Mirage Kitten switches to Node.js and JavaScript malware
Security researchers have identified a new malware campaign by the APT group Mirage Kitten that utilizes Node.js and JavaScript-based remote access trojans. The malware is distributed via trojanized coding challenges sent to job applicants.
Why it matters
This shift in tactics demonstrates how threat actors are evolving to use common development tools to bypass traditional security defenses.
While monitoring Mirage Kitten activity, we uncovered a previously undocumented malware family that we dubbed NodeRabbit. We identified the first sample on a system in Afghanistan. Further threat hunting revealed two additional, more advanced, variants: one on a system in Egypt and another on a system in Ethiopia.
NodeRabbit is a cross-platform remote access trojan (RAT) built with Node.js. It targets Windows, Linux, and macOS. Its operators deliver it through spear-phishing messages on LinkedIn and other job search platforms that contain trojanized coding challenge archives.
During the same investigation, we discovered another previously undocumented malware family that we dubbed PollCat. Like NodeRabbit, PollCat is a cross-platform RAT, but it is written in obfuscated JavaScript also distributed through trojanized coding challenge archives.
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