PULSE NAME
UNC5174's evolution in China's ongoing cyber warfare: From SNOWLIGHT to VShell
WHITE UNC5174 AlienVault 2025-04-16 Modified: 2025-04-16
28
IOCs
MEDIUM VOLUME
Chinese state-sponsored threat actor UNC5174 has launched a new campaign using SNOWLIGHT malware and VShell, a Remote Access Trojan. The campaign targets Linux systems, employing domain squatting for phishing and social engineering. SNOWLIGHT acts as a dropper for VShell, which resides in memory as a fileless payload. The attackers use WebSockets for command and control communication, enhancing stealth. UNC5174's motivations include espionage and access brokering. The campaign has been active since November 2024, demonstrating sophisticated techniques such as memory manipulation and defense evasion. This development highlights the threat actor's expanding arsenal and continued support for Chinese government operations.
Indicators of Compromise (4 / 28 total)
All FileHash-MD5 FileHash-SHA1 FileHash-SHA256 domain hostname
TYPEINDICATORDESCRIPTIONCREATED
FileHash-SHA256 21ccb25887eae8b17349cefc04394dc3ad75c289768d7ba61f51d228b4c964db 2025-04-16
FileHash-SHA256 8d88944149ea1477bd7ba0a07be3a4371ba958d4a47b783f7c10cbe08c5e7d38 2025-04-16
FileHash-SHA256 c0838b1211d482d21ccb2c9cc9fb224d1f826474d496a76d21ca18fa2ef92bc1 2025-04-16
FileHash-SHA256 e6db3de3a21debce119b16697ea2de5376f685567b284ef2dee32feb8d2d44f8 2025-04-16