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NET-STAR is a bespoke .NET malware suite used by the China-aligned espionage actor Phantom Taurus against Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) servers. The suite comprises three web-based backdoors, including a modular fileless component that executes entirely in memory within the IIS worker process and two .NET assembly-loader variants. It is deployed through a web-shell-based loader and supports memory-only execution of additional .NET assemblies, arbitrary commands and payloads, file and database operations, web-shell management, and encrypted command-and-control communications. NET-STAR employs anti-forensic timestomping, while a newer loader variant includes bypasses for the Windows Anti-Malware Scan Interface and Event Tracing for Windows. Phantom Taurus has used NET-STAR in long-term espionage operations against government and telecommunications organizations in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, particularly entities associated with diplomatic communications, defense-related intelligence, and geopolitical affairs.
Mallory pivots from this family to the IOCs, detections, and named campaigns that touch your stack, and pages you when something new lands.
2 CVEs Mallory has correlated with this family across public research and vendor advisories. Each row links to the full Mallory page for that vulnerability.
"...a never-before-seen bespoke malware suite dubbed NET-STAR. Developed in .NET, the program is designed to target Internet Information Services (IIS) web servers."
"...a never-before-seen bespoke malware suite dubbed NET-STAR. Developed in .NET, the program is designed to target Internet Information Services (IIS) web servers."
1 distinct threat actor attributed by public researchers. Open in Mallory to see the full evidence chain and overlapping campaigns.
Phantom Taurus deploys NET-STAR, a web-based, fileless .NET malware suite on IIS web servers which is capable of in-memory execution, bypassing AMSI and ETW, and using time-stomping to evade detection.
9 distinct techniques documented for this family, organized by ATT&CK tactic.
4 indicators attributed across vendor reports, sandbox runs, and researcher write-ups. Full values are available in Mallory.
File hashes (MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256) from samples and reports.
15 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.
Custom-built spyware toolkit used by a Chinese nation-state actor for cyber-espionage against government and high-value targets, enabling stealthy and persistent access.
Referenced as a malware suite associated with a China-nexus APT cluster ('Phantom Taurus').
Malware suite used by the China-linked APT group Phantom Taurus for espionage operations targeting key sectors.
Customized malware/tool suite used by the Phantom Taurus espionage actor.
Match every observed IP, domain, and hash against your live telemetry.
Named campaigns wielding this family, with evidence pinned to each claim.
CVEs this family uses for access and lateral movement.
YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.
Every documented technique, ranked by evidence weight.
Reddit, Mastodon, and CTI community discussion around this family.