated with espionage operations against air-gapped or otherwise isolated networks.

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Ramsay

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Ramsay is a Windows malware framework associated with espionage operations against air-gapped or otherwise isolated networks. It is designed to collect documents and system information from compromised hosts and to move commands and stolen data through offline channels rather than relying primarily on conventional network command-and-control. Public reporting has linked Ramsay to operations attributed to DarkHotel.

Ramsay has been delivered through malicious email attachments and weaponized documents, including embedded Visual Basic script content and exploits such as CVE-2017-0199 and CVE-2017-11882. It has also masqueraded as legitimate software installers. The framework can extract an embedded agent from a malicious document and execute additional components through standard Windows process-launching APIs.

A defining characteristic of Ramsay is its focus on environments with limited or no internet connectivity. It can scan removable media and network shares for specially prepared files used as an offline control channel, then read instructions from those files to execute commands. Its documented offline protocol supports actions including executing files, loading DLLs, and running batch scripts. Ramsay also scans local subnets for hosts vulnerable to CVE-2017-0144, although no observed component has been shown exploiting that vulnerability directly.

On infected Windows systems, Ramsay performs host and network reconnaissance by enumerating running processes and collecting network configuration details using native utilities and APIs. It can gather routing and ARP information, identify network drives, and search for documents of intelligence value. Document collection has included Microsoft Word files and other common office and text formats, including files recovered from browser cache locations. Ramsay also supports screenshot capture at regular intervals and when removable storage is connected, reinforcing its surveillance role in disconnected environments.

For persistence and stealth, Ramsay has used scheduled tasks through the Windows COM API, Registry Run keys, and DLL side-loading or dependency hijacking with malicious DLL payloads. It has also been observed using reflective DLL injection to deploy components and UACMe to obtain elevated privileges. Its communications and data handling have included Base64 encoding for command-and-control traffic in connected scenarios. Overall, Ramsay is best characterized as an espionage-oriented collection platform tailored for Windows systems in segmented or air-gapped networks.

Capabilities

  • Defense Evasion
  • Dll Sideloading
  • Exfiltration
  • Persistence
  • Privilege Escalation
  • Process Injection
  • Reconnaissance
  • Scanning

C2 tracking

Seven-day C2 activity

Derp observations, rolling seven-day window

Observed infrastructure

Last seven days

First activity
Sep 19, 2026
Last activity
Sep 19, 2026
Feed role
C2
Host form
0 IP / 1 hostnames

Leading locations

  • HK1

Leading providers

  • HGC Global Communications Limited1

Samples

Recent associated samples

Reported operators

Threat actors

1 named in public reporting
Darkhotel

安全厂商ESET 近日又披露了该组织新恶意框架Ramsay,Ramsay 框架是疑似专门用于针对隔离网络的恶意代码,主要通过感染正常软件进行传播,同时与常规恶意软件基于网络协议的C2 不同,Ramsay 框架采用的是自定义的文件传输控制指令,当扫描到被带入隔离网络的感染文件,则从文件特定位置读取指令执行。

Exploited software

Vulnerabilities linked to Ramsay

4 CVEs

MITRE ATT&CK

Ramsay in ATT&CK

53 distinct techniques

Techniques

53 techniques
T1132 Data Encoding T1113 Screen Capture T1053.005 Scheduled Task T1057 Process Discovery T1548.002 Bypass User Account Control T1140 Deobfuscate/Decode Files or Information T1005 Data from Local System T1135 Network Share Discovery T1082 System Information Discovery T1547.001 Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder T1620 Reflective Code Loading T1016 System Network Configuration Discovery T1204.002 Malicious File T1574.001 DLL T1083 File and Directory Discovery T1106 Native API T1036 Masquerading T1120 Peripheral Device Discovery T1071.001 Web Protocols T1204 User Execution T1059.005 Visual Basic T1055 Process Injection T1546.010 AppInit DLLs T1052 Exfiltration Over Physical Medium T1046 Network Service Discovery T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution T1560.001 Archive via Utility T1091 Replication Through Removable Media T1074 Data Staged T1053 Scheduled Task/Job T1574.011 Services Registry Permissions Weakness T1560 Archive Collected Data T1025 Data from Removable Media T1039 Data from Network Shared Drive T1119 Automated Collection T1036.003 Rename Legitimate Utilities T1566.001 Spearphishing Attachment T1027.009 Embedded Payloads T1564.004 NTFS File Attributes T1027 Obfuscated Files or Information T1027.003 Steganography T1036.005 Match Legitimate Resource Name or Location T1080 Taint Shared Content T1560.003 Archive via Custom Method T1055.001 Dynamic-link Library Injection T1680 Local Storage Discovery T1074.001 Local Data Staging T1049 System Network Connections Discovery T1559.001 Component Object Model T1132.001 Standard Encoding T1014 Rootkit T1559.002 Dynamic Data Exchange

Reporting

Research mentioning Ramsay

Jul 30
Splunk Research

Detection: Windows Suspicious Child Process of Consent.EXE | Splunk Security Content

