Shadowbrokers
Table of Contents
Overview
Shadowbrokers (classified under vendor signatures including Exploit:Win32/ShadowBrokers, HackTool:Win32/ShadowBrokers, and Trojan:Win32/ShadowBrokers) refers to the catastrophic public leak and weaponization of offensive cyber warfare tools originally developed by the NSA's Equation Group and published by the threat group The Shadow Brokers between 2016 and 2017. Most notably contained within the April 2017 'Lost in Translation' release, these artifacts included weaponized remote kernel exploits targeting the Windows SMBv1 protocol (EternalBlue / CVE-2017-0144, EternalRomance / CVE-2017-0145, EternalSynergy / CVE-2017-0143) and the stealthy ring-0 kernel implant framework DoublePulsar. The leaked exploit tools democratized nation-state exploitation capabilities across global cybercrime syndicates, enabling the rapid autonomous propagation of devastating global cyber incidents including the WannaCry ransomware outbreak, the NotPetya wiper attack, and the BadRabbit campaign.
Known aliases
Threat reports may refer to this family under multiple names:
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: Equation Group Toolset
Known Derivatives & Downstream Variants: Eternalblue (Cve-2017-0144) · Eternalromance (Cve-2017-0145) · Eternalsynergy (Cve-2017-0143) · Doublepulsar Implant
MITRE ATT&CK Techniques
This family has been observed using the following ATT&CK techniques: T1210 · T1068 · T1055.001 · T1021.002 · T1547.006
MITRE D3FEND™ Defensive Countermeasures
Defensive techniques mapped to counter the offensive tradecraft observed in this family (via the MITRE D3FEND matrix):
| D3FEND ID | Countermeasure Name | Tactic | Countered ATT&CK | Defensive Guidance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
D3-NBA | Network Behavioral Analysis | Detect | T1021.002 | Enforce SMB message signing, disable legacy SMBv1, and restrict administrative share access (C$, ADMIN$) to dedicated PAM bastion hosts. |
D3-DIA | DLL Injection Analysis | Detect | T1055.001 | Monitor remote thread creation (CreateRemoteThread) and unauthorized DLL loading into core Windows processes (svchost.exe, explorer.exe). |
D3-KPA | Kernel Patching & Privilege Auditing | Harden | T1068 | Enforce rapid OS kernel patch cycles and deploy Exploit Guard protections to block memory corruption and elevation exploits. |
D3-NPS | Network Protocol Segmentation & Patching | Filter | T1210 | Disable legacy protocols (e.g. SMBv1) and restrict SMB/RPC lateral movement across internal subnet boundaries. |
D3-RPM | Registry Persistence Monitoring | Detect | T1547.006 | Monitor changes to standard autostart run keys (HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run) and Startup folders. |
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:
Tier 1 Primitive Artifact Rule (Fast Triage)
Matches raw strings and file markers. Vulnerable to binary repacking and simple obfuscation.
rule MALWARE_WIN_SHADOWBROKERS_T1_ARTIFACT {
meta:
description = "Tier 1 Primitive Artifact: Raw string matches for Shadowbrokers"
tier = "T1 - Primitive Artifact"
confidence = "Low-Medium (Fast Triage)"
author = "SystemHelpdesk Threat Research Desk"
date = "2026-10-14"
strings:
$s1 = "shadowbrokers" ascii wide nocase
$s2 = "exploit:win32/shadowbrokers" ascii wide nocase
$s3 = "hacktool:win32/shadowbrokers" ascii wide nocase
$s4 = "the shadow brokers leaks" ascii wide nocase
$s5 = "equation group lost in translation" ascii wide nocase
$s6 = "win32/shadowbrokers" ascii wide nocase
condition:
uint16(0) == 0x5a4d and any of them
}Tier 2 Behavioral Context Rule (Process Chains & Sigma)
Tracks parent-child process anomalies and suspicious scripting telemetry. Resilient against file renames.
title: SystemHelpDesk Detection - Shadowbrokers (Advanced Threat) Execution & Triage
id: 58d92eb5-9c67-5378-9261-1ef01f74c03b
status: production
description: Detects execution, defense evasion, and persistence behaviors associated
with the Shadowbrokers malware family. Detects proxy execution, reflective DLL loading,
and remote command injection associated with modular enterprise backdoors.
