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Night Sky is a ransomware threat actor assessed to be China-based and tracked by Microsoft as DEV-0401. The group has been associated with exploitation of internet-exposed VMware Horizon systems via Log4Shell vulnerabilities, using the embedded Apache Tomcat service for initial access and then executing post-exploitation activity through processes such as ws_tomcatservice.exe and VMware View’s node.exe. Reported activity includes deployment of ransomware, use of Cobalt Strike, PowerShell-based reverse shells, system and network discovery, defense evasion actions such as disabling security controls, persistence mechanisms including scheduled tasks and service creation, and exfiltration-related behavior. Night Sky has been described as operating a double-extortion model in which data theft accompanies file encryption and leak pressure. The actor has also been linked in reporting to broader Chinese ransomware operator activity and has been discussed alongside possible overlaps with other ransomware operations, although such overlap is less certain than the DEV-0401 association.
Mallory correlates actor tradecraft and target patterns against your stack, your sector, and your geography. See overlap before they land.
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.
Attributed origin per open-source reporting.
10 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.
2 CVEs this actor has used in observed campaigns. 2 of them exploited in the wild.
Cynet has detected active exploitations of the Log4Shell vulnerability on VMware Horizon Servers by different threat actors who deployed Cobalt Strike beacons, Cryptominers, and fileless reverse shells.
On December 9, 2021, an RCE vulnerability was disclosed within the log4j package (CVE-2021-44228, CVE-2021-45046) which allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code on machines that utilize the logging functionality of the log4j package.
8 indicators attributed to this actor: domains, IPs, hashes, and other artifacts pulled from reporting. View more in app.
2 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.
Associated with some of the Log4Shell exploitation of VMware Horizon servers, with follow-on activity including ransomware operations and double extortion.
Referenced as a ransomware group whose links to surrounding groups suggest attribution to a specific country.
Match sector + geo + tech-stack targeting against your real footprint.
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.
YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.
Domains, IPs, and hashes tied to this actor, refreshed continuously.