SYMBOLCOMMON_NAMEaka. SYNONYMS
win.goldenspy (Back to overview)

GoldenSpy

VTCollection    

According securityweek, GoldenSpy, the malware was observed as part of a campaign that supposedly started in April 2020, but some of the identified samples suggest the threat has been around since at least December 2016.

One of the compromised organizations, a global technology vendor that conducts government business in the US, Australia and UK, and which recently opened offices in China, became infected after installing “Intelligent Tax,” a piece of software from the Golden Tax Department of Aisino Corporation, which a local bank required for paying local taxes.

Although it worked as advertised, the software was found to install a hidden backdoor to provide remote operators with the possibility to execute Windows commands or upload and run files.

References
2022-12-07ANSSIANSSI
INTEGRATION OF UNTRUSTED SOFTWARE - THE CASE OF GOLDENSPY
GoldenHelper GoldenSpy
2022-11-23ANSSIANSSI
ILLUSTRATION OF THE PROBLEMS RELATED TO THE INTEGRATION OF UNCONTROLLED SOFTWARE - THE CASE OF GOLDENSPY
GoldenSpy
2020-08-24FBIFBI
AC-000131-MW: Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures Associated with Malware within Chinese Government-Mandated Tax Software
GoldenSpy
2020-08-23FBIFBI
AC-000129-TT: Chinese Government-Mandated Tax Software Contains Malware, Enabling Backdoor Access
GoldenSpy
2020-08-21BundeskriminalamtBundeskriminalamt
Mögliche Cyberspionage mittels der Schadsoftware GOLDENSPY
GoldenSpy
2020-07-29Atlantic CouncilJune Lee, Stewart Scott, Trey Herr, William Loomis
BREAKING TRUST: Shades of Crisis Across an Insecure Software Supply Chain
EternalPetya GoldenSpy Kwampirs Stuxnet
2020-07-14TrustwaveBrian Hussey
GoldenSpy Chapter 4: GoldenHelper Malware Embedded in Official Golden Tax Software
GoldenHelper GoldenSpy
2020-07-02TrustwaveBrian Hussey
GoldenSpy Chapter 3: New and Improved Uninstaller
GoldenSpy
2020-06-30TrustwaveBrian Hussey
GoldenSpy: Chapter Two - The Uninstaller
GoldenSpy
2020-06-25TrustwaveBrian Hussey
The Golden Tax Department and the Emergence of GoldenSpy Malware
GoldenSpy
2020-06-25TrustwaveTrustwave SpiderLabs
The Golden Tax Department and Emergence of GoldenSpy Malware
GoldenSpy
Yara Rules
[TLP:WHITE] win_goldenspy_auto (20260504 | Detects win.goldenspy.)
rule win_goldenspy_auto {

    meta:
        author = "Felix Bilstein - yara-signator at cocacoding dot com"
        date = "2026-05-04"
        version = "1"
        description = "Detects win.goldenspy."
        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.goldenspy"
        malpedia_rule_date = "20260422"
        malpedia_hash = "a182e35da64e6d71cb55f125c4d4225196523f14"
        malpedia_version = "20260504"
        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 = { 741e 85f6 7409 56 e8???????? 83c404 33c0 }
            // n = 7, score = 100
            //   741e                 | je                  0x20
            //   85f6                 | test                esi, esi
            //   7409                 | je                  0xb
            //   56                   | push                esi
            //   e8????????           |                     
            //   83c404               | add                 esp, 4
            //   33c0                 | xor                 eax, eax

        $sequence_1 = { 8bcb 017334 56 e8???????? 01730c 5f 5e }
            // n = 7, score = 100
            //   8bcb                 | mov                 ecx, ebx
            //   017334               | add                 dword ptr [ebx + 0x34], esi
            //   56                   | push                esi
            //   e8????????           |                     
            //   01730c               | add                 dword ptr [ebx + 0xc], esi
            //   5f                   | pop                 edi
            //   5e                   | pop                 esi

