The Art of Evasion: How Attackers Use VBScript and PowerShell in the Obfuscation Game
Summary
As we know, using obfuscated VBScript to execute obfuscated
PowerShell is a common technique in malware to evade detection and
complicate analysis. This approach leverages the strengths of both scripting
languages while making it harder for security tools and analysts to understand
the malicious intent.
Recently I came across a
malware that is very well-designed for these obfuscation techniques to use, which
is so interesting and attracted my curiosity to learn more about what’s
happened inside the malware, and it was also low detection rate until first
discovered.
Below, I would like to
share how the attackers use VBScript and PowerShell to evade detection, maybe
it can help other malware researchers or analysts, and the common technique but
new doing uncommon which being talked on both VBScript obfuscation and
PowerShell obfuscation.
Technical analysis
Basic info
The
sample hashs:
md5
0e513e80fc18e3db4f0eb6ecb558534b
Sha256
7444d08579781b3d7b233e9fd3e7f9b31a85837c29adf2f4ae7965a628078639
VBScript obfuscation
and evasion technique
In order to execute the
VBScript, the attacker uses a mix of obfuscation that combines irrelevant comments,
time-based delay, string splitting and concatenation, and dynamic behavior. It is very thoughtful. In addition, the structure of
the VBScript code seems to intentionally disrupt logical order to interfere
with analysts.
Adding
Irrelevant Comments
The first sight is that the malware was inserted by a large number of difficult-to-understand comments or annotations, which seem like the stream of consciousness in monologues or novels or random text; its aim is to have a mind to interfere with or confuse or mislead information with analysts and antivirus.
Fig.1 a large number of
understandable annotations for interfering
Ok, in order to do an analysis for this kind of malware, it is a time-consuming thing to remove all the annotations manually. The first thought is to use regular expression; a text editor like Sublime can help us to handle them. To replace all the single-line comment content with regular expressions is '.*$, but it should be done carefully because the obfuscation PowerShell will be replaced and should be checked later one by one.
Fig.2 regular
expressions
Time-Based
Obfuscation
Using time delays or conditions to execute parts of the script only after a certain time. Malware often uses time delays to evade sandbox detection and avoid immediate detection. Here, the VBScript code snippet appears to be a time-delay loop, starting a loop that continues until the current time Now() exceeds Suspensorium (i.e., for 9 seconds), and then it will loop 50 times and pause the script for 100 milliseconds (0.1 seconds) during each iteration of the loop, and the real PowerShell scripts will be executed when it Suspensorium exceeds 50.
Fig.3 VBScript Time
delay to execute PowerShell
Combining obfuscation
technique
The below
VBScript code snippet demonstrates a malware
evasion technique that combines time-based
delays, string obfuscation,
and dynamic behavior.
1.
String
Obfuscation: pronegotiation=
array(79+1,79,87,69,82,83,72,69,76,76), The array contains ASCII codes for the
characters in the string "POWERSHELL"
2.
Time-Based
Evasion: Checks if the current time (Now())
is less than the value of Suspensorium
3. Dynamic Behavior: The script behaves differently depending on the current time
Fig.4 combining
obfuscation technique
String splitting and Concatenation
using ChrW(34) to
concatenate strings that include double quotes, and using Chr(99) instead
of the literal character 'c' makes the script
harder to read and analyze; the command executes splitting to “Exe + chr(99) +
“ute.”
Fig.5 VBScript String splitting and Concatenation
PowerShell obfuscation
and evasion technique
In order to execute the
PowerShell in VBScript, the attacker uses a user-defined algorithm and heavily
obfuscates strings. It is different from other APT groups that use mature
algorithms for obfuscation of strings; the attacker is very professional.
String splitting and Concatenation
The PowerShell code, the string splitting by well design in VBScript, and using the variable Hennafarvedes and character “&” for concatenation. And the variable in VBScript becomes a bridge in PowerShell scripts.
Fig.6 PowerShell String splitting and Concatenation
Specific
Algorithm for Deobfuscated Script
The real intents in the well design strings, it extracts the characters by a specific algorithm with hardcode value： It iterates over the array, starting at index 4 and incrementing by 5 each time. The function returns the concatenated string.
Fig.7 specific algorithm
for deobfuscated script
String obfuscation with inserting
invalid characters
The below strings obfuscation technique is also very special; the valid characters are only used as a small part of them and used by a user-defined algorithm to extract them, but the unused strings are like random characters to insert and confuse analysts, like pouring a pile of garbage into a real PowerShell to conceal the attacker's intentions. From the above specific algorithm and hardcoded value, we can get a glimpse of being proficient in the use of obfuscation techniques by the attackers.
Fig.8 strings obfuscation
The real intent
From
the above analysis, do further research analysis; the PowerShell script can
download the payload from the remote URL address
hxxps[:]//aghayezayeat.ir/kids/tyrosines.lzh and finally execute the payload.
Here it is not special, and the URL can’t be accessed until now.
Fig.9 PowerShell snippet
Conclusion
From the above process
of analysis, it shows that the attacker is very professional on combining
different type of obfuscation techniques to do evasion and being proficient in
programming, the malware sample tells cybersecurity community, the attacker
always look for breakthroughs in defense and are very proactive, a more hidden threat around the digital world; let’s
pay close attention.
IOCs
Files:
SKMBT20783_ZM.vbs md5
0e513e80fc18e3db4f0eb6ecb558534b
Sha256
7444d08579781b3d7b233e9fd3e7f9b31a85837c29adf2f4ae7965a628078639
Network:
hxxps[:]//aghayezayeat[.]ir/kids/Tyrosines.lzh
hxxps://aghayezayeat[.]ir/529/eiRBgmsetYWnjJJIug45[.]bin ( from vmray Platform)
185[.]159.153.133
Host:
C:\Users\kEecfMwgj\AppData\Roaming\Hikes.Ove
End.
Labels: #APT, #Cybersecurity, #Malware, #Powershell, #ThreatIntel, #VBScript
posted by clibm079 @ March 20, 2025
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