Operation Crimson Palace

Known Names 1 entries

Observed Target Countries 1

Based on ETDA data — countries highlighted in red

Description

(Sophos) In May 2023, in a threat hunt across Sophos Managed Detection and Response telemetry, Sophos MDR’s Mark Parsons uncovered a complex, long-running Chinese state-sponsored cyberespionage operation we have dubbed “Crimson Palace” targeting a high-profile government organization in Southeast Asia. MDR launched the hunt after the discovery of a DLL sideloading technique that exploited VMNat.exe, a VMware component. In the investigation that followed, we tracked at least three clusters of intrusion activity from March 2023 to December 2023. The hunt also uncovered previously unreported malware associated with the threat clusters, as well as a new, improved variant of the previously-reported EAGERBEE malware. In line with our standard internal nomenclature, Sophos tracks these clusters as Cluster Alpha (STAC1248), Cluster Bravo (STAC1807), and Cluster Charlie (STAC1305).

Reports & References 2