The Stealthy Rise of a New Cryptojacking Threat
Cybersecurity experts have unveiled a sophisticated new cryptojacking campaign that leverages pirated software bundles to infiltrate systems and deploy a custom-built XMRig miner. This multi-stage attack, designed for maximum cryptocurrency mining efficiency, often pushes victim systems to their limits, as detailed in a recent technical report by Trellix researcher Aswath A.
Beyond the Trojan: A Wormable Menace
What sets this campaign apart is its aggressive, worm-like propagation. Unlike typical Trojans that rely solely on user downloads, this malware actively spreads across external storage devices, enabling lateral movement even within air-gapped environments. This capability transforms a seemingly simple cryptojacker into a far more dangerous and pervasive threat.
Social Engineering and Modular Design: The Attack’s Core
The initial breach hinges on classic social engineering tactics. Attackers lure unsuspecting users with promises of free premium software, disguised as pirated installers for popular office suites. Once downloaded, a central binary takes control, acting as an installer, watchdog, payload manager, and cleaner, orchestrating every phase of the infection lifecycle.
The malware boasts a modular design, separating its monitoring functions from the core payloads responsible for cryptocurrency mining, privilege escalation, and ensuring persistence. This flexibility is managed through various command-line arguments:
- No parameter: For initial environment validation and migration.
002 Re:0: To deploy main payloads, initiate mining, and enter a monitoring loop.016: To restart the miner if it’s terminated.barusu: To trigger a self-destruct sequence, removing all malware components.
The Enigma of the Time-Based Logic Bomb
A particularly intriguing feature is a built-in logic bomb. The malware checks the local system time against a predefined timestamp of December 23, 2025. If the date is earlier, the infection proceeds with full installation and mining. If it’s later, the “barusu” argument is invoked, leading to a “controlled decommissioning” of the malware.
Trellix suggests several reasons for this hard deadline: it could signal the expiration of rented command-and-control (C2) infrastructure, a predicted shift in the cryptocurrency market, or a planned transition to a new malware variant. This strategic expiry date highlights the attackers’ long-term planning and adaptability.
Kernel-Level Exploitation: Boosting Mining Power
The standard infection routine sees the self-contained binary drop various components to disk. This includes a legitimate Windows Telemetry service executable, which is then abused to sideload the miner DLL. To achieve elevated privileges and boost mining performance, the attackers employ a “bring your own vulnerable driver” (BYOVD) technique.
They exploit a legitimate but flawed driver, “WinRing0x64.sys,” vulnerable to CVE-2020-14979 (CVSS score: 7.8), which allows privilege escalation. Integrating this exploit into the XMRig miner grants greater control over the CPU’s low-level configuration, significantly boosting the RandomX hashrate by 15% to 50%.
Mining Activity and the Future of Commodity Malware
Evidence indicates sporadic mining activity throughout November 2025, with a notable spike on December 8, 2025. This campaign serves as a stark reminder of the continuous innovation in commodity malware. By combining social engineering, legitimate software masquerades, worm-like propagation, and kernel-level exploitation, the attackers have forged a resilient and highly efficient botnet.
AI’s Role in Cybercrime: A Growing Concern
Adding another layer to the evolving threat landscape, Darktrace recently uncovered a malware artifact likely generated using a large language model (LLM). This LLM-created malware exploited the critical React2Shell vulnerability (CVE-2025-55182, CVSS score: 10.0) to download a Python toolkit, subsequently deploying an XMRig miner via a shell command.
While the financial gains from this particular LLM-generated cryptomining campaign were relatively modest, it underscores a worrying trend. Researchers Nathaniel Bill and Nathaniel Jones emphasize that AI-based LLMs are making cybercrime more accessible than ever. A single prompting session was enough for this attacker to generate a functional exploit framework and compromise over ninety hosts, demonstrating the undeniable operational value of AI for malicious actors.
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