#threatreport #MediumCompleteness
Analysis of the APT-C-26 (Lazarus) group's attack operations using CVE-2025-55182 with Copperhedge components | 03-06-2026
Source:
ctfiot.com/309562.html
Key details below ↓
🧑💻Actors/Campaigns:
Lazarus (🧠motivation: information_theft)
💀Threats:
Copperhedge, Uac_bypass_technique, Volgmer, React2shell_vuln, Etherrat,
🎯Victims: Financial institutions, Cryptocurrency exchanges, Blockchain related infrastructure, Blockchain industry
🏭Industry: Financial
🔓CVEs: CVE-2025-55182 \[[Vulners](
vulners.com/cve/CVE-2025-551…)]
- CVSS V3.1: *Unknown*,
- Vulners: Exploitation: Unknown
📚TTPs:
⚔️Tactics: 2
🛠️Technics: 0
🤖LLM extracted TTPs:`
T1016, T1033, T1036, T1071.001, T1082, T1105, T1132.001, T1140, T1190, T1218.011, ...
🧨IOCs:
- File: 5
- Hash: 14
- Url: 1
- IP: 1
💽Software: WeChat
🔢Algorithms: chacha20, base64
#threatreport:
The APT-C-26 (Lazarus) group is recognized for its ongoing sophisticated cyber-attack operations primarily targeting financial institutions and cryptocurrency exchanges. Utilizing advanced techniques like phishing, ransomware, and direct cyber intrusions, the group aims not only for financial gain but also conducts extensive intelligence operations. Recent activities have demonstrated the group's use of the CVE-2025-55182 vulnerability, an insecure deserialization flaw in the React Codebase, to execute unauthorized remote code with a single HTTP request.
CVE-2025-55182 affects React version 19.x and frameworks built upon it, such as Next.js. The group employed several malicious tools alongside this vulnerability, including MultiRelay—a tool for lateral movement within intranets—and Akagi64, which facilitates bypassing Windows User Account Control (UAC) to elevate privileges. The Lazarus group compiles these components into a Windows executable aimed at gaining initial access to targeted infrastructures.
The exploitation process begins with the attacker scanning targets using a constructed file list and leveraging the CVE-2025-55182 vulnerability for entry. Once inside the network, UAC bypasses allow for the deployment of the Copperhedge malware. The Copperhedge malware, part of the Manuscrypt family, is a Remote Access Tool (RAT) that enables data exfiltration and system control. Its Loader disguises its functionality by masking file version information, complicating detection by security systems.
The Copperhedge Loader utilizes a cyclic key algorithm for data encryption and decryption, processing a significant amount of data in the process. Upon execution, it creates a mutex lock to prevent re-execution and gathers critical system information. Communication with Command and Control (C2) servers employs a structure whereby the malware sends encoded HTTP requests and handles responses through a reverse decryption process. This includes ChaCha20-XOR encryption for data security, underscoring the group’s emphasis on stealth and evasion.
It was noted that the Lazarus group also exploited the React2Shell vulnerability (CVE-2025-55182) to deploy an EtherRAT component in an indirect attack on the blockchain sector. Given the historical context, technical details of the vulnerabilities, the methodologies employed, and the targeted industries, it can be reliably concluded that these recent operations and the associated tools and tactics are indeed attributable to the Lazarus group.