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Xiangoop is a distinctive custom malware loader family linked to the China-aligned threat actor Tropic Trooper, also tracked as Pirate Panda, KeyBoy, APT23, Bronze Hobart, and Earth Centaur. Reporting describes heavily obfuscated Xiangoop loader variants still in use by the group, and identifies the loader TOSHIS as a modified variant of Xiangoop. In the observed campaign, a trojanized SumatraPDF executable launched the Xiangoop-derived TOSHIS loader after a victim opened a ZIP archive containing military-themed lure documents. The rogue SumatraPDF displayed a decoy PDF and retrieved encrypted shellcode from a staging server, after which the Xiangoop variant was used to fetch or deliver next-stage payloads. Content states Xiangoop/TOSHIS has been used to retrieve payloads including Cobalt Strike Beacon and the Merlin agent for the Mythic framework, and in the cited campaign the infection chain ultimately dropped AdaptixC2 Beacon. The activity was attributed with high confidence to Tropic Trooper and targeted Chinese-speaking individuals primarily in Taiwan, as well as victims in Japan and South Korea; broader Tropic Trooper targeting in related reporting includes government, military, healthcare, transportation, and high-tech sectors in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. A staging server at 158.247.193[.]100 was observed in related activity and was reported to host Cobalt Strike Beacon and the EntryShell backdoor, both previously associated with Tropic Trooper.
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1 distinct threat actor attributed by public researchers. Open in Mallory to see the full evidence chain and overlapping campaigns.
To accomplish this, the backdoored SumatraPDF executable launches a slightly modified version of a loader codenamed TOSHIS, which is a variant of Xiangoop, a malware linked to Tropic Trooper, and has been used in the past to fetch next-stage payloads like Cobalt Strike Beacon or Merlin agent for the Mythic framework.
3 distinct techniques documented for this family, organized by ATT&CK tactic.
The starting point of the attack is a ZIP archive containing military-themed document lures to launch the rogue version of SumatraPDF, which is then used to display a decoy PDF document, while simultaneously retrieving encrypted shellcode from a staging server to launch AdaptixC2 Beacon.
1 indicator attributed across vendor reports, sandbox runs, and researcher write-ups. Full values are available in Mallory.
IPs, domains, and DNS infrastructure linked to this family.
3 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.
Malware linked to Tropic Trooper; referenced here as the parent family of the TOSHIS loader variant used to fetch next-stage payloads.
A distinctive custom malware family used as a loader by Tropic Trooper, observed in heavily obfuscated variants.
A loader referenced as part of Tropic Trooper campaigns; used to stage or deliver subsequent payloads.
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.