Splunk published a Windows endpoint analytic that detects suspicious child processes launched by consent.exe, a behavior strongly associated with User Account Control (UAC) bypass and privilege escalation. Because consent.exe normally displays the UAC elevation prompt rather than spawning executables, the detection treats such process creation as anomalous, excluding WerFault.exe as a known crash-related exception. The analytic maps to MITRE ATT&CK techniques T1548.002, T1068, and T1059, and is designed for telemetry from Sysmon, Windows Security Event ID 4688, and CrowdStrike ProcessRollup2 data normalized into Splunk's Endpoint data model. The release aligns with MITRE ATT&CK documentation showing UAC bypass remains a widely used post-compromise technique across ransomware operators, commodity malware, and state-linked intrusion groups. ATT&CK lists methods including COM abuse through CMSTPLUA, scheduled task abuse such as SilentCleanup, registry hijacks involving ms-settings and mscfile, and abuse of trusted Windows binaries including fodhelper.exe, eventvwr.exe, and sdclt.exe. Splunk also published supporting attack simulation data for suspicious child processes of consent.exe, giving defenders a way to test visibility for this privilege-escalation pattern, although the analytic is disabled by default and generates intermediate risk events rather than direct notable alerts.

Jul 22
Splunk Research

Windows Suspicious Child Of Consent.exe | Splunk Security Content

Jul 15
Esentire

DinDoor, DenoRAT, and NightshadeC2: Analyzing TAG-150's Evolving Tradecraft | eSentire

eSentire reported that a June 2026 intrusion against a finance-sector customer began with a ClickFix-style social engineering lure that triggered a malicious command, an MSI installer, and a multi-stage malware chain attributed to TAG-150. The infection sequence used an apparently AI-generated PowerShell script, Griffin20.ps1, to install the Deno runtime and launch the Deno-based loader DinDoor, which then deployed DenoRAT and ultimately NightshadeC2. Investigators said the malware communicated with command-and-control infrastructure including webstizkgao[.]com and used hard-coded JWTs carrying campaign identifiers such as buildId 0def066f14754be9 and buildNote LearnV7msi. The tooling provided broad post-compromise capability, with DenoRAT functioning as a RAT, loader, and stealer that supported command execution, persistence, host fingerprinting, file operations, screenshots, PTY and VNC-style remote control, and theft from browsers and cryptocurrency wallets. eSentire said the malware could also bypass Chromium App-Bound Encryption through DLL injection, a technique widely associated with in-memory execution, evasion, and abuse of legitimate Windows processes in ATT&CK T1055.001. The final NightshadeC2 payload was delivered through a PowerShell-driven Python in-memory loader, decrypted from an encrypted container using AES-256-CBC with a key derived from MoscauHighSmoke, and reflectively mapped into a Python process before the affected host was isolated and remediated.

Nov 2
Cyble Blog Historic

Cyble - New Laplas Clipper Distributed Via SmokeLoader

Researchers reported multiple financially motivated malware campaigns using SmokeLoader as a delivery mechanism for follow-on payloads including Gozi ISFB, ZLoader, Oski, AveMaria, Cobalt Strike, SystemBC, RecordBreaker, and the Laplas Clipper cryptocurrency hijacker. In one campaign set, attackers abused website contact forms and sent phishing lures posing as copyright complaints, directing victims to malicious documents hosted on legitimate services such as Google Drive. Talos found the initial payloads were wrapped in a shared crypter identified by the DOS-stub string "Salfram," indicating a common tooling layer across otherwise varied malware deliveries. The activity relied on evasive and modular infection chains designed to complicate detection and maximize monetization. The Salfram crypter used obfuscation methods including fake API calls, fragmented control flow, self-modifying code, and memory allocation through ZwAllocateVirtualMemory, while later-stage malware added persistence and theft capabilities. Cyble said Laplas Clipper monitored the clipboard for cryptocurrency wallet addresses, pulled regex patterns and replacement addresses from clipper[.]guru, and persisted by copying itself into %appdata% and creating a scheduled task that ran every minute. The combined use of phishing, legitimate hosting platforms, crypter-based obfuscation, and multi-payload delivery shows an adaptable criminal ecosystem built to steal credentials, proxy access, banking data, and cryptocurrency funds.

Sep 3
Talosintelligence Other

Salfram: Robbing the place without removing your name tag

Sep 2
Eset Welivesecurity

KryptoCibule: The multitasking multicurrency cryptostealer

ESET disclosed KryptoCibule, a previously undocumented malware family active since at least late 2018 that primarily targeted users in Czechia and Slovakia through malicious torrents posing as cracked software installers. The malware combined several cryptocurrency-focused functions: it mined coins on infected systems, monitored the clipboard to replace copied wallet addresses and redirect payments, searched for cryptocurrency wallets and related files for exfiltration, and also exposed remote-access trojan (RAT) capabilities. The campaign relied heavily on Tor and BitTorrent infrastructure and either bundled or fetched legitimate tools including Tor, Transmission, Apache httpd, and Buru SFTP Server to support command-and-control and data theft through onion services hosted on compromised machines. ESET said KryptoCibule used layered evasion and persistence measures, including obfuscation, masquerading as Adobe Reader components, scheduled tasks, Windows Defender exclusions, firewall rule changes, and checks for analysis tools and antivirus products; although only hundreds of victims were observed, the malware remained active and continued to gain new capabilities.

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