Counterfeit installers to system compromise: Tracking a deceptive software download campaign
A malware campaign uses counterfeit software-download websites impersonating trusted vendors to distribute malicious installers. The activity primarily targets China-based operations of multinational organizations and Chinese-speaking users across healthcare, manufacturing, gaming, technology, logistics, government, and education sectors. Malicious installers deploy payloads that establish persistence, disable security protections, and communicate with attacker-controlled infrastructure. The campaign employs dynamically generated installers with rotating hashes, spoofed vendor pages on .com.cn and .hl.cn domains, and randomized payload staging paths. Follow-on activity includes disabling Windows Defender, deleting shadow copies, neutralizing Windows Update, creating scheduled tasks for persistence, and establishing command-and-control over non-standard ports. Microsoft assesses this activity aligns with publicly reported Silver Fox operations but has not attributed it to a nation-state actor.
Indicators of Compromise
- hash: 5251b98614acffe5c856f4039ca03da3
- hash: c80ed6716e89d4862f28ebbc130ec5aa362db963
- hash: 6d6ba2bc9ad414837826f7278bc3e0116f1aeda02d0c2284ed65819f5d9180a8
- domain: iualef.net
- ip: 161.248.87.157
- domain: czijbh.net
- hash: 9ec587911e501b73b7cf09f05d0ae17d
- hash: 5b62403cc9a668c6e5c70ace177fd54fcc4c5936
- hash: 676a2a7b94ca2f8ec76352ee656e4d075bb342bd7ad6efbc7c19c060001eace7
- domain: tbdqxq.net
- domain: wfmwsj.net
- ip: 202.95.14.237
- domain: gehie246.com
- url: https://www.gehie246.com/712down
- domain: baidu-pan.com.cn
- domain: steelseries-cn.com.cn
- domain: pc-razerzone.com.cn
- domain: yimxg25tiy.com
- domain: cc8ttkv35b.com
- domain: n7b8t85zsg.com
- domain: kaspersky-lab.hl.cn
- domain: calibre-ebook.com.cn
- domain: app-microsoft-edge.com.cn
- domain: sejda.hl.cn
- domain: translate-youdao.hl.cn
- domain: zh-diskgenius.com.cn
- domain: ocam-pc.com.cn
- domain: cn-drawio.com.cn
- domain: gw-sogou.com.cn
- domain: mindmoster.com.cn
- ip: 103.156.25.35
- ip: 103.183.3.162
- domain: euioxu.net
- domain: oijfwe.net
- domain: bxfh.tzcdq.cn
- domain: tmsq.tzcdq.cn
- domain: mebx78e02.com
- domain: qwjre1487.com
- url: http://www.gehie246.com/712down
- hash: c4100ad39d8db98f063feb6c3b6c8e9a9f9d9bf25a1e0233f43b058ff8a7dbdf
- hash: 1bd3662d784840e410d2d3c0a1040277f7f549089447359f01e05c2559cb1f17
- hash: c6100166e2d3b40388980f7674712ef39e937ac04925ca5d370415399ed73faf
- hash: f33d160d757e4b39019fdef21cf90cafb501b800ca0d4039366bc30856e3d81b
- hash: e4fe2dee8f0bb132fa15fc686d1f93df39530a2d3a8d3a1f3a605a057c04e7b3
- url: http://cc8ttkv35b.com/7qinst
- url: http://gehie246.com/712down
- url: http://n7b8t85zsg.com/ins711
- url: http://yimxg25tiy.com/73inst
- domain: www.gehie246.com
Counterfeit installers to system compromise: Tracking a deceptive software download campaign
Description
A malware campaign uses counterfeit software-download websites impersonating trusted vendors to distribute malicious installers. The activity primarily targets China-based operations of multinational organizations and Chinese-speaking users across healthcare, manufacturing, gaming, technology, logistics, government, and education sectors. Malicious installers deploy payloads that establish persistence, disable security protections, and communicate with attacker-controlled infrastructure. The campaign employs dynamically generated installers with rotating hashes, spoofed vendor pages on .com.cn and .hl.cn domains, and randomized payload staging paths. Follow-on activity includes disabling Windows Defender, deleting shadow copies, neutralizing Windows Update, creating scheduled tasks for persistence, and establishing command-and-control over non-standard ports. Microsoft assesses this activity aligns with publicly reported Silver Fox operations but has not attributed it to a nation-state actor.
