SYMBOLCOMMON_NAMEaka. SYNONYMS
win.darkshell (Back to overview)

DarkShell

VTCollection    

DarkShell is a DDoS bot seemingly of Chinese origin, discovered in 2011. During 2011, DarkShell was reported to target the industrial food processing industry.

References
2015-12-03 ⋅ 360 Internet Security Center ⋅ Ya Liu
Automatically Classifying Unknown Bots by The REGISTER Messages
MrBlack XOR DDoS DarkShell
2012-04-05 ⋅ McAfee ⋅ McAfee
Darkshell DDOS Botnet Evolves With Variants
DarkShell
Yara Rules
[TLP:WHITE] win_darkshell_auto (20260917 | Detects win.darkshell.)
rule win_darkshell_auto {

    meta:
        author = "Felix Bilstein - yara-signator at cocacoding dot com"
        date = "2026-09-17"
        version = "1"
        description = "Detects win.darkshell."
        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.darkshell"
        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 = { 8d3428 b801000000 33db 3bc3 7508 391e 0f84b2000000 }
            // n = 7, score = 300
            //   8d3428               | lea                 esi, [eax + ebp]
            //   b801000000           | mov                 eax, 1
            //   33db                 | xor                 ebx, ebx
            //   3bc3                 | cmp                 eax, ebx
            //   7508                 | jne                 0xa
            //   391e                 | cmp                 dword ptr [esi], ebx
            //   0f84b2000000         | je                  0xb8

        $sequence_1 = { 7543 8b483c 03c1 813850450000 }
            // n = 4, score = 300
            //   7543                 | jne                 0x45
            //   8b483c               | mov                 ecx, dword ptr [eax + 0x3c]
            //   03c1                 | add                 eax, ecx
            //   813850450000         | cmp                 dword ptr [eax], 0x4550

        $sequence_2 = { 83cfff e8???????? 85c0 7446 8b442420 }
            // n = 5, score = 300
            //   83cfff               | or                  edi, 0xffffffff
            //   e8????????           |                     
            //   85c0                 | test                eax, eax
            //   7446                 | je                  0x48
            //   8b442420             | mov                 eax, dword ptr [esp + 0x20]

        $sequence_3 = { 8b8c2494000000 56 8bb4248c000000 8910 8b54241c }
            // n = 5, score = 300
            //   8b8c2494000000       | mov                 ecx, dword ptr [esp + 0x94]
            //   56                   | push                esi
            //   8bb4248c000000       | mov                 esi, dword ptr [esp + 0x8c]
            //   8910                 | mov                 dword ptr [eax], edx
            //   8b54241c             | mov                 edx, dword ptr [esp + 0x1c]

        $sequence_4 = { 8b5604 43 83ea08 83c702 }
            // n = 4, score = 300
            //   8b5604               | mov                 edx, dword ptr [esi + 4]
            //   43                   | inc                 ebx
            //   83ea08               | sub                 edx, 8
            //   83c702               | add                 edi, 2

        $sequence_5 = { ffd5 8d542410 8bf0 6a10 52 }
            // n = 5, score = 300
            //   ffd5                 | call                ebp
            //   8d542410             | lea                 edx, [esp + 0x10]
            //   8bf0                 | mov                 esi, eax
            //   6a10                 | push                0x10
            //   52                   | push                edx

        $sequence_6 = { c1e808 8b549408 33c2 41 4e 75e5 }
            // n = 6, score = 300
            //   c1e808               | shr                 eax, 8
            //   8b549408             | mov                 edx, dword ptr [esp + edx*4 + 8]
            //   33c2                 | xor                 eax, edx
            //   41                   | inc                 ecx
            //   4e                   | dec                 esi
            //   75e5                 | jne                 0xffffffe7

        $sequence_7 = { 89442418 ffd7 6a00 6a00 6a00 6a00 68???????? }
            // n = 7, score = 300
            //   89442418             | mov                 dword ptr [esp + 0x18], eax
            //   ffd7                 | call                edi
            //   6a00                 | push                0
            //   6a00                 | push                0
            //   6a00                 | push                0
            //   6a00                 | push                0
            //   68????????           |                     

        $sequence_8 = { 52 55 c744242000000000 e8???????? 8b442434 }
            // n = 5, score = 300
            //   52                   | push                edx
            //   55                   | push                ebp
            //   c744242000000000     | mov                 dword ptr [esp + 0x20], 0
            //   e8????????           |                     
            //   8b442434             | mov                 eax, dword ptr [esp + 0x34]

        $sequence_9 = { 890f 8b8c2494000000 56 8bb4248c000000 }
            // n = 4, score = 300
            //   890f                 | mov                 dword ptr [edi], ecx
            //   8b8c2494000000       | mov                 ecx, dword ptr [esp + 0x94]
            //   56                   | push                esi
            //   8bb4248c000000       | mov                 esi, dword ptr [esp + 0x8c]

    condition:
        7 of them and filesize < 344064
}
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