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S0146 TEXTMATE

TEXTMATE is a second-stage PowerShell backdoor that is memory-resident. It was observed being used along with POWERSOURCE in February 2017. 2

Item Value
ID S0146
Associated Names DNSMessenger
Type MALWARE
Version 1.1
Created 31 May 2017
Last Modified 20 July 2022
Navigation Layer View In ATT&CK® Navigator

Associated Software Descriptions

Name Description
DNSMessenger Based on similar descriptions of functionality, it appears S0146, as named by FireEye, is the same as Stage 4 of a backdoor named DNSMessenger by Cisco’s Talos Intelligence Group. However, FireEye appears to break DNSMessenger into two parts: S0145 and S0146. 1 2

Techniques Used

Domain ID Name Use
enterprise T1071 Application Layer Protocol -
enterprise T1071.004 DNS TEXTMATE uses DNS TXT records for C2.2
enterprise T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter -
enterprise T1059.003 Windows Command Shell TEXTMATE executes cmd.exe to provide a reverse shell to adversaries.21

Groups That Use This Software

ID Name References
G0046 FIN7 2

References

  1. Brumaghin, E. and Grady, C.. (2017, March 2). Covert Channels and Poor Decisions: The Tale of DNSMessenger. Retrieved March 8, 2017. ↩↩

  2. Miller, S., et al. (2017, March 7). FIN7 Spear Phishing Campaign Targets Personnel Involved in SEC Filings. Retrieved March 8, 2017. ↩↩↩↩↩