Operation Domino, Operation Kremlin
Description
(Clearsky) ClearSky researchers identified a malicious “.docx” file that was uploaded to VirusTotal from Russia in mid-December. The file contains an obfuscated URL to a remote template which contains malicious VBA, eventually leading to the execution of VBS on the infected machine. The attack’s purpose is to stealthily exfiltrate information without running any external executables on the system.
Notably, the process is escalated on a certain day of the week, suggesting a possible familiarity with the intended victim or victims.
We estimate with medium confidence that the same threat actor responsible for the attacks described in this paper also conducted an attack named “Operation Domino” that occurred earlier in 2020.
We decided to name the operation “Kremlin” due to the use of a parameter named “kreml” in the “poslai” (meaning send in Russian) function that exfiltrates the data.
Names
| Name | Name-Giver |
|---|---|
| Operation Domino | Hunting Shadow Lab |
| Operation Kremlin | ClearSky |
Country
Motivation
- Information theft and espionage
First Seen
2019
Observed Countries
Operations
- 2020-09: Operation “Domino” https://ti.dbappsecurity.com.cn/blog/index.php/2020/09/18/operation-domino/
- 2020-12: Operation “Kremlin” https://www.clearskysec.com/operation-kremlin/
Information
Other Information
Uuid
99a751ba-5585-44b1-b9d3-993fc2ddc8fc
Last Card Change
2024-12-29