GorillaBot: Technical Analysis and Code Similarities with Mirai
Essential information
- Published
- 25/03/2025 17:38
- Modified
- 25/03/2025 18:50
- Tags
- 2025-03-25 anti-debugging botnet c2 communication encryption evasion gorillabot mirai sha-256 xtea
- Related entities
- 3 observables, 12 techniques (mitre), 2 malware, 3 others
Description
GorillaBot is a newly discovered Mirai-based botnet that has launched over 300,000 attacks across more than 100 countries, targeting various industries including telecommunications, finance, and education. It reuses Mirai's core logic while adding custom encryption and evasion techniques. The malware uses raw TCP sockets and a custom XTEA-like cipher for C2 communication, implements anti-debugging and anti-analysis checks, and authenticates to its C2 server using a SHA-256-based token. Attack commands are encoded, hashed, and processed using a Mirai-style attack_parse function. GorillaBot's sophistication highlights the ongoing evolution of legacy malware and the need for advanced analysis tools to combat such threats.