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[–] 32 points 11 months ago (4 children)

When the CD shortcut is executed, it launches Windows commands that extract and run a malicious PowerShell script embedded in the subtitle file between lines 100 and 103.

This PowerShell script will then extract numerous AES-encrypted data blocks from the subtitles file again to reconstruct five PowerShell scripts that are dropped to 'C:\Users<USER>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Diagnostics.'

The extracted PowerShell scripts act as a malware dropper, performing the following actions on the host:

...

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  • [–] 13 points 11 months ago (3 children)

    Very interesting. Since I left windows, this isn’t an issue for me but I will be more aware that this can happen now.

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  • [–] 4 points 11 months ago

    There isn't really anything new to learn here. It's still the same old, don't run an executable to watch a movie. That the code is partly hidden in the srt/jpg is just a minor implementation detail.

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  • [–] 12 points 11 months ago

    Very interesting approach

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  • [–] 6 points 11 months ago (1 child)
  • [–] 3 points 11 months ago (2 children)

    So wait, literally all it took was putting command line commands on their own line in a subtitles file? Am I interpreting this right

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  • [–] 0 points 11 months ago

    Why would you try to open a movie with .m2ts ??

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  • 15 comments in c/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com view that post
    [–] 19 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    So it only works if you open a file with a .lnk extension?

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  • [–] 39 points 11 months ago*

    Based on the title, I first thought subtitles embedded in a container (like MKV) could be used to launch malware.

    Thankfully this is not the case. I was really worried for a second.

    This honestly has nothing to do with video formats or even torrents.

    If you are pirating you should have enough common sense to not click on random .lnk files.

    Most reputable trackers/indexers don't allow .lnk files or even random raw M2TS files.

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  • [–] 42 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (8 children)

    TL;DR: Don't open .lnk files.

    Here's a list of blocked file names I'm using on my Qbittorrent. Contains executables and other junk I don't want getting downloaded, maybe y'all get some use out of it too:

