The malware named DOUBLECUP employs a PNG file as a carrier for a PowerShell script payload. The payload is not embedded via steganography techniques but is appended in cleartext after the PNG file data. This approach enables straightforward extraction by searching for a unique identifier in the appended text using Windows FINDSTR command. The PowerShell script can then be piped directly into the interpreter for execution. This method avoids complex steganographic encoding and leverages simple file concatenation with a recognizable delimiter.

The impact is the delivery of a PowerShell script payload via a PNG file, which could facilitate execution of arbitrary commands if the payload is extracted and run. However, the lack of true steganography means detection by standard file inspection or signature-based tools may be easier. No known exploits in the wild are reported, and the threat level is currently low.

No official patch or remediation is indicated. Detection can focus on identifying PNG files with appended data and scanning for embedded PowerShell scripts. Use of standard endpoint protection and monitoring for suspicious PowerShell execution remains advisable. Since the payload is not obfuscated or encoded, simple file inspection tools can detect this technique.