// 01Executive summary

A People's Republic of China state-sponsored actor, Volt Typhoon, is actively leveraging 'living off the land' techniques against U.S. critical infrastructure sectors, utilizing built-in tools like wmic, ntdsutil, netsh, and PowerShell to evade detection and EDR. Network defenders must immediately implement the provided hunting guidance and detection signatures to identify these stealthy activities. Prioritize reviewing systems for behavioral indicators associated with these tools, exercising caution to differentiate malicious use from legitimate administration. Urgent action is required to detect and mitigate this persistent threat within critical infrastructure sectors.

// 02Key metrics

// ttps
3
ATT&CK techniques
// iocs
22
indicators
// actors
1
threat groups
// kwords
10
keywords

// 03MITRE ATT&CK

// 04Threat actors

// 05Indicators of compromise

// ips0

none

// domains9

  • ntds.dit
  • ntds.jfm
  • www.ip-api.com
  • ss.dat
  • sy.dat
  • lock.lic
  • dmbc2c61.tmp
  • aes.encrypt
  • sub.startservice

// urls0

none

// sha25611

  • f4dd44bc19c19056794d29151a5b1bb76afd502388622e24c863a8494af147dd
  • ef09b8ff86c276e9b475a6ae6b54f08ed77e09e169f7fc0872eb1d427ee27d31
  • d6ebde42457fe4b2a927ce53fc36f465f0000da931cfab9b79a36083e914ceca
  • 472ccfb865c81704562ea95870f60c08ef00bcd2ca1d7f09352398c05be5d05d
  • 66a19f7d2547a8a85cee7a62d0b6114fd31afdee090bd43f36b89470238393d7
  • 3c2fe308c0a563e06263bbacf793bbe9b2259d795fcc36b953793a7e499e7f71
  • 41e5181b9553bbe33d91ee204fe1d2ca321ac123f9147bb475c0ed32f9488597
  • c7fee7a3ffaf0732f42d89c4399cbff219459ae04a81fc6eff7050d53bd69b99
  • 3a9d8bb85fbcfe92bae79d5ab18e4bca9eaf36cea70086e8d1ab85336c83945f
  • fe95a382b4f879830e2666473d662a24b34fccf34b6b3505ee1b62b32adafa15
  • ee8df354503a56c62719656fae71b3502acf9f87951c55ffd955feec90a11484

// md50

none

// emails1

  • incidents@ncsc.govt.nz

// cves2

  • CVE-2021-40539
  • CVE-2021-27860

// 06Geographic coverage

// 07YARA rule

```yara
rule APT_VoltTyphoon_LivingOffTheLand_202305 {
    meta:
        author = "YARA Expert"
        date = "2023-05-30" // Date based on typical advisory release timeframe for "recently discovered" activity
        description = "Detects activity associated with Volt Typhoon, a People's Republic of China (PRC) state-sponsored cyber actor. This rule targets identified file hashes, network indicators, and unique text patterns from related advisories, focusing on their 'living off the land' techniques against critical infrastructure."
        reference = "Joint Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA) on Volt Typhoon activity"
        tlp = "CLEAR"

    strings:
        // --- File Hashes (SHA256) ---
        // These hashes identify specific malicious files associated with Volt Typhoon.
        $hash_sha256_1 = { f4 dd 44 bc 19 c1 90 56 79 4d 29 15 1a 5b 1b b7 6a fd 50 23 88 62 2e 24 c8 63 a8 49 4a f1 47 dd }
        $hash_sha256_2 = { ef 09 b8 ff 86 c2 76 e9 b4 75 a6 ae 6b 54 f0 8e d7 7e 09 e1 69 f7 fc 08 72 eb 1d 42 7e e2 7d 31 }

        // --- Network Indicators (Domains) ---
        // Domains used for C2 or data exfiltration. Included as ASCII and wide strings for broader detection.
        $network_domain_1_ascii = "ntds.dit"
        $network_domain_1_wide = "ntds.dit" wide
        $network_domain_2_ascii = "ntds.jfm"
        $network_domain_2_wide = "ntds.jfm" wide
        $network_domain_3_ascii = "www.ip-api.com"
        $network_domain_3_wide = "www.ip-api.com" wide
        $network_domain_4_ascii = "ss.dat"
        $network_domain_4_wide = "ss.dat" wide
        $network_domain_5_ascii = "sy.dat"
        $network_domain_5_wide = "sy.dat" wide

        // --- API Calls ---
        // No specific API calls were identified in the provided IOCs.
        // This section is included for completeness but remains empty.
        // Example: $api_create_remote_thread = "CreateRemoteThread" ascii wide

        // --- Registry Keys ---
        // No specific registry keys were identified in the provided IOCs.
        // This section is included for completeness but remains empty.
        // Example: $registry_run_key = "HKLM\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Run\\Malware" ascii wide

        // --- Unique Text Patterns ---
        // Text strings extracted from the advisory, useful for detecting related documents or in-memory strings.
        $string_actor_name_1 = "Volt Typhoon" nocase
        $string_actor_name_2 = "PRC state-sponsored cyber actor" nocase
        $string_country = "People's Republic of China" nocase
        $string_technique = "Living off the Land" nocase
        $string_target_sector = "critical infrastructure sectors" nocase
        $string_advisory_title = "Joint Cybersecurity Advisory" nocase
        $string_tlp = "TLP:CLEAR"
        $string_agency_nsa = "National Security Agency (NSA)" nocase
        $string_agency_cisa = "Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency" nocase

    condition:
        // Detection logic combines different types of indicators for robust identification.
        // A single hash match is a strong indicator of a known malicious file.
        (1 of ($hash_*)) or
        // Multiple network indicators suggest C2 or data exfiltration activity.
        (3 of ($network_*)) or
        // Multiple unique text patterns from the advisory indicate related documents or in-memory presence.
        (3 of ($string_*))

        // Note: The requested condition structure (X of ($hash_*)) or (Y of ($network_*) and Z of ($api_*))
        // was adapted. Due to the explicit absence of API calls and registry keys in the provided IOCs,
        // the 'Z of ($api_*)' component cannot be meaningfully included in the condition.
        // The current condition prioritizes detection based on available strong indicators.
}
```

// 08Keywords

{'keyword': 'actor', 'score': 33.2893} {'keyword': 'windows', 'score': 30.3815} {'keyword': 'exe', 'score': 27.6218} {'keyword': 'command', 'score': 24.2955} {'keyword': 'used', 'score': 18.8565} {'keyword': 'activity', 'score': 17.4114} {'keyword': 'commands', 'score': 16.4587} {'keyword': 'network', 'score': 16.2669} {'keyword': 'defenders', 'score': 15.7652} {'keyword': 'cmd', 'score': 15.6681}

// 09Attack chain

// 10Technical mitigations

// 12Export

// format: // sign in to export ./sign_in