{
  "family": "donut",
  "sample_count": 1,
  "category": "ransomware",
  "description": "<h3>Executive Summary</h3>\nDonut is a highly sophisticated, open-source offensive security framework designed to generate position-independent shellcode from .NET, VBScript, JScript, and standard PE (Portable Executable) files. While originally developed for legitimate penetration testing and Red Team operations, Donut is heavily abused by Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) groups and ransomware operators to facilitate highly evasive, in-memory execution of malicious payloads.\n\n<h3>Technical Architecture and Exploitation</h3>\nDonut is not malware itself; rather, it is a tool used by attackers to obfuscate and deliver their actual malware (e.g., Cobalt Strike beacons, Mimikatz, or custom RATs).\n\nThe core functionality of Donut involves:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Shellcode Generation:</strong> The attacker uses the Donut framework to convert their primary executable payload (e.g., a .NET assembly or a compiled C++ binary) into raw, position-independent shellcode.</li>\n<li><strong>AMSI Bypass:</strong> Donut is specifically engineered to bypass the Windows Anti-Malware Scan Interface (AMSI) and Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC). The generated shellcode often includes built-in routines to unhook or patch these defensive APIs in memory before executing the primary payload.</li>\n<li><strong>In-Memory Execution:</strong> The resulting Donut shellcode is typically injected into a legitimate, running process (process hollowing or thread hijacking) via a simple dropper. Because the shellcode executes entirely in memory (RAM) without dropping the original executable to the hard drive, it effectively bypasses traditional, file-based static antivirus scanning.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<h3>Threat Impact</h3>\nThe detection of Donut-generated shellcode indicates a sophisticated, targeted attack utilizing advanced evasion techniques. It allows threat actors to silently load powerful post-exploitation tools, facilitating rapid privilege escalation, credential dumping, and lateral movement while blinding local security sensors.\n\n<h3>Defense and Resilience Strategies</h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Behavioral EDR Monitoring:</strong> Static scanning is highly ineffective against Donut. Defenses must rely on advanced Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions configured to monitor for cross-process memory injection, unusual thread creation within system processes, and anomalous API usage (e.g., `CreateRemoteThread`, `VirtualAllocEx`).</li>\n<li><strong>AMSI Monitoring:</strong> Ensure EDR solutions are actively monitoring for attempts to patch or unhook the AMSI functions (e.g., `AmsiScanBuffer`).</li>\n<li><strong>Memory Forensics:</strong> When a suspicious process is identified, responders must capture and analyze a live memory dump to extract the injected Donut shellcode and reverse-engineer the underlying payload.</li>\n</ul>",
  "cta": "Published by the SystemHelpdesk team.",
  "aliases": [
    "HackTool.Donut",
    "Tool.DonutShellcode",
    "Riskware.Donut"
  ],
  "enrichment_level": "expert-seo",
  "faq": [
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "What is Donut and what threat category does it belong to?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Donut 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 Donut establish persistence and evade defensive controls?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Donut 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 Donut compromise?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Security teams responding to Donut 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 HackTool.Donut employ during execution?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "HackTool.Donut 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 HackTool.Donut, and what is the recommended recovery procedure?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Decryption availability for HackTool.Donut 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": [
    "T1055",
    "T1562.001",
    "T1027.005",
    "T1620"
  ],
  "cisa_advisory": null,
  "last_updated": "2026-10-15",
  "type": "HackTool",
  "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,
  "mitre_attack_detail": [
    {
      "id": "T1055",
      "name": "Process Injection",
      "tactic": "Defense Evasion"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1562.001",
      "name": "Impair Defenses: Disable or Modify Tools",
      "tactic": "Defense Evasion"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1027.005",
      "name": "Obfuscated Files or Information: Indicator Removal from Tools",
      "tactic": "Defense Evasion"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1620",
      "name": "Reflective Code Loading",
      "tactic": "Defense Evasion"
    }
  ],
  "containment_steps": [
    "Immediately isolate affected host(s) from the internal network (disconnect physical Ethernet and disable Wi-Fi/Bluetooth) to prevent Donut from spreading laterally or encrypting network-attached storage (NAS) and shared SMB volumes.",
    "Preserve volatile