SYMBOLCOMMON_NAMEaka. SYNONYMS
win.ironhalo (Back to overview)

IRONHALO

Actor(s): APT 16, APT16

VTCollection    

IRONHALO is a downloader that uses the HTTP protocol to retrieve a Base64 encoded payload from a hard-coded command-and-control (CnC) server and uniform resource locator (URL) path.
The encoded payload is written to a temporary file, decoded and executed in a hidden window. The encoded and decoded payloads are written to files named igfxHK[%rand%].dat and igfxHK[%rand%].exe respectively, where [%rand%] is a 4-byte hexadecimal number based on the current timestamp. It persists by copying itself to the current user’s Startup folder.

References
2019-12-12FireEyeChi-en Shen, Oleg Bondarenko
Cyber Threat Landscape in Japan – Revealing Threat in the Shadow
Cerberus TSCookie Cobalt Strike Dtrack Emotet Formbook IcedID Icefog IRONHALO Loki Password Stealer (PWS) PandaBanker PLEAD POISONPLUG TrickBot BlackTech
2015-12-21SymantecKevin Savage
Downloader.Ironhalo
IRONHALO
2015-12-21FireEyeFireEye Threat Intelligence, Ryann Winters
The EPS Awakens - Part 2
ELMER IRONHALO EvilPost
2015-12-16FireEyeDan Caselden, Genwei Jiang, Ryann Winters
The EPS Awakens
IRONHALO APT16
Yara Rules
[TLP:WHITE] win_ironhalo_auto (20260504 | Detects win.ironhalo.)
rule win_ironhalo_auto {

    meta:
        author = "Felix Bilstein - yara-signator at cocacoding dot com"
        date = "2026-05-04"
        version = "1"
        description = "Detects win.ironhalo."
        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.ironhalo"
        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 = { 75f5 8d0c49 5e 8d0c8df0c14000 }
            // n = 4, score = 200
            //   75f5                 | jne                 0xfffffff7
            //   8d0c49               | lea                 ecx, [ecx + ecx*2]
            //   5e                   | pop                 esi
            //   8d0c8df0c14000       | lea                 ecx, [ecx*4 + 0x40c1f0]

        $sequence_1 = { 88442419 fec0 47 3c40 72f1 8a543102 32c0 }
            // n = 7, score = 200
            //   88442419             | mov                 byte ptr [esp + 0x19], al
            //   fec0                 | inc                 al
            //   47                   | inc                 edi
            //   3c40                 | cmp                 al, 0x40
            //   72f1                 | jb                  0xfffffff3
            //   8a543102             | mov                 dl, byte ptr [ecx + esi + 2]
            //   32c0                 | xor                 al, al

        $sequence_2 = { 68???????? 50 e8???????? 8bf0 83c408 85f6 7502 }
            // n = 7, score = 200
            //   68????????           |                     
            //   50                   | push                eax
            //   e8????????           |                     
            //   8bf0                 | mov                 esi, eax
            //   83c408               | add                 esp, 8
            //   85f6                 | test                esi, esi
            //   7502                 | jne                 4

        $sequence_3 = { fec0 47 3c40 72f1 8a5c3103 8a44241b }
            // n = 6, score = 200
            //   fec0                 | inc                 al
            //   47                   | inc                 edi
            //   3c40                 | cmp                 al, 0x40
            //   72f1                 | jb                  0xfffffff3
            //   8a5c3103             | mov                 bl, byte ptr [ecx + esi + 3]
            //   8a44241b             | mov                 al, byte ptr [esp + 0x1b]

        $sequence_4 = { 6689542430 e8???????? 56 e8???????? 8a44242c 83c41c }
            // n = 6, score = 200
            //   6689542430           | mov                 word ptr [esp + 0x30], dx
            //   e8????????           |                     
            //   56                   | push                esi
            //   e8????????           |                     
            //   8a44242c             | mov                 al, byte ptr [esp + 0x2c]
            //   83c41c               | add                 esp, 0x1c

        $sequence_5 = { 83c408 8944240c 85c0 7502 5e }
            // n = 5, score = 200
            //   83c408               | add                 esp, 8
            //   8944240c             | mov                 dword ptr [esp + 0xc], eax
            //   85c0                 | test                eax, eax
            //   7502                 | jne                 4
            //   5e                   | pop                 esi

        $sequence_6 = { b9???????? 8bc2 8bf2 c1f805 83e61f 8b048560e04000 8b04f0 }
            // n = 7, score = 200
            //   b9????????           |                     
            //   8bc2                 | mov                 eax, edx
            //   8bf2                 | mov                 esi, edx
            //   c1f805               | sar                 eax, 5
            //   83e61f               | and                 esi, 0x1f
            //   8b048560e04000       | mov                 eax, dword ptr [eax*4 + 0x40e060]
            //   8b04f0               | mov                 eax, dword ptr [eax + esi*8]

        $sequence_7 = { 51 e8???????? 83c408 8944240c 85c0 7502 5e }
            // n = 7, score = 200
            //   51                   | push                ecx
            //   e8????????           |                     
            //   83c408               | add                 esp, 8
            //   8944240c             | mov                 dword ptr [esp + 0xc], eax
            //   85c0                 | test                eax, eax
            //   7502                 | jne                 4
            //   5e                   | pop                 esi

        $sequence_8 = { 7504 88442419 fec0 47 }
            // n = 4, score = 200
            //   7504                 | jne                 6
            //   88442419             | mov                 byte ptr [esp + 0x19], al
            //   fec0                 | inc                 al
            //   47                   | inc                 edi

        $sequence_9 = { 85f6 0f8426feffff 8b3d???????? c744241c01000000 8d4c241c 8d942430030000 51 }
            // n = 7, score = 200
            //   85f6                 | test                esi, esi
            //   0f8426feffff         | je                  0xfffffe2c
            //   8b3d????????         |                     
            //   c744241c01000000     | mov                 dword ptr [esp + 0x1c], 1
            //   8d4c241c             | lea                 ecx, [esp + 0x1c]
            //   8d942430030000       | lea                 edx, [esp + 0x330]
            //   51                   | push                ecx

    condition:
        7 of them and filesize < 131072
}
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