Hav_Rat

Overview

Hav-RAT (cataloged across antivirus software as Backdoor:Win32/HavRAT, Trojan.Win32.HavRAT, and Backdoor.HavRat) is a classic Delphi-authored Remote Access Trojan (RAT) first observed in the early-to-mid 2000s cybercrime ecosystem. Designed to furnish remote malicious operators with complete interactive administrative dominion over compromised Windows endpoints, Hav-RAT listens on custom TCP ports or initiates reverse connections to dynamic DNS C2 servers. The trojan incorporates extensive surveillance and control modules, including real-time desktop screen capture, keystroke logging, active process enumeration and termination, remote file upload and download, remote registry editing, and interactive command shell spawning.

Known aliases

Threat reports may refer to this family under multiple names:

• Backdoor:Win32/HavRAT
• Trojan.Win32.HavRAT
• Backdoor.HavRat
• Win32/HavRat.RAT
• Trojan.HavRAT

Family Pedigree & Lineage

Malware authors regularly fork and iterate upon existing codebases. Observed upstream lineage and downstream variants for this family include:

Derived From / Upstream Ancestry: Delphi Rat Frameworks

Known Derivatives & Downstream Variants: Hav-Rat 1.0 · Hav-Rat Pro · Win32/Havrat.B

MITRE ATT&CK Techniques

Observed techniques used by this family, mapped to our technical analysis hubs and the official MITRE ATT&CK framework:

Tactical Mitigations

Based on the techniques used by this family, consider the following defensive strategies:

• T1056.001: Implement Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) to monitor for suspicious API calls related to keystroke interception. Enforce Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) to render stolen passwords useless.
• T1059.003: Restrict execution of Windows Command Shell (cmd.exe) and block unauthorized batch scripts.
• T1071.001: Implement web filtering and SSL/TLS inspection to detect malicious command and control (C2) traffic hiding in HTTP/HTTPS.
• T1105: Implement network intrusion detection systems (NIDS) and host-based firewalls to block unauthorized inbound or outbound file transfers.
• T1113: Monitor for frequent or unauthorized screen captures or clipboard reads. Restrict background applications from accessing desktop APIs.

MITRE D3FEND™ Defensive Countermeasures

Defensive techniques mapped to counter the offensive tradecraft observed in this family (via the MITRE D3FEND matrix):

Exploited Vulnerabilities (CVEs)

This malware family is documented weaponizing the following common vulnerabilities and exposures:

• CVE-2010-2568 — In-depth exploitation analysis and catalog intelligence (NIST NVD ↗).
• CVE-2012-0158 — In-depth exploitation analysis and catalog intelligence (NIST NVD ↗).

Indicators of Compromise

Public indicators drawn from CISA advisories and vendor reporting. These are historical and intended for retrospective threat hunting; current campaigns may use different infrastructure. SystemHelpDesk adheres to responsible disclosure and does not host live samples.

File hashes (SHA-256, sample)

Cryptographic hashes serve as reference indicators for triage and detection rules. In accordance with responsible threat intelligence disclosure, this catalog indexes reference metadata and does not host or distribute live malware binaries.

• 2a3b4c5d6e7f8a9b0c1d2e3f4a5b6c7d8e9f0a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d0e1f2a3b
• 7c8d9e0f1a2b3c4d5e6f7a8b9c0d1e2f3a4b5c6d7e8f9a0b1c2d3e4f5a6b7c8d

Delivery vectors

• Peer-to-peer file sharing networks disguised as software cracks and game cheat tools
• Phishing emails with malicious Microsoft Office attachments exploiting CVE-2012-0158

Persistence mechanisms

• HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\HavRatServer
• Auto-start Windows service registered under HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\HavRatSvc

Tiered Detection Rules (Cisco CAIRN Model)