references:
- https://malware-families-catalog.systemhelpdesk.com/families/shadowbrokers
- 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.advanced-threat
- author.ricky-jordan
- source.systemhelpdesk-mfc
- attack.t1210
- attack.t1068
- attack.t1055_001
- attack.t1021_002
- attack.t1547_006
logsource:
category: process_creation
product: windows
detection:
selection_process:
Image|endswith:
- \powershell.exe
- \cmd.exe
- \rundll32.exe
- \regsvr32.exe
CommandLine|contains:
- DownloadString
- IEX(
- '/s /n /u /i:'
- sc create
- start-process
condition: selection_process
falsepositives:
- Legitimate enterprise administrative scripts during approved change windows
- Authorized IT software deployment utilities and backup management agents
level: highTier 3 Attribution Fingerprint Rule (High Fidelity)
Deep signature matching distinctive operational fingerprints and payload characteristics.
rule MALWARE_WIN_SHADOWBROKERS_T3_ATTRIBUTION {
meta:
description = "Tier 3 Attribution Fingerprint: Heuristic detection for Shadowbrokers 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 = "shadowbrokers" 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
}References & External Analysis
- CISA Advisory - Stop Ransomware: EternalBlue Exploits
- Microsoft Security Bulletin MS17-010 - SMB Server Security Update
- US-CERT Alert TA17-132A - Indicators Associated With WannaCry
- CISA Advisory: https://www.cisa.gov
- Search "shadowbrokers" on VirusTotal (External Analysis)
- Search "shadowbrokers" on Any.Run (Sandbox Sandbox)
- Search "shadowbrokers" on MalwareBazaar (Malware Samples)
North American Authority Advisory (CISA / NIST)
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has published an official US federal advisory on this family, which can be mapped to NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) incident response controls: https://www.cisa.gov ↗
Frequently Asked Questions
What was The Shadow Brokers leak?
The Shadow Brokers was a mysterious entity that leaked high-grade cyber weapons and zero-day exploits, including EternalBlue and DoublePulsar, originally developed by the Equation Group.
What was the EternalBlue exploit leaked by Shadow Brokers?
EternalBlue (CVE-2017-0144) was a remote code execution vulnerability in Microsoft Windows SMBv1 that allowed unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary code via SMB packets on port 445.
What major global cyberattacks resulted from the Shadow Brokers leak?
The leaked exploits directly powered the WannaCry ransomware outbreak in May 2017 and the NotPetya wiper attack in June 2017, causing billions of dollars in global damages.
What was the DoublePulsar kernel implant?
DoublePulsar was a stealthy ring-0 kernel backdoor delivered via EternalBlue that hooked the SMB driver dispatch table to load and execute arbitrary payload DLLs in user-mode processes.
How did Microsoft and security organizations patch the Shadow Brokers vulnerabilities?
Microsoft released security bulletin MS17-010 to patch the SMBv1 flaws, and security agencies strongly recommended disabling SMBv1 enterprise-wide.
How do I remove the Shadowbrokers Advanced_Threat from Windows?
Manual removal of Shadowbrokers is highly discouraged as it may leave persistence mechanisms intact. We recommend disconnecting the device from the internet and utilizing a professional incident response service or enterprise-grade EDR software to conduct a full forensic sweep.
Is Shadowbrokers a virus or a Advanced_Threat?
Shadowbrokers is classified as a Advanced_Threat. Unlike traditional viruses that infect files, modern malware like Shadowbrokers typically operates as a standalone payload designed to compromise systems, steal data, or deploy secondary stage implants.
What are the main symptoms of a Shadowbrokers infection?
Symptoms of Shadowbrokers can include unexpected system slowness, unauthorized outbound network traffic to unknown IP addresses, disabled security software, and suspicious background processes running from AppData or Temp directories.
Protect Your Network Against Advanced_Threats
Want to prevent Shadowbrokers and similar threats from compromising your organization? Read our comprehensive defensive guide: Think You've Been Hacked? What To Do First.
📣 Threat Intel Correction or Update?
Notice an outdated IOC, unlisted alias, or disputed attribution? Threat researchers are invited to propose an update on GitHub or contact the SystemHelpDesk research desk. All community revisions are credited in our public CHANGELOG.
Machine-readable
Get this profile as JSON: https://malware-families-catalog.systemhelpdesk.com/api/shadowbrokers.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.