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Violet Typhoon, also known as Sheathminer and APT31, is a China-linked espionage threat actor. The group has been publicly identified as one of multiple Chinese actors exploiting the Microsoft SharePoint ToolShell vulnerabilities, including CVE-2025-53770, during 2025. Activity attributed to this cluster is consistent with state-aligned cyber espionage focused on gaining persistent access to victim environments, stealing credentials, and conducting follow-on post-compromise operations. Observed tradecraft includes exploitation of internet-facing enterprise software for initial access, deployment of webshells and backdoors, DLL sideloading using legitimate signed binaries, use of modular remote access malware, and delivery of additional payloads through staged loaders. Tooling associated with the broader activity includes Zingdoor, ShadowPad, KrustyLoader, and Sliver, alongside utilities for credential dumping, proxying, privilege escalation, and lateral movement. Reported behaviors include system reconnaissance, file transfer, arbitrary command execution, credential theft, persistence, stealthy command-and-control, and abuse of legitimate software and vulnerable drivers for defense evasion. Victimology linked to the 2025 exploitation wave includes telecommunications and multiple government entities, with additional compromises affecting a university and other organizations across Africa, the Middle East, South America, Europe, and the United States. The targeting pattern and operational objectives are most consistent with intelligence collection rather than financially motivated extortion. Although some reporting on the broader ToolShell exploitation ecosystem also discusses separate China-linked actors involved in ransomware deployment, Violet Typhoon itself is identified in this context as an espionage actor rather than a ransomware operator.
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Who, where, and (when attributed) which flag flies behind the operation. Pulled from open-source reporting and Mallory's analyst review.
Sectors the actor has been observed targeting.
Geographies tied to known operations.
Attributed origin per open-source reporting.
2 distinct techniques observed across reporting, grouped by tactic. Hover any cell for the evidence excerpt; click through for MITRE's full description.
1 malware family attributed to this actor across reporting.
1 CVE this actor has used in observed campaigns. 1 of them exploited in the wild.
2 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.
China-linked actor reported by Microsoft as exploiting the ToolShell SharePoint zero-day (CVE-2025-53770).
Chinese espionage group explicitly identified by Microsoft as exploiting the ToolShell vulnerability.
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Every observed MITRE ATT&CK technique, grouped by tactic.
Families this actor is known to deploy, with IOCs and behavior.
CVEs this actor has used in known campaigns.
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Domains, IPs, and hashes tied to this actor, refreshed continuously.