Technical Details
- Author
- AlienVault
- Tlp
- white
- References
- ["https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2026/09/01/counterfeit-installers-system-compromise-tracking-deceptive-software-download-campaign"]
- Adversary
- Void Arachne
- Pulse Id
- 6a97908e94bd394c915c1cb9
- Threat Score
- null
Indicators of Compromise
Hash
| Value | Description | Copy |
|---|---|---|
hash5251b98614acffe5c856f4039ca03da3 | — | |
hashc80ed6716e89d4862f28ebbc130ec5aa362db963 | — | |
hash6d6ba2bc9ad414837826f7278bc3e0116f1aeda02d0c2284ed65819f5d9180a8 | — | |
hash9ec587911e501b73b7cf09f05d0ae17d | — | |
hash5b62403cc9a668c6e5c70ace177fd54fcc4c5936 | — | |
hash676a2a7b94ca2f8ec76352ee656e4d075bb342bd7ad6efbc7c19c060001eace7 | — | |
hashc4100ad39d8db98f063feb6c3b6c8e9a9f9d9bf25a1e0233f43b058ff8a7dbdf | — | |
hash1bd3662d784840e410d2d3c0a1040277f7f549089447359f01e05c2559cb1f17 | — | |
hashc6100166e2d3b40388980f7674712ef39e937ac04925ca5d370415399ed73faf | — | |
hashf33d160d757e4b39019fdef21cf90cafb501b800ca0d4039366bc30856e3d81b | — | |
hashe4fe2dee8f0bb132fa15fc686d1f93df39530a2d3a8d3a1f3a605a057c04e7b3 | — |
Domain
| Value | Description | Copy |
|---|---|---|
domainiualef.net | — | |
domainczijbh.net | — | |
domaintbdqxq.net | — | |
domainwfmwsj.net | — | |
domaingehie246.com | — | |
domainbaidu-pan.com.cn | — | |
domainsteelseries-cn.com.cn | — | |
domainpc-razerzone.com.cn | — | |
domainyimxg25tiy.com | — | |
domaincc8ttkv35b.com | — | |
domainn7b8t85zsg.com | — | |
domainkaspersky-lab.hl.cn | — | |
domaincalibre-ebook.com.cn | — | |
domainapp-microsoft-edge.com.cn | — | |
domainsejda.hl.cn | — | |
domaintranslate-youdao.hl.cn | — | |
domainzh-diskgenius.com.cn | — | |
domainocam-pc.com.cn | — | |
domaincn-drawio.com.cn | — | |
domaingw-sogou.com.cn | — | |
domainmindmoster.com.cn | — | |
domaineuioxu.net | — | |
domainoijfwe.net | — | |
domainbxfh.tzcdq.cn | — | |
domaintmsq.tzcdq.cn | — | |
domainmebx78e02.com | — | |
domainqwjre1487.com | — | |
domainwww.gehie246.com | — |
Ip
| Value | Description | Copy |
|---|---|---|
ip161.248.87.157 | — | |
ip202.95.14.237 | — | |
ip103.156.25.35 | — | |
ip103.183.3.162 | — |
Url
| Value | Description | Copy |
|---|---|---|
urlhttps://www.gehie246.com/712down | — | |
urlhttp://www.gehie246.com/712down | — | |
urlhttp://cc8ttkv35b.com/7qinst | — | |
urlhttp://gehie246.com/712down | — | |
urlhttp://n7b8t85zsg.com/ins711 | — | |
urlhttp://yimxg25tiy.com/73inst | — |
Threat ID: 6a980a7aacd9273b492f5450
Added to database: 09/02/2026, 11:37:30 UTC
Last updated: 09/02/2026, 12:38:50 UTC
Views: 4
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