SYMBOLCOMMON_NAMEaka. SYNONYMS
win.cheesetray (Back to overview)

CHEESETRAY

aka: CROWDEDFLOUNDER

Actor(s): Lazarus Group

VTCollection    

CHEESETRAY is a sophisticated proxy-aware backdoor that can operate in both active and passive mode depending on the passed command-line parameters. The backdoor is capable of enumerating files and processes, enumerating drivers, enumerating remote desktop sessions, uploading and downloading files, creating and terminating processes, deleting files, creating a reverse shell, acting as a proxy server, and hijacking processes among its other functionality. The backdoor communicates with its C&C server using a custom binary protocol over TCP with port specified as a command-line parameter.

References
2020-02-25 ⋅ SentinelOne ⋅ Jim Walter
DPRK Hidden Cobra Update: North Korean Malicious Cyber Activity
ARTFULPIE BISTROMATH BUFFETLINE CHEESETRAY HOPLIGHT HOTCROISSANT SLICKSHOES
2020-02-14 ⋅ US-CERT ⋅ US-CERT
Malware Analysis Report (AR20-045C)
CHEESETRAY
2018-01-01 ⋅ FireEye ⋅ FireEye
APT38
CHEESETRAY CLEANTOAD NACHOCHEESE
Yara Rules
[TLP:WHITE] win_cheesetray_auto (20260917 | Detects win.cheesetray.)
rule win_cheesetray_auto {

    meta:
        author = "Felix Bilstein - yara-signator at cocacoding dot com"
        date = "2026-09-17"
        version = "1"
        description = "Detects win.cheesetray."
        info = "autogenerated rule brought to you by yara-signator"
        tool = "yara-signator v0.6.0"
        signator_config = "callsandjumps;datarefs;binvalue"
        malpedia_reference = "https://malpedia.caad.fkie.fraunhofer.de/details/win.cheesetray"
        malpedia_rule_date = "20260916"
        malpedia_hash = "53a643781c18e08f4a50949af60172d837a0b6f6"
        malpedia_version = "20260917"
        malpedia_license = "CC BY-SA 4.0"
        malpedia_sharing = "TLP:WHITE"

    /* DISCLAIMER
     * The strings used in this rule have been automatically selected from the
     * disassembly of memory dumps and unpacked files, using YARA-Signator.
     * The code and documentation is published here:
     * https://github.com/fxb-cocacoding/yara-signator
     * As Malpedia is used as data source, please note that for a given
     * number of families, only single samples are documented.
     * This likely impacts the degree of generalization these rules will offer.
     * Take the described generation method also into consideration when you
     * apply the rules in your use cases and assign them confidence levels.
     */


    strings:
        $sequence_0 = { 40 84c9 75f9 2bc2 8bf8 8d5f01 53 }
            // n = 7, score = 200
            //   40                   | inc                 eax
            //   84c9                 | test                cl, cl
            //   75f9                 | jne                 0xfffffffb
            //   2bc2                 | sub                 eax, edx
            //   8bf8                 | mov                 edi, eax
            //   8d5f01               | lea                 ebx, [edi + 1]
            //   53                   | push                ebx

        $sequence_1 = { 85c0 7442 6a0a 8d8500ffffff 6a00 50 e8???????? }
            // n = 7, score = 200
            //   85c0                 | test                eax, eax
            //   7442                 | je                  0x44
            //   6a0a                 | push                0xa
            //   8d8500ffffff         | lea                 eax, [ebp - 0x100]
            //   6a00                 | push                0
            //   50                   | push                eax
            //   e8????????           |                     

        $sequence_2 = { 83c41c f7d8 1bc0 f7d8 8be5 }
            // n = 5, score = 200
            //   83c41c               | add                 esp, 0x1c
            //   f7d8                 | neg                 eax
            //   1bc0                 | sbb                 eax, eax
            //   f7d8                 | neg                 eax
            //   8be5                 | mov                 esp, ebp

        $sequence_3 = { 66833c4200 75f8 8d0c00 8b4508 52 }
            // n = 5, score = 200
            //   66833c4200           | cmp                 word ptr [edx + eax*2], 0
            //   75f8                 | jne                 0xfffffffa
            //   8d0c00               | lea                 ecx, [eax + eax]
            //   8b4508               | mov                 eax, dword ptr [ebp + 8]
            //   52                   | push                edx

        $sequence_4 = { 5f 5e 8bc3 5b 5d c20c00 8bc3 }
            // n = 7, score = 200
            //   5f                   | pop                 edi
            //   5e                   | pop                 esi
            //   8bc3                 | mov                 eax, ebx
            //   5b                   | pop                 ebx
            //   5d                   | pop                 ebp
            //   c20c00               | ret                 0xc
            //   8bc3                 | mov                 eax, ebx

        $sequence_5 = { 55 8bec 83ec10 33c0 c645f000 8945f1 8945f5 }
            // n = 7, score = 200
            //   55                   | push                ebp
            //   8bec                 | mov                 ebp, esp
            //   83ec10               | sub                 esp, 0x10
            //   33c0                 | xor                 eax, eax
            //   c645f000             | mov                 byte ptr [ebp - 0x10], 0
            //   8945f1               | mov                 dword ptr [ebp - 0xf], eax
            //   8945f5               | mov                 dword ptr [ebp - 0xb], eax

        $sequence_6 = { 7408 8bc6 5e 5b 8be5 5d c3 }
            // n = 7, score = 200
            //   7408                 | je                  0xa
            //   8bc6                 | mov                 eax, esi
            //   5e                   | pop                 esi
            //   5b                   | pop                 ebx
            //   8be5                 | mov                 esp, ebp
            //   5d                   | pop                 ebp
            //   c3                   | ret                 

        $sequence_7 = { e8???????? 83c408 894608 85c0 7403 ff4604 5f }
            // n = 7, score = 200
            //   e8????????           |                     
            //   83c408               | add                 esp, 8
            //   894608               | mov                 dword ptr [esi + 8], eax
            //   85c0                 | test                eax, eax
            //   7403                 | je                  5
            //   ff4604               | inc                 dword ptr [esi + 4]
            //   5f                   | pop                 edi

        $sequence_8 = { e8???????? 8b5508 6a02 52 68???????? ba1f000000 8d75c0 }
            // n = 7, score = 200
            //   e8????????           |                     
            //   8b5508               | mov                 edx, dword ptr [ebp + 8]
            //   6a02                 | push                2
            //   52                   | push                edx
            //   68????????           |                     
            //   ba1f000000           | mov                 edx, 0x1f
            //   8d75c0               | lea                 esi, [ebp - 0x40]

        $sequence_9 = { 8b80008b4400 3bf0 7e44 83ee07 eb3f 2503000080 7905 }
            // n = 7, score = 200
            //   8b80008b4400         | mov                 eax, dword ptr [eax + 0x448b00]
            //   3bf0                 | cmp                 esi, eax
            //   7e44                 | jle                 0x46
            //   83ee07               | sub                 esi, 7
            //   eb3f                 | jmp                 0x41
            //   2503000080           | and                 eax, 0x80000003
            //   7905                 | jns                 7

    condition:
        7 of them and filesize < 8626176
}
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