Mustang Panda Deploys SnakeDisk USB Worm to Deliver Yokai Backdoor on Thailand IPs

The China-aligned threat actor known as Mustang Panda has been observed using an updated version of a backdoor called TONESHELL and a previously undocumented USB worm called SnakeDisk. "The worm only executes on devices with Thailand-based IP addresses and drops the Yokai backdoor," IBM X-Force...

UNC6384 Deploys PlugX via Captive Portal Hijacks and Valid Certificates Targeting Diplomats

A China-nexus threat actor known as UNC6384 has been attributed to a set of attacks targeting diplomats in Southeast Asia and other entities across the globe to advance Beijing's strategic interests. "This multi-stage attack chain leverages advanced social engineering including valid code signing...

Malicious code in vwfs-mustang (npm)

The package vwfs-mustang was found to contain malicious code...

MAL-2025-38720 Malicious code in vwfs-mustang (npm)

The package vwfs-mustang was found to contain malicious code...

PUBLOAD and Pubshell Malware Used in Mustang Panda's Tibet-Specific Attack

A China-linked threat actor known as Mustang Panda has been attributed to a new cyber espionage campaign directed against the Tibetan community. The spear-phishing attacks leveraged topics related to Tibet, such as the 9th World Parliamentarians' Convention on Tibet WPCT, China's education policy...

Mustang Panda Targets Myanmar With StarProxy, EDR Bypass, and TONESHELL Updates

The China-linked threat actor known as Mustang Panda has been attributed to a cyber attack targeting an unspecified organization in Myanmar with previously unreported tooling, highlighting continued effort by the threat actors to increase the sophistication and effectiveness of their malware. Thi...

Chinese Hackers Exploit MAVInject.exe to Evade Detection in Targeted Cyber Attacks

The Chinese state-sponsored threat actor known as Mustang Panda has been observed employing a novel technique to evade detection and maintain control over infected systems. This involves the use of a legitimate Microsoft Windows utility called Microsoft Application Virtualization Injector...

FBI Deletes PlugX Malware from 4,250 Hacked Computers in Multi-Month Operation

The U.S. Department of Justice DoJ on Tuesday disclosed that a court-authorized operation allowed the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI to delete PlugX malware from over 4,250 infected computers as part of a "multi-month law enforcement operation." PlugX, also known as Korplug, is a remote acce...

China-Linked CeranaKeeper Targeting Southeast Asia with Data Exfiltration

A previously undocumented threat actor called CeranaKeeper has been linked to a string of data exfiltration attacks targeting Southeast Asia. Slovak cybersecurity firm ESET, which observed campaigns targeting governmental institutions in Thailand starting in 2023, attributed the activity cluster ...

Mustang Panda Deploys Advanced Malware to Spy on Asia-Pacific Governments

The threat actor tracked as Mustang Panda has refined its malware arsenal to include new tools in order to facilitate data exfiltration and the deployment of next-stage payloads, according to new findings from Trend Micro. The cybersecurity firm, which is monitoring the activity cluster under the...

Chinese Hackers Exploit Visual Studio Code in Southeast Asian Cyberattacks

The China-linked advanced persistent threat APT group known as Mustang Panda has been observed weaponizing Visual Studio Code software as part of espionage operations targeting government entities in Southeast Asia. "This threat actor used Visual Studio Code's embedded reverse shell feature to ga...

Researchers Warn of Chinese-Aligned Hackers Targeting South China Sea Countries

Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of a previously undocumented threat group called Unfading Sea Haze that's believed to have been active since 2018. The intrusion singled out high-level organizations in South China Sea countries, particularly military and government targets,...

Two Chinese APT Groups Ramp Up Cyber Espionage Against ASEAN Countries

Two China-linked advanced persistent threat APT groups have been observed targeting entities and member countries affiliated with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASEAN as part of a cyber espionage campaign over the past three months. This includes the threat actor known as Mustang Pand...

Mustang Panda Targets Asia with Advanced PlugX Variant DOPLUGS

The China-linked threat actor known as Mustang Panda has targeted various Asian countries using a variant of the PlugX aka Korplug backdoor dubbed DOPLUGS. "The piece of customized PlugX malware is dissimilar to the general type of the PlugX malware that contains a completed backdoor command...

China-Linked Hackers Target Myanmar's Top Ministries with Backdoor Blitz

The China-based threat actor known as Mustang Panda is suspected to have targeted Myanmar's Ministry of Defence and Foreign Affairs as part of twin campaigns designed to deploy backdoors and remote access trojans. The findings come from CSIRT-CTI, which said the activities took place in November...

New MrAnon Stealer Malware Targeting German Users via Booking-Themed Scam

A phishing campaign has been observed delivering an information stealer malware called MrAnon Stealer to unsuspecting victims via seemingly benign booking-themed PDF lures. "This malware is a Python-based information stealer compressed with cx-Freeze to evade detection," Fortinet FortiGuard Labs...

Mustang Panda Targets Philippines Government Using Legitimate Software

Summary: Mustang Panda, a threat actor associated with China, has been implicated in a cyber attack targeting a government entity in the Philippines. The attackers employed a strategy of using legitimate software, such as Solid PDF Creator and SmadavProtect an antivirus solution based in Indonesi...

Mustang Panda Hackers Targets Philippines Government Amid South China Sea Tensions

The China-linked Mustang Panda actor has been linked to a cyber attack targeting a Philippines government entity amid rising tensions between the two countries over the disputed South China Sea. Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 attributed the adversarial collective to three campaigns in August 2023,...

Chinese Hackers Launch Covert Espionage Attacks on 24 Cambodian Organizations

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered what they say is malicious cyber activity orchestrated by two prominent Chinese nation-state hacking groups targeting 24 Cambodian government organizations. "This activity is believed to be part of a long-term espionage campaign," Palo Alto Networks Unit ...

Malicious USB Drives Targeting Global Targets with SOGU and SNOWYDRIVE Malware

Cyber attacks using infected USB infection drives as an initial access vector have witnessed a three-fold increase in the first half of 2023, That's according to new findings from Mandiant, which detailed two such campaigns – SOGU and SNOWYDRIVE – targeting both public and private sector entities...