STARWHALE — Malware Profile

STARWHALE is Windows Script File (WSF) backdoor that has been used by MuddyWater, possibly since at least November 2021; there is also a STARWHALE variant written in Golang with similar capabilities. Security researchers have also noted the use of STARWHALE by UNC3313, which may be associated with MuddyWater.

MITRE ATT&CK techniques (14)

• T1005 Data from Local System
• T1016 System Network Configuration Discovery
• T1027.013 Encrypted/Encoded File
• T1033 System Owner/User Discovery
• T1041 Exfiltration Over C2 Channel
• T1059.003 Windows Command Shell
• T1059.005 Visual Basic
• T1071.001 Web Protocols
• T1074.001 Local Data Staging
• T1082 System Information Discovery
• T1132.001 Standard Encoding
• T1204.002 Malicious File
• T1543.003 Windows Service
• T1547.001 Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder

Attributed threat actors

• MuddyWater

Read the full analysis on IntelFusions