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TacTap is a Linux credential-stealing toolset used by the China-nexus cyberespionage actor Fire Ant against TACACS+ authentication infrastructure. It targets the tac_plus daemon to collect administrative credentials used for access to network equipment. TacTap was identified in intrusions involving compromised TACACS servers, routers, and Linux management infrastructure.
The toolset includes an injector that loads a malicious shared library into an already-running tac_plus process. The injected library intercepts accepted TACACS connections and passes their file descriptors to a separate process through a local Unix socket. Harvested credential material is written to a local log artifact and concealed using single-byte XOR obfuscation. By collecting authentication data from within the legitimate daemon, TacTap enables credential theft directly at a trusted network-administration authentication service.
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1 distinct threat actor attributed by public researchers. Open in Mallory to see the full evidence chain and overlapping campaigns.
TacTap – Injected TACACS library loaded into tac_plus; intercepts accepted TACACS sessions and sends descriptors to /var/run/acpid.lock.
5 distinct techniques documented for this family, organized by ATT&CK tactic.
Похищенная информация сохранялась в /var/log/.tacplus.acct и маскировалась простым XOR с ключом 0xEF.
3 indicators 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.
File hashes (MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256) from samples and reports.
5 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.
Tooling targeting TACACS authentication infrastructure. Its injector loads /lib/libseconfd.so into tac_plus and listens on /var/run/acpid.lock. The injected library intercepts accepted TACACS sessions and forwards session descriptors to that socket, supporting the campaign's interception of authentication flows and collection of administrative credentials.
Toolset reportedly injected into the tac_plus daemon to intercept credentials from within the process.
A credential-theft toolkit deployed on compromised TACACS authentication servers. It includes the acppid utility, which injects a malicious library into the tac_plus process to intercept new connections and capture active-session data.
A TACACS-targeting toolset that injects a malicious library into tac_plus, intercepts accepted administrative sessions, and captures credential material in an XOR-obfuscated artifact.
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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.