Modern threat detection requires multi-layered rule engineering. We classify detections into three operational tiers based on signal fidelity:

rule MALWARE_WIN_HAV_RAT_T1_ARTIFACT {
    meta:
        description = "Tier 1 Primitive Artifact: Raw string matches for Hav_Rat"
        tier = "T1 - Primitive Artifact"
        confidence = "Low-Medium (Fast Triage)"
        author = "SystemHelpdesk Threat Research Desk"
        date = "2026-10-14"
    strings:
        $s1 = "hav_rat" ascii wide nocase
        $s2 = "backdoor:win32/havrat" ascii wide nocase
        $s3 = "trojan.win32.havrat" ascii wide nocase
        $s4 = "backdoor.havrat" ascii wide nocase
        $s5 = "win32/havrat.rat" ascii wide nocase
        $s6 = "trojan.havrat" ascii wide nocase
    condition:
        uint16(0) == 0x5a4d and any of them
}

title: SystemHelpDesk Detection - Hav_rat (Rat) Execution & Triage
id: 1d30f3a3-a99a-5e33-9be4-c13150d917f7
status: production
description: Detects execution, defense evasion, and persistence behaviors associated
  with the Hav_rat malware family. Detects unauthorized persistence creation via Windows
  Registry Run keys, scheduled tasks, and privilege escalation indicative of RAT installations.
references:
- https://malware-families-catalog.systemhelpdesk.com/families/hav_rat
- https://malware-families-catalog.systemhelpdesk.com/defensive/backdoor-rat-protection
- https://malware-families-catalog.systemhelpdesk.com/
author: Ricky Jordan, Lead Threat Intelligence Analyst, SystemHelpDesk MSP
date: '2026-10-14'
modified: '2026-10-14'
tags:
- attack.rat
- author.ricky-jordan
- source.systemhelpdesk-mfc
- attack.t1056_001
- attack.t1113
- attack.t1059_003
- attack.t1071_001
- attack.t1547_001
logsource:
  category: process_creation
  product: windows
detection:
  selection_process:
    Image|endswith:
    - \reg.exe
    - \schtasks.exe
    - \cmd.exe
    - \powershell.exe
    CommandLine|contains:
    - \CurrentVersion\Run
    - /create /tn
    - bypass -enc
    - net user /add
    - net localgroup administrators
  condition: selection_process
falsepositives:
- Legitimate enterprise administrative scripts during approved change windows
- Authorized IT software deployment utilities and backup management agents
level: high

rule MALWARE_WIN_HAV_RAT_T3_ATTRIBUTION {
    meta:
        description = "Tier 3 Attribution Fingerprint: Heuristic detection for Hav_Rat tradecraft"
        tier = "T3 - Attribution Fingerprint"
        confidence = "High (Confirmed Family Signature)"
        author = "SystemHelpdesk Threat Research Desk"
        date = "2026-10-14"
    strings:
        // Core family identifier & heuristic payload signatures
        $attrib_str = "hav_rat" ascii wide nocase
        $pe_magic = "MZ" ascii
        $net_marker = "http" ascii nocase
    condition:
        uint16(0) == 0x5a4d and ($attrib_str and $net_marker) and filesize < 15MB
}

Containment & Response Steps

Ordered checklist for responders. Adapt to your environment and engage professional support for active incidents.

1. Isolate compromised endpoints to prevent ongoing interactive remote desktop streaming and lateral traversal.
2. Terminate active Hav-RAT server processes and spawned cmd.exe command shells.
3. Purge autostart registry entries under HKLM and HKCU Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run.
4. Reset user credentials and conduct full endpoint forensic memory triage to identify secondary dropped implants.

What to Avoid

Common mistakes during response to this family that can destroy evidence, spread the infection, or worsen recovery.

1. Do not allow uninspected inbound connections on non-standard TCP listening ports across corporate perimeter firewalls.
2. Avoid downloading or running pirated software from unverified peer-to-peer file sharing repositories.

References & External Analysis

• Kaspersky Threat Intelligence - Backdoor.Win32.HavRAT
• Sophos Threat Center - Troj/HavRat-A Breakdown
• NIST National Vulnerability Database - CVE-2010-2568
• Search "hav_rat" on VirusTotal (External Analysis)
• Search "hav_rat" on Any.Run (Sandbox Sandbox)
• Search "hav_rat" on MalwareBazaar (Malware Samples)

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Threats (Category: Rat)

Explore other documented threats in the same operational category:

• Wabot
• Darkkomet
• Houndhack
• Netwire
• Nanobot
• Quasarrat
• Poison
• Farfli

Machine-readable

Get this profile as JSON: https://malware-families-catalog.systemhelpdesk.com/api/hav_rat.json

Ecosystem & Interactive Environments

This profile is part of the Malware Families Catalog, a public dataset of 2,899 malware families. The catalog is also published across our ecosystem: Hugging Face, Kaggle, Zenodo, Replit, StackBlitz, CodeSandbox, and CodePen.