Homograph Attack (Punycode) Network Evasion

A homograph attack is a type of phishing attack that uses homoglyphs (characters that look similar to other characters) to create domain names or URLs that appear to be legitimate, but are actually controlled by an attacker. Homograph attacks take advantage of the fact that many languages have characters that are visually similar to characters used in other languages.

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Obfuscated Files or Information: HTML Smuggling Defense Evasion [Mitre]

Adversaries may smuggle data and files past content filters by hiding malicious payloads inside of seemingly benign HTML files. HTML documents can store large binary objects known as JavaScript Blobs (immutable data that represents raw bytes) that can later be constructed into file-like objects. Data may also be stored in Data URLs, which enable embedding media type or MIME files …

System Binary Proxy Execution: Mshta Defense Evasion [Mitre]

Adversaries may abuse mshta.exe to proxy execution of malicious .hta files and Javascript or VBScript through a trusted Windows utility. There are several examples of different types of threats leveraging mshta.exe during initial compromise and for execution of code.

Mshta.exe is a utility that executes Microsoft HTML Applications (HTA) files. HTAs are standalone applications that execute using the same …

Template Injection Defense Evasion [Mitre]

Adversaries may create or modify references in user document templates to conceal malicious code or force authentication attempts. For example, Microsoft’s Office Open XML (OOXML) specification defines an XML-based format for Office documents (.docx, xlsx, .pptx) to replace older binary formats (.doc, .xls, .ppt). OOXML files are packed together ZIP archives compromised of various XML files, referred to as parts, …

Constant Blinding Data Obfuscation

Constant blinding can be employed by malware authors to obfuscate their malicious code, making it harder for security researchers and antivirus software to detect and analyze the malware. By using constant blinding techniques, the malware code can be concealed, increasing its chances of evading detection and maintaining persistence on the target system.

Here's how constant blinding can be utilized …

XProtect Encryption Abuse Data Obfuscation

Malware can abuse Apple's macOS XProtect string encryption algorithm to hide critical strings, including commands, browser paths, extension IDs, cryptocurrency wallet locations, and command-and-control (C2) details.

This technique leverages the same XOR-based encryption logic implemented in macOS’s XProtect antivirus engine, this encryption is used for “encrypted YARA rules stored within the XProtect Remediator binaries”.

The encryption process involves …