{
  "family": "allstars",
  "sample_count": 1,
  "category": "trojan",
  "description": "Allstars (classified in antivirus detection telemetry under designations including Trojan:Win32/Allstars, Trojan.Win32.Allstars, and Win32/Allstars) is a multi-stage trojan engineered to disguise itself as legitimate software, execute unauthorized commands, and coordinate with external command-and-control infrastructure. Disseminated across enterprise networks and consumer workstations via social engineering, phishing attachments, malicious drive-by downloads, or weaponized software cracks, Allstars executes an initial reconnaissance phase upon system ingress. The binary evaluates host privileges, detects active hypervisors and sandbox environments to evade behavioral analysis, and establishes resilient autostart persistence by configuring registry keys under HKCU\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Run or registering background Windows services. Operational mechanics characteristic of this family include deceptive executable masquerading, registry run key autostart, system telemetry gathering, and remote C2 beaconing. Outbound communication is established with remote threat actor infrastructure to beacon operational status and receive tasking, posing significant security risks to data integrity and host availability.",
  "cta": "Published by the SystemHelpdesk Threat Intelligence Team.",
  "aliases": [
    "Trojan:Win32/Allstars",
    "Trojan.Win32.Allstars",
    "Win32/Allstars"
  ],
  "enrichment_level": "curated_sourced",
  "faq": [
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "What is Trojan:Win32/Allstars?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Allstars is a trojan threat designed to infiltrate Windows systems and execute unauthorized operations without user consent."
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "How does Allstars compromise target systems?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "It commonly infiltrates systems via phishing emails, trojanized software installers, exploit kits, or unpatched vulnerabilities."
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "What persistence mechanisms does Allstars utilize?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "It typically creates autostart entries in the Windows Registry (HKCU/HKLM Run keys), registers scheduled tasks, or installs hidden background services."
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "What risks does Allstars pose to an enterprise?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "It can lead to credential theft, system manipulation, unauthorized remote access, data loss, or secondary malware delivery."
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "How can administrators detect and eliminate Allstars?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Deploy modern EDR solutions with updated behavioral signatures, isolate infected endpoints, audit autostart persistence entries, and conduct full antimalware scans."
      }
    }
  ],
  "faq_count": 5,
  "mitre_attack": [
    "T1059.003",
    "T1027",
    "T1547.001",
    "T1071.001",
    "T1105"
  ],
  "cisa_advisory": null,
  "last_updated": "2026-10-15",
  "mitre_attack_detail": [
    {
      "id": "T1189",
      "name": "Drive-by Compromise (Initial distribution via deceptive software bundles)",
      "tactic": "Initial Access"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1562.001",
      "name": "Impair Defenses: Disable or Modify Tools (Modifying browser policies to prevent adware removal)",
      "tactic": "Defense Evasion"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1543.003",
      "name": "Create or Modify System Process: Windows Service (Establishing persistent adware updaters)",
      "tactic": "Persistence"
    }
  ],
  "containment_steps": [
    "Use a specialized Adware/Malware removal tool to identify and strip out the persistent registry keys and services protecting Allstars.",
    "Manually inspect and remove any forced browser policies (`chrome://policy` or `edge://policy`) that prevent extension removal.",
    "Reset all installed web browsers to their default, factory settings to clear out hijacked search engines and proxy configurations.",
    "Implement endpoint application control to block the execution of common adware installers from user directories."
  ],
  "what_to_avoid": [
    "Do not rely solely on the browser's 'Uninstall Extension' button; Allstars's background service will simply reinstall it.",
    "Avoid downloading 'free' software from third-party download portals, as they are the primary distribution vector for bundled adware."
  ],
  "target_industries": [
    "Global / Opportunistic"
  ],
  "motivation": "Opportunistic",
  "threat_actors": [
    "Unknown / Cybercriminal"
  ],
  "target_geographies": [
    "Global"
  ],
  "attack_stage": [
    "execution",
    "persistence"
  ],
  "ecosystem": [
    "windows_pe"
  ],
  "is_emerging": false,
  "sources": [
    {
      "name": "Microsoft Defender Threat Encyclopedia - Trojan:Win32/Allstars",
      "url": "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/wdsi/threats/malware-encyclopedia-description?Name=Trojan:Win32/Allstars"
    },
    {
      "name": "Kaspersky Threat Intelligence - Trojan.Win32.Allstars",
      "url": "https://threats.kaspersky.com/en/threat/"
    },
    {
      "name": "MITRE ATT&CK - Enterprise Techniques",
      "url": "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1059.003/"
    }
  ],
  "target_platforms": [
    "Windows 11",
    "Windows 10",
    "Windows 7"
  ]
}