    Super long list*(sample).*
    *.0xe
    *.73k
    *.73p
    *.7z
    *.89k
    *.89z
    *.8ck
    *.a7r
    *.ac
    *.acc
    *.ace
    *.acr
    *.actc
    *.action
    *.actm
    *.ade
    *.adp
    *.afmacro
    *.afmacros
    *.ahk
    *.ai
    *.aif
    *.air
    *.alz
    *.api
    *.apk
    *.app
    *.appimage
    *.applescript
    *.application
    *.appx
    *.arc
    *.arj
    *.arscript
    *.asb
    *.asp
    *.aspx
    *.aspx-exe
    *.atmx
    *.azw2
    *.ba_
    *.bak
    *.bas
    *.bash
    *.bat
    *.bdjo
    *.bdmv
    *.beam
    *.bin
    *.bmp
    *.bms
    *.bns
    *.bsa
    *.btm
    *.bz2
    *.c
    *.cab
    *.caction
    *.cci
    *.cda
    *.cdb
    *.cel
    *.celx
    *.cfs
    *.cgi
    *.cheat
    *.chm
    *.ckpt
    *.cla
    *.class
    *.clpi
    *.cmd
    *.cof
    *.coffee
    *.com
    *.command
    *.conf
    *.config
    *.cpl
    *.crt
    *.cs
    *.csh
    *.csharp
    *.csproj
    *.css
    *.csv
    *.cue
    *.cur
    *.cyw
    *.daemon
    *.dat
    *.data-00000-of-00001
    *.db
    *.deamon
    *.deb
    *.dek
    *.diz
    *.dld
    *.dll
    *.dmc
    *.dmg
    *.doc
    *.docb
    *.docm
    *.docx
    *.dot
    *.dotb
    *.dotm
    *.drv
    *.ds
    *.dw
    *.dword
    *.dxl
    *.e_e
    *.ear
    *.ebacmd
    *.ebm
    *.ebs
    *.ebs2
    *.ecf
    *.eham
    *.elf
    *.elf-so
    *.email
    *.emu
    *.epk
    *.es
    *.esh
    *.etc
    *.ex4
    *.ex5
    *.ex_
    *.exe
    *.exe-only
    *.exe-service
    *.exe-small
    *.exe1
    *.exopc
    *.exz
    *.ezs
    *.ezt
    *.fas
    *.fba
    *.fky
    *.flac
    *.flatpak
    *.flv
    *.fpi
    *.frs
    *.fxp
    *.gadget
    *.gat
    *.gif
    *.gifv
    *.gm9
    *.gpe
    *.gpu
    *.gs
    *.gz
    *.h5
    *.ham
    *.hex
    *.hlp
    *.hms
    *.hpf
    *.hta
    *.hta-psh
    *.htaccess
    *.htm
    *.html
    *.icd
    *.icns
    *.ico
    *.idx
    *.iim
    *.img
    *.index
    *.inf
    *.ini
    *.ink
    *.ins
    *.ipa
    *.ipf
    *.ipk
    *.ipsw
    *.iqylink
    *.isp
    *.isu
    *.ita
    *.izh
    *.jar
    *.java
    *.jpeg
    *.jpg
    *.js
    *.js_be
    *.js_le
    *.jse
    *.jsf
    *.json
    *.jsp
    *.jsx
    *.kix
    *.ksh
    *.kx
    *.lck
    *.ldb
    *.lib
    *.link
    *.lnk
    *.lo
    *.lock
    *.log
    *.loop-vbs
    *.ls
    *.m3u
    *.m4a
    *.mac
    *.macho
    *.mamc
    *.manifest
    *.mcr
    *.md
    *.mda
    *.mdb
    *.mde
    *.mdf
    *.mdn
    *.mdt
    *.mel
    *.mem
    *.meta
    *.mgm
    *.mhm
    *.mht
    *.mhtml
    *.mid
    *.mio
    *.mlappinstall
    *.mlx
    *.mm
    *.mobileconfig
    *.model
    *.moo
    *.mpa
    *.mpk
    *.mpls
    *.mrc
    *.mrp
    *.ms
    *.msc
    *.msh
    *.msh1
    *.msh1xml
    *.msh2
    *.msh2xml
    *.mshxml
    *.msi
    *.msi-nouac
    *.msix
    *.msl
    *.msp
    *.mst
    *.msu
    *.mxe
    *.ncl
    *.net
    *.nexe
    *.nrg
    *.num
    *.nzb.bz2
    *.nzb.gz
    *.nzbs
    *.ocx
    *.odt
    *.ore
    *.ost
    *.osx
    *.osx-app
    *.otm
    *.out
    *.ova
    *.paf
    *.pak
    *.pb
    *.pcd
    *.pdb
    *.pdf
    *.pea
    *.perl
    *.pex
    *.phar
    *.php
    *.php5
    *.pif
    *.pkg
    *.pl
    *.plsc
    *.plx
    *.png
    *.pol
    *.pot
    *.potm
    *.powershell
    *.ppam
    *.ppkg
    *.pps
    *.ppsm
    *.ppt
    *.pptm
    *.pptx
    *.prc
    *.prg
    *.ps
    *.ps1
    *.ps1xml
    *.ps2
    *.ps2xml
    *.psc1
    *.psc2
    *.psd
    *.psd1
    *.psh
    *.psh-cmd
    *.psh-net
    *.psh-reflection
    *.psm1
    *.pst
    *.pt
    *.pvd
    *.pwc
    *.pxo
    *.py
    *.pyc
    *.pyd
    *.pyo
    *.python
    *.pyz
    *.qit
    *.qpx
    *.ram
    *.raw
    *.rb
    *.rbf
    *.rbx
    *.reg
    *.resources
    *.resx
    *.rfs
    *.rfu
    *.rgs
    *.rm
    *.rox
    *.rpg
    *.rpj
    *.rpm
    *.ruby
    *.run
    *.rxe
    *.s2a
    *.sample
    *.sapk
    *.savedmodel
    *.sbs
    *.sca
    *.scar
    *.scb
    *.scf
    *.scpt
    *.scptd
    *.scr
    *.script
    *.sct
    *.seed
    *.server
    *.service
    *.sfv
    *.sh
    *.shb
    *.shell
    *.shortcut
    *.shs
    *.shtml
    *.sit
    *.sitx
    *.sk
    *.sldm
    *.sln
    *.smm
    *.snap
    *.snd
    *.spr
    *.sql
    *.sqx
    *.srec
    *.ssm
    *.sts
    *.sub
    *.svg
    *.swf
    *.sys
    *.tar
    *.tar.gz
    *.tbl
    *.tbz
    *.tcp
    *.text
    *.tf
    *.tgz
    *.thm
    *.thmx
    *.thumb
    *.tiapp
    *.tif
    *.tiff
    *.tipa
    *.tmp
    *.tms
    *.toast
    *.torrent
    *.tpk
    *.txt
    *.u3p
    *.udf
    *.upk
    *.upx
    *.url
    *.uvm
    *.uw8
    *.vb
    *.vba
    *.vba-exe
    *.vba-psh
    *.vbapplication
    *.vbe
    *.vbs
    *.vbscript
    *.vbscript
    *.vcd
    *.vdo
    *.vexe
    *.vhd
    *.vhdx
    *.vlx
    *.vm
    *.vmdk
    *.vob
    *.vocab
    *.vpm
    *.vxp
    *.war
    *.wav
    *.wbk
    *.wcm
    *.webm
    *.widget
    *.wim
    *.wiz
    *.wma
    *.workflow
    *.wpk
    *.wpl
    *.wpm
    *.wps
    *.ws
    *.wsc
    *.wsf
    *.wsh
    *.x86
    *.x86_64
    *.xaml
    *.xap
    *.xbap
    *.xbe
    *.xex
    *.xig
    *.xla
    *.xlam
    *.xll
    *.xlm
    *.xls
    *.xlsb
    *.xlsm
    *.xlsx
    *.xlt
    *.xltb
    *.xltm
    *.xlw
    *.xml
    *.xqt
    *.xrt
    *.xys
    *.xz
    *.ygh
    *.z
    *.zip
    *.zipx
    *.zl9
    *.zoo
    *sample.avchd
    *sample.avi
    *sample.mkv
    *sample.mov
    *sample.mp4
    *sample.webm
    *sample.wmv
    Trailer.*