        $sequence_2 = { 8d8560ffffff 50 8d8d78ffffff e8???????? c645fc06 }
            // n = 5, score = 100
            //   8d8560ffffff         | lea                 eax, [ebp - 0xa0]
            //   50                   | push                eax
            //   8d8d78ffffff         | lea                 ecx, [ebp - 0x88]
            //   e8????????           |                     
            //   c645fc06             | mov                 byte ptr [ebp - 4], 6

        $sequence_3 = { 57 50 8d45f4 64a300000000 8bf9 8b4d08 32c0 }
            // n = 7, score = 100
            //   57                   | push                edi
            //   50                   | push                eax
            //   8d45f4               | lea                 eax, [ebp - 0xc]
            //   64a300000000         | mov                 dword ptr fs:[0], eax
            //   8bf9                 | mov                 edi, ecx
            //   8b4d08               | mov                 ecx, dword ptr [ebp + 8]
            //   32c0                 | xor                 al, al

        $sequence_4 = { 8b30 3bf0 7456 0f1f4000 8b5610 51 ff7614 }
            // n = 7, score = 100
            //   8b30                 | mov                 esi, dword ptr [eax]
            //   3bf0                 | cmp                 esi, eax
            //   7456                 | je                  0x58
            //   0f1f4000             | nop                 dword ptr [eax]
            //   8b5610               | mov                 edx, dword ptr [esi + 0x10]
            //   51                   | push                ecx
            //   ff7614               | push                dword ptr [esi + 0x14]

        $sequence_5 = { 6a01 50 e8???????? 83c408 6a01 e8???????? 894584 }
            // n = 7, score = 100
            //   6a01                 | push                1
            //   50                   | push                eax
            //   e8????????           |                     
            //   83c408               | add                 esp, 8
            //   6a01                 | push                1
            //   e8????????           |                     
            //   894584               | mov                 dword ptr [ebp - 0x7c], eax

        $sequence_6 = { 6690 8a06 8d7601 8801 8d4901 84c0 75f2 }
            // n = 7, score = 100
            //   6690                 | nop                 
            //   8a06                 | mov                 al, byte ptr [esi]
            //   8d7601               | lea                 esi, [esi + 1]
            //   8801                 | mov                 byte ptr [ecx], al
            //   8d4901               | lea                 ecx, [ecx + 1]
            //   84c0                 | test                al, al
            //   75f2                 | jne                 0xfffffff4

        $sequence_7 = { 31dc 31fc 3108 3228 323432 54 326032 }
            // n = 7, score = 100
            //   31dc                 | xor                 esp, ebx
            //   31fc                 | xor                 esp, edi
            //   3108                 | xor                 dword ptr [eax], ecx
            //   3228                 | xor                 ch, byte ptr [eax]
            //   323432               | xor                 dh, byte ptr [edx + esi]
            //   54                   | push                esp
            //   326032               | xor                 ah, byte ptr [eax + 0x32]

        $sequence_8 = { f7ee 0f2805???????? 69de6d010000 0f1145cc 0f2805???????? b81f85eb51 }
            // n = 6, score = 100
            //   f7ee                 | imul                esi
            //   0f2805????????       |                     
            //   69de6d010000         | imul                ebx, esi, 0x16d
            //   0f1145cc             | movups              xmmword ptr [ebp - 0x34], xmm0
            //   0f2805????????       |                     
            //   b81f85eb51           | mov                 eax, 0x51eb851f

        $sequence_9 = { 51 e8???????? 83c408 85c0 0f9845ec 85c0 79ae }
            // n = 7, score = 100
            //   51                   | push                ecx
            //   e8????????           |                     
            //   83c408               | add                 esp, 8
            //   85c0                 | test                eax, eax
            //   0f9845ec             | sets                byte ptr [ebp - 0x14]
            //   85c0                 | test                eax, eax
            //   79ae                 | jns                 0xffffffb0

    condition:
        7 of them and filesize < 1081344
}
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