CATRUNNER
CATRUNNER is a malware/tool referenced in reporting on the TEMP.Veles activity associated with the TRITON industrial control system intrusion. A recovered ZIP archive named schtasks.zip contained an installer and uninstaller for CATRUNNER, along with two XML scheduled task definitions for a masquerading service named "ProgramDataUpdater." Reporting states the package included scheduled-task artifacts where the malicious install task name/description were in English while the clean uninstall task name/description were in Cyrillic, and the modification timeline suggested Russian text was changed to English sequentially, consistent with an attempt to mask origin. The malware/tool is therefore associated with TEMP.Veles/TRITON-related post-compromise activity in an ICS-targeting intrusion at a critical infrastructure facility. High-confidence details in the provided content do not describe CATRUNNER’s full functionality, infection vector, or standalone command-and-control behavior beyond its packaging with installer/uninstaller components and persistence-related scheduled task definitions.
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Groups observed using it
1 distinct threat actor attributed by public researchers. Open in Mallory to see the full evidence chain and overlapping campaigns.
"...schtasks.zip, contained an installer and uninstaller of CATRUNNER... scheduled task definitions for a masquerading service ‘ProgramDataUpdater.’"
Recent activity
2 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.
Tool with installer/uninstaller components leveraging scheduled tasks for persistence (masquerading as 'ProgramDataUpdater'); language artifacts suggest attempts to mask Russian origin.
Tool used to establish persistence via scheduled tasks (masquerading as 'ProgramDataUpdater'); artifacts include both English and Cyrillic task metadata, suggesting attempted origin-masking.
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