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  • [–] 4 points 11 months ago (2 children)

    What would happen if you tried to play the movie (which I assume loads the subs and parses the commands — maybe) on a Mac or a PC running Linux? The article says PowerShell and it mentions Windows dependencies but I'm not sure it requires a Windows system.

    I feel like my Macs would ask permission before running the code (Macs ask permission a lot, or straight up say something isn't going to run, you have to go into Settings, Security to make it run). I feel like Linux boxes wouldn't be as susceptible as Windows, either.

    I'm not gonna try it because I'm not as sure about restoring a Mac system as I am with Windows. Relatively new to this system.

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  • [–] 22 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

    This is not an issue on Linux or Macs.

    Even on windows, if you play the movie (so M2TS with external audio and subs), you would simply get subtitles with the PowerShell code as subtitle text at one point.

    They are way over hyping this issue.

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  • [–] 4 points 11 months ago

    Ohhh you definitely want to be running TimeMachine backups in macOS. It's run from the system settings app, and once you connect a freshly formatted drive it will likely suggest that you use that drive.

    It backs up your entire system and data, then makes hourly versions, and keeps long-term weeklies. You can restore individual files or rather easily restore the entire backup.

    It’s one of the few things apple does really well.

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  • [–] 3 points 11 months ago

    It really is One Battle After Another in cybersecurity…

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  • 5 comments in c/cybersecurity@sh.itjust.works view that post
    [–] 3 points 11 months ago (3 children)

    Technically speaking it is hidden in a SRT subtitle file, but it's not the like you can execute the SRT file, since it's just text.

    If you are downloading pirates movies, it makes sense to not click on on random stuff in the torrent/download that's clearly not a media file.

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  • [–] 3 points 11 months ago (2 children)

    The whole exploit is based on the user clicking on a .lnk shortcut, which then executes commands found in the subtitle text file.

    Which seems strangely over complicated. How does it really help to involve the subtitles file at all?

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  • [–] 1 point 11 months ago

    Couldn't even include the real movie... that's just rude.

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