IBM Security X-Force Threat Researchers have discovered a new variant of the RansomExx ransomware that has been rewritten in the Rust programming language, joining a growing trend of ransomware developers switching to the language.
Malware written in Rust often benefits from lower AV detection rates (compared to those written in more common languages) and this may have been the primary reason to use the language. For example, the sample analyzed in this report was not detected as malicious in the VirusTotal platform for at least 2 weeks after its initial submission. As of the time of writing, the new sample is still only detected by 14 out of the 60+ AV providers represented in the platform.
RansomExx is operated by the DefrayX threat actor group (Hive0091), which is also known for the PyXie malware, Vatet loader, and Defray ransomware strains. The newly discovered ransomware version is named RansomExx2 according to strings found within the ransomware and is designed to run on the Linux operating system. The group has historically released both Linux and Windows versions of their ransomware, so it is likely that a Windows version is also in the works.
RansomExx2 has been completely rewritten using Rust, but otherwise, its functionality is similar to its C++ predecessor. It requires a list of target directories to encrypt to be passed as command line parameters and then encrypts files using AES-256, with RSA used to protect the encryption keys.
The Rust programming language has been ..
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