SYMBOLCOMMON_NAMEaka. SYNONYMS
win.phantomgraph (Back to overview)

PhantomGraph

Actor(s): Head Mare

VTCollection    

According to Kaspersky, PhantomGraph is a Windows backdoor used by the Head Mare APT group, deployed as two native 64-bit DLL modules that are registered as Windows services via an encoded PowerShell command for persistence. The two components divide the work deliberately to complicate EDR detection: one module handles communication with the operators, retrieving tasking and returning results, while the second reads the queued command, executes it through a dropped batch file invoked by the command interpreter, and writes the output back to a file for pickup. For command and control it abuses a commercial cloud storage service through its API, authenticating with OAuth refresh tokens and file read/write scopes so that traffic blends into legitimate cloud usage. Observed post-exploitation tasking through the backdoor included host and user reconnaissance, dumping the memory of a credential-holding system process, and establishing reverse SSH tunnels; parts of its code overlap with PhantomCore, which is what ties the family to Head Mare.

References
2026-08-07 ⋅ ⋅ Kaspersky ⋅ Kaspersky
The APT group Head Mare exploits vulnerabilities in an unpatched TrueConf server to deliver PhantomCore and PhantomGraph malware to video conferencing participants
PhantomCore PhantomGraph
Yara Rules
[TLP:WHITE] win_phantomgraph_auto (20260917 | Detects win.phantomgraph.)
rule win_phantomgraph_auto {

    meta:
        author = "Felix Bilstein - yara-signator at cocacoding dot com"
        date = "2026-09-17"
        version = "1"
        description = "Detects win.phantomgraph."
        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.phantomgraph"
        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 = { b820000000 e8???????? 482be0 488bd9 498bf9 488b89d80f0000 498bf0 }
            // n = 7, score = 100
            //   b820000000           | lea                 ebx, [0x31afb9]
            //   e8????????           |                     
            //   482be0               | dec                 eax
            //   488bd9               | lea                 eax, [0x31afd2]
            //   498bf9               | movzx               ebp, cx
            //   488b89d80f0000       | dec                 eax
            //   498bf0               | mov                 dword ptr [esp + 0x30], eax

        $sequence_1 = { eb67 443a6303 7561 443a6b04 755b 403a6b05 7555 }
            // n = 7, score = 100
            //   eb67                 | mov                 ecx, eax
            //   443a6303             | dec                 esp
            //   7561                 | mov                 eax, ebx
            //   443a6b04             | dec                 ecx
            //   755b                 | mov                 edx, ebp
            //   403a6b05             | dec                 eax
            //   7555                 | mov                 ecx, eax

        $sequence_2 = { f30f7f442428 498bd8 4c8bf1 e8???????? 85c0 0f85ab010000 4889ac24a8000000 }
            // n = 7, score = 100
            //   f30f7f442428         | sub                 edi, edi
            //   498bd8               | lea                 eax, [ecx + 0x20]
            //   4c8bf1               | mov                 ebp, eax
            //   e8????????           |                     
            //   85c0                 | test                eax, eax
            //   0f85ab010000         | dec                 esp
            //   4889ac24a8000000     | mov                 ecx, esi

        $sequence_3 = { ffc1 24df 88041a 48ffc3 403833 75ea eb33 }
            // n = 7, score = 100
            //   ffc1                 | mov                 eax, dword ptr [ecx]
            //   24df                 | and                 eax, 0x3f
            //   88041a               | dec                 eax
            //   48ffc3               | lea                 ecx, [eax + eax*8]
            //   403833               | dec                 ecx
            //   75ea                 | mov                 eax, dword ptr [eax + edx*8]
            //   eb33                 | inc                 esp

        $sequence_4 = { e8???????? 482be0 80b9510b000002 4c8bf2 488bd9 755c e8???????? }
            // n = 7, score = 100
            //   e8????????           |                     
            //   482be0               | dec                 esp
            //   80b9510b000002       | add                 edi, ecx
            //   4c8bf2               | dec                 ebp
            //   488bd9               | add                 edi, eax
            //   755c                 | dec                 esp
            //   e8????????           |                     

        $sequence_5 = { e9???????? 488d15c1fe3100 448bc6 4c8d0d7cc22e00 488bcb e8???????? 33db }
            // n = 7, score = 100
            //   e9????????           |                     
            //   488d15c1fe3100       | mov                 ecx, ebx
            //   448bc6               | dec                 esp
            //   4c8d0d7cc22e00       | mov                 esi, dword ptr [esp + 0x70]
            //   488bcb               | xor                 edx, edx
            //   e8????????           |                     
            //   33db                 | dec                 eax

        $sequence_6 = { ffe1 498b4a18 48894d38 c6454800 410fb64a28 0fb6d1 4c8d0d65030000 }
            // n = 7, score = 100
            //   ffe1                 | mov                 edx, 0x80106
            //   498b4a18             | inc                 ecx
            //   48894d38             | lea                 ecx, [eax + 0xf]
            //   c6454800             | dec                 esp
            //   410fb64a28           | lea                 eax, [0x300035]
            //   0fb6d1               | dec                 eax
            //   4c8d0d65030000       | mov                 edx, dword ptr [ebx + 0x28]

        $sequence_7 = { f30f7f840510010000 f30f6f8c0520010000 0f57ca f30f7f8c0520010000 f30f6f840530010000 660f6fca 0f57c8 }
            // n = 7, score = 100
            //   f30f7f840510010000     | mov    ecx, edi
            //   f30f6f8c0520010000     | inc    esp
            //   0f57ca               | mov                 dword ptr [esp + 0x28], ebp
            //   f30f7f8c0520010000     | dec    ecx
            //   f30f6f840530010000     | mov    edx, esp
            //   660f6fca             | dec                 eax
            //   0f57c8               | mov                 dword ptr [esp + 0x20], eax

        $sequence_8 = { e8???????? 4d8b4630 488d8c2410020000 488b942498000000 4903c8 e8???????? 4839742470 }
            // n = 7, score = 100
            //   e8????????           |                     
            //   4d8b4630             | dec                 eax
            //   488d8c2410020000     | mov                 ecx, dword ptr [esi]
            //   488b942498000000     | dec                 ecx
            //   4903c8               | mov                 ecx, esp
            //   e8????????           |                     
            //   4839742470           | test                eax, eax

        $sequence_9 = { eb32 803e09 752d 488d8d18020000 c60600 c6851002000009 488b4608 }
            // n = 7, score = 100
            //   eb32                 | add                 esp, 0x1a0
            //   803e09               | inc                 ecx
            //   752d                 | pop                 ebp
            //   488d8d18020000       | pop                 edi
            //   c60600               | dec                 esp
            //   c6851002000009       | mov                 edi, dword ptr [esp + 0x90]
            //   488b4608             | xor                 eax, eax

    condition:
        7 of them and filesize < 12943360
}
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