{
  "family": "donex",
  "sample_count": 7,
  "category": "ransomware",
  "description": "Ransom:Win32/Donex is a destructive ransomware family that targets both individual users and enterprise networks, utilizing strong cryptographic algorithms to encrypt valuable files and demand payment for their release. Like many modern ransomware variants, it is designed to cause maximum operational disruption to force swift payment from the victim.<br><br><b>Understanding Donex Ransomware</b><br>To an infected user, the outcome is catastrophic: documents, databases, and critical files are suddenly inaccessible, their filenames often appended with a specific extension. A ransom note (usually an HTML or TXT file dropped in every directory) demands cryptocurrency. For a security operations center (SOC), a Donex detonation often represents the final stage of a prolonged network compromise, indicating that attackers have successfully bypassed endpoint defenses and potentially moved laterally across the network.<br><br><b>Execution and Encryption Mechanics</b><br>Donex is distributed via various vectors, including spear-phishing (`T1566`), malicious spam attachments, or manually deployed by attackers via compromised Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) (`T1133`). Upon execution (`T1204.002`), it often attempts to terminate critical database and backup services (like SQL Server or Veeam) (`T1489`) to ensure those files are unlocked and vulnerable. It executes commands to delete Windows Volume Shadow Copies (`T1490`) using `vssadmin.exe` to prevent easy restoration. It then traverses the file system and mapped network drives, encrypting files using strong cryptography (`T1486`).<br><br><b>Indicators of Compromise & Impact</b><br>The impact is severe operational downtime and potential permanent data loss. The primary IoC is the massive, rapid modification of files across the hard drive and network shares. Host-based IoCs include EDR alerts for the mass deletion of shadow copies (`vssadmin delete shadows`) and the sudden termination of critical services. Network logs may show the initial command-and-control (C2) check-in to exchange the public encryption keys.",
  "cta": "Published by the SystemHelpdesk team.",
  "aliases": [],
  "enrichment_level": "expert-seo",
  "faq": [
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "What is Donex and what threat category does it belong to?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Donex is classified as a Ransomware. Documented across security telemetry, it is engineered to execute unauthorized operations, establish persistent footholds on target endpoints, and facilitate malicious campaigns targeting enterprise and individual environments."
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "How does Donex establish persistence and evade defensive controls?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Donex typically establishes persistence through registry run keys, scheduled tasks, or service installations, while evading signature-based antivirus solutions through code obfuscation, memory injection, or anti-analysis sandbox checks."
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "What are the essential incident response steps for mitigating a Donex compromise?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Security teams responding to Donex should immediately isolate affected endpoints from the network, perform memory triage to capture volatile forensic artifacts, audit registry and startup persistence mechanisms, revoke exposed user credentials, and restore systems from verified, clean backups."
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "What cryptographic algorithms and file targeting techniques does Donex employ during execution?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Donex typically leverages hybrid cryptographic architectures combining symmetric stream or block ciphers (such as AES-256 or ChaCha20) for rapid file encryption with asymmetric algorithms (such as RSA-2048 or Curve25519) to securely protect the session keys. It aggressively targets sensitive file extensions including corporate documents, databases, virtual disks, and backups while systematically executing commands to delete Volume Shadow Copies (vssadmin delete shadows /all /quiet) and disable system recovery options."
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "Are decryptors available for Donex, and what is the recommended recovery procedure?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Decryption availability for Donex depends on whether security researchers or law enforcement (such as the No More Ransom initiative) have recovered the master private keys or discovered flaws in its key generation routines. Victims should never pay the extortion demand, as payment fuels criminal operations without guaranteeing file restoration. The recommended recovery procedure entails isolating infected hosts, conducting forensic disk imaging, identifying the root access vector, and restoring validated systems from immutable offline backups."
      }
    }
  ],
  "faq_count": 5,
  "mitre_attack": [
    "T1489",
    "T1490",
    "T1204.002",
    "T1486"
  ],
  "cisa_advisory": null,
  "last_updated": "2026-06-09",
  "mitre_attack_detail": [
    {
      "id": "T1486",
      "name": "Data Encrypted for Impact",
      "tactic": "Impact"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1490",
      "name": "Inhibit System Recovery",
      "tactic": "Impact"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1489",
      "name": "Service Stop (Terminating databases and backups)",
      "tactic": "Impact"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1204.002",
      "name": "User Execution: Malicious File",
      "tactic": "Execution"
    }
  ],
  "containment_steps": [
    "Instantly isolate the infected endpoint from the network to halt the encryption process, explicitly disconnecting it from mapped network shares.",
    "Do NOT reboot the machine immediately; capture a live memory dump (RAM) first, as forensic analysis may recover the encryption keys from memory.",
    "Check for publicly available decryption tools on 'No More Ransom'; some older ransomware variants have known cryptographic flaws.",
    "Wipe the infected systems and restore data from secure, immutable offline backups."
  ],
  "what_to_avoid": [
    "Do not pay the ransom. Paying funds criminal enterprises, and there is no guarantee the attackers will provide a working decryption tool.",
    "Avoid reconnecting the machine to the network until a full forensic investigation has identified the initial entry vector (e.g., compromised RDP)."
  ],
  "target_industries": [
    "Healthcare",
    "Critical Infrastructure",
    "Enterprise"
  ],
  "motivation": "Financial Extortion",
  "threat_actors": [
    "Unknown / Cybercriminal"
  ],
  "target_geographies": [
    "Global"
  ],
  "attack_stage": [
    "defense_evasion",
    "impact"
  ],
  "ecosystem": [
    "windows_pe"
  ],
  "is_emerging": false,
  "target_platforms": [
    "Windows 11",
    "Windows 10",
    "Windows Server 2022",
    "Windows Server 2019"
  ]
}