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MalwareUsed by 2 actorsExploits 1 CVE

Rustonotto

Rustonotto is a malware family associated in the provided content with APT37 and the analytic story "APT37 Rustonotto and FadeStealer." The content explicitly describes it as a "Rust-compiled HTTP/Backdoor" that uses Base64-encoded commands and responses. High-confidence references place it in Windows-focused detection and hunting contexts tied to spearphishing attachment activity, including Microsoft Office–delivered execution chains and detections such as "Windows Office Product Dropped Cab or Inf File" associated with CVE-2021-40444, as well as "Windows Office Product Spawned Uncommon Process." Additional related detections and stories in the content connect Rustonotto to suspicious download and execution behaviors on Windows, including curl downloads to suspicious paths, suspicious LNK creation, startup-folder persistence-related file drops, malicious URL shortcut creation, msiexec HTTP/HTTPS communication, process injection into commonly abused processes, scheduled task abuse, indicator removal via rmdir, and high file deletion frequency. The content does not provide specific IOCs such as hashes, domains, or filenames for Rustonotto itself beyond the malware name and the characterization as a Rust-compiled HTTP backdoor using Base64 command-and-response handling.

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EXPLOITED CVES

Vulnerabilities exploited

1 CVE Mallory has correlated with this family across public research and vendor advisories. Each row links to the full Mallory page for that vulnerability.

1 CVES
CVE-2021-40444Microsoft MSHTML Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Windows Office Product Dropped Cab or Inf File ... Spearphishing Attachments, Microsoft MSHTML Remote Code Execution CVE-2021-40444, Compromised Windows Host, APT37 Rustonotto and FadeStealer

via splunk researchresearch.splunk.com
THREAT ACTORS

Groups observed using it

2 distinct threat actors attributed by public researchers. Open in Mallory to see the full evidence chain and overlapping campaigns.

View more details
TA-RedAnt

“Rustonotto: Rust-compiled HTTP/Backdoor (Base64 commands and responses)”

via ahnlab asec blogasec.ahnlab.com
APT37

Associated Analytic Story APT37 Rustonotto and FadeStealer

via splunk researchresearch.splunk.com
MITRE ATT&CK

Techniques & procedures

3 distinct techniques documented for this family, organized by ATT&CK tactic.

Initial Access

1 technique
T1566.001Spearphishing AttachmentEvidence2

MITRE ATT&CK Techniques ID Technique Tactic T1566.001 Spearphishing Attachment Initial Access

Execution

1 technique
T1204.001Malicious LinkEvidence1
TacticExecution

Annotations ID Technique Tactic T1204.001 Malicious Link Execution

T1105Ingress Tool TransferEvidence1

Description Successful execution of Atomic Red Team T1105 - Ingress Tool Transfer. Also included Invoke-CertUtil using different command switches.

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Threat actor attribution2

Named campaigns wielding this family, with evidence pinned to each claim.

Exploited vulnerabilities1

CVEs this family uses for access and lateral movement.

Detection signatures

YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.

MITRE ATT&CK mapping3

Every documented technique, ranked by evidence weight.

Researcher chatter

Reddit, Mastodon, and CTI community discussion around this family.