Maplestory

Overview

Executive Summary

Infection Vector and Technical Capabilities

• Credential Harvesting: The most common payload is a specialized Info-Stealer. It targets the user's game login credentials, but also sweeps the system for stored browser passwords, cryptocurrency wallets, and Discord session tokens.
• System Subversion (Rootkits): Because game cheats inherently require deep system access to read/write to the memory of other processes, the malware often installs a rootkit or malicious driver, giving the attacker Ring 0 (kernel-level) control over the machine.
• Botnet Conscription: Many game-related trojans silently install cryptocurrency miners (Monero) or conscript the powerful gaming PC into a DDoS botnet.

Threat Assessment

Incident Response and Remediation

• Immediate Password Reset: All passwords stored on the infected machine (game accounts, email, banking, social media) must be considered compromised and reset immediately from a *different*, clean device.
• MFA Enforcement: Ensure Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is enabled on all critical accounts to mitigate the use of stolen session tokens or passwords.
• Endpoint Eradication: Due to the likelihood of rootkit installation and the user manually bypassing UAC/AV controls, a simple antivirus scan is insufficient. The recommended remediation is a complete bare-metal wipe and re-installation of the operating system.

Known aliases

Threat reports may refer to this family under multiple names:

• HackTool.Maplestory
• PWS.Maplestory
• Trojan.MaplestoryCheat
• Trojan:Win32/Maplestory

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.

MITRE D3FEND™ Defensive Countermeasures

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

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_MAPLESTORY_T1_ARTIFACT {
    meta:
        description = "Tier 1 Primitive Artifact: Raw string matches for Maplestory"
        tier = "T1 - Primitive Artifact"
        confidence = "Low-Medium (Fast Triage)"
        author = "SystemHelpdesk Threat Research Desk"
        date = "2026-10-14"
    strings:
        $s1 = "maplestory" ascii wide nocase
        $s2 = "hacktool.maplestory" ascii wide nocase
        $s3 = "pws.maplestory" ascii wide nocase
        $s4 = "trojan.maplestorycheat" ascii wide nocase
        $s5 = "trojan:win32/maplestory" ascii wide nocase
    condition:
        uint16(0) == 0x5a4d and any of them
}

title: SystemHelpDesk Detection - Maplestory (Trojan) Execution & Triage
id: 94b35fb1-e641-5bb5-97a1-c653be6ac50e
status: production
description: Detects execution, defense evasion, and persistence behaviors associated
  with the Maplestory malware family. Detects suspicious execution from temporary
  user directories with hidden window flags and background transfer utilities.
references:
- https://malware-families-catalog.systemhelpdesk.com/families/maplestory
- https://malware-families-catalog.systemhelpdesk.com/defensive/downloader-dropper-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.trojan
- author.ricky-jordan
- source.systemhelpdesk-mfc
- attack.t1204_002
- attack.t1056_001
- attack.t1014
- attack.t1055
logsource:
  category: process_creation
  product: windows
detection:
  selection_process:
    Image|endswith:
    - \cmd.exe
    - \powershell.exe
    - \cscript.exe
    - \wscript.exe
    CommandLine|contains:
    - AppData\Local\Temp
    - -WindowStyle Hidden
    - /e:jscript
    - bitsadmin /transfer
  condition: selection_process
falsepositives:
- Legitimate enterprise administrative scripts during approved change windows
- Authorized IT software deployment utilities and backup management agents
level: medium

rule MALWARE_WIN_MAPLESTORY_T3_ATTRIBUTION {
    meta:
        description = "Tier 3 Attribution Fingerprint: Heuristic detection for Maplestory 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 = "maplestory" 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. Sever network connectivity for the flagged endpoint to terminate persistent command-and-control (C2) communication channels and stop Maplestory from retrieving secondary stage payloads.
2. Capture process memory triage to detect and terminate malicious threads injected by Maplestory into legitimate system processes such as explorer.exe or svchost.exe.
3. Audit Windows Registry Run keys (HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run) and Task Scheduler entries to locate and purge Maplestory persistence hooks.
4. Deploy updated enterprise EDR detection signatures and conduct an out-of-band endpoint scan to isolate dropped binaries and staged payloads.
5. Rotate all credentials, domain user passwords, and session cookies active on the system during the Maplestory execution timeframe.

What to Avoid

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

1. Do not assume the incident is resolved simply because an antivirus tool removed the initial Maplestory dropper; always verify that secondary payloads and persistence hooks have been eradicated.
2. Avoid logging in with Domain Admin or privileged credentials on a machine suspected of running Maplestory until memory triage is complete.
3. Do not delay host isolation; automated lateral movement and credential dumping can occur within minutes of initial execution.

References & External Analysis

• Search "maplestory" on VirusTotal (External Analysis)
• Search "maplestory" on Any.Run (Sandbox Sandbox)
• Search "maplestory" on MalwareBazaar (Malware Samples)

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Threats (Category: Trojan)

Explore other documented threats in the same operational category:

• Perfectoptimizer
• Jaik
• Mmxmr
• Zboter
• Ayolog
• Kranet
• 3Proxy
• Plead

Machine-readable

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