SYMBOLCOMMON_NAMEaka. SYNONYMS
win.invisimole (Back to overview)

InvisiMole

VTCollection    

InvisiMole had a modular architecture, starting with a wrapper DLL, and performing its activities using two other modules that were embedded in its resources, named RC2FM and RC2CL. They were feature-rich backdoors and turned the affected computer into a video camera, letting the attackers to spy the victim.
The malicious actors behind this malware were active at least since 2013 in highly targeted campaigns with only a few dozen compromised computers in Ukraine and Russia. The wrapper DLL posed as a legitimate mpr.dll library and was placed in the same folder as explorer.exe, which made it being loaded during the Windows startup into the Windows Explorer process instead of the legitimate library.
Malware came in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, which made this persistence technique functional on both architectures.

The smaller of the modules, RC2FM, contained a backdoor with fifteen supported commands indexed by numbers. The commands could perform simple changes on the system and spying features like capturing sounds, taking screenshots or monitoring all fixed and removable drives.

The second module, RC2CL, offered features for collecting as much data about the infected computer as possible, rather than for making system changes. The module supported up to 84 commands such as file system operations, file execution, registry key manipulation, remote shell activation, wireless network scanning, listing of installed software etc. Though the backdoor was capable of interfering with the system (e.g. to log off a user, terminate a process or shut down the system), it mostly provided passive operations. Whenever possible, it tried to hide its activities by restoring the original file access time or safe-deleting its traces.

References
2022-11-27 ⋅ cocomelonc ⋅ cocomelonc
Malware development tricks: part 24. ListPlanting. Simple C++ example.
InvisiMole
2022-08-18 ⋅ Trustwave ⋅ Pawel Knapczyk
Overview of the Cyber Weapons Used in the Ukraine - Russia War
AcidRain CaddyWiper Cobalt Strike CredoMap DCRat DoubleZero GraphSteel GrimPlant HermeticWiper INDUSTROYER2 InvisiMole IsaacWiper PartyTicket
2022-08-18 ⋅ Trustwave ⋅ Pawel Knapczyk
Overview of the Cyber Weapons Used in the Ukraine - Russia War
AcidRain CaddyWiper Cobalt Strike CredoMap DCRat DoubleZero GraphSteel GrimPlant HermeticWiper INDUSTROYER2 InvisiMole IsaacWiper PartyTicket
2022-01-11 ⋅ ESET Research ⋅ Michal Poslušný
Signed kernel drivers – Unguarded gateway to Windows’ core
InvisiMole LoJax RobinHood Slingshot
2021-04-29 ⋅ ESET Research ⋅ Andy Garth, Daniel Chromek, Matthieu Faou, Robert Lipovsky, Tony Anscombe
ESET Industry Report on Government: Targeted but not alone
Exaramel Crutch Exaramel HyperBro HyperSSL InvisiMole XDSpy
2020-06-18 ⋅ ESET Research ⋅ Anton Cherepanov, Zuzana Hromcová
Digging up InvisiMole’s hidden arsenal
InvisiMole Gamaredon Group InvisiMole
2020-06-08 ⋅ ESET Research ⋅ Anton Cherepanov, Zuzana Hromcová
InvisiMole: The Hidden Part of the Story - Unearthing InvisiMole's Espionage Toolset and Strategic Cooperations
InvisiMole RC2FM
2018-06-07 ⋅ ESET Research ⋅ Zuzana Hromcová
InvisiMole: Surprisingly equipped spyware, undercover since 2013
InvisiMole InvisiMole
Yara Rules
[TLP:WHITE] win_invisimole_auto (20260917 | Detects win.invisimole.)
rule win_invisimole_auto {

    meta:
        author = "Felix Bilstein - yara-signator at cocacoding dot com"
        date = "2026-09-17"
        version = "1"
        description = "Detects win.invisimole."
        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.invisimole"
        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 = { 8b4df0 52 51 68???????? 50 ff15???????? 83c410 }
            // n = 7, score = 100
            //   8b4df0               | mov                 ecx, dword ptr [ebp - 0x10]
            //   52                   | push                edx
            //   51                   | push                ecx
            //   68????????           |                     
            //   50                   | push                eax
            //   ff15????????         |                     
            //   83c410               | add                 esp, 0x10

        $sequence_1 = { 50 33c9 57 c745f02e007400 }
            // n = 4, score = 100
            //   50                   | push                eax
            //   33c9                 | xor                 ecx, ecx
            //   57                   | push                edi
            //   c745f02e007400       | mov                 dword ptr [ebp - 0x10], 0x74002e

        $sequence_2 = { 7418 8b8dacfeffff 8b3d???????? 51 ffd7 8b95b0feffff 52 }
            // n = 7, score = 100
            //   7418                 | je                  0x1a
            //   8b8dacfeffff         | mov                 ecx, dword ptr [ebp - 0x154]
            //   8b3d????????         |                     
            //   51                   | push                ecx
            //   ffd7                 | call                edi
            //   8b95b0feffff         | mov                 edx, dword ptr [ebp - 0x150]
            //   52                   | push                edx

        $sequence_3 = { 8b4dd0 8d45f4 50 33f6 56 51 }
            // n = 6, score = 100
            //   8b4dd0               | mov                 ecx, dword ptr [ebp - 0x30]
            //   8d45f4               | lea                 eax, [ebp - 0xc]
            //   50                   | push                eax
            //   33f6                 | xor                 esi, esi
            //   56                   | push                esi
            //   51                   | push                ecx

        $sequence_4 = { 0f8484010000 8b4514 8b4d10 50 }
            // n = 4, score = 100
            //   0f8484010000         | je                  0x18a
            //   8b4514               | mov                 eax, dword ptr [ebp + 0x14]
            //   8b4d10               | mov                 ecx, dword ptr [ebp + 0x10]
            //   50                   | push                eax

        $sequence_5 = { 52 b802000000 e8???????? 33c9 83c408 }
            // n = 5, score = 100
            //   52                   | push                edx
            //   b802000000           | mov                 eax, 2
            //   e8????????           |                     
            //   33c9                 | xor                 ecx, ecx
            //   83c408               | add                 esp, 8

        $sequence_6 = { 56 88550b e8???????? 8b4d0c 6a01 8d550b 52 }
            // n = 7, score = 100
            //   56                   | push                esi
            //   88550b               | mov                 byte ptr [ebp + 0xb], dl
            //   e8????????           |                     
            //   8b4d0c               | mov                 ecx, dword ptr [ebp + 0xc]
            //   6a01                 | push                1
            //   8d550b               | lea                 edx, [ebp + 0xb]
            //   52                   | push                edx

        $sequence_7 = { 8b5d08 e9???????? 394dfc 0f84a50b0000 }
            // n = 4, score = 100
            //   8b5d08               | mov                 ebx, dword ptr [ebp + 8]
            //   e9????????           |                     
            //   394dfc               | cmp                 dword ptr [ebp - 4], ecx
            //   0f84a50b0000         | je                  0xbab

        $sequence_8 = { 5b 5d c3 8b15???????? 6a08 6a08 52 }
            // n = 7, score = 100
            //   5b                   | pop                 ebx
            //   5d                   | pop                 ebp
            //   c3                   | ret                 
            //   8b15????????         |                     
            //   6a08                 | push                8
            //   6a08                 | push                8
            //   52                   | push                edx

        $sequence_9 = { a1???????? 50 ffd7 8bf0 89742434 85f6 0f844b010000 }
            // n = 7, score = 100
            //   a1????????           |                     
            //   50                   | push                eax
            //   ffd7                 | call                edi
            //   8bf0                 | mov                 esi, eax
            //   89742434             | mov                 dword ptr [esp + 0x34], esi
            //   85f6                 | test                esi, esi
            //   0f844b010000         | je                  0x151

    condition:
        7 of them and filesize < 139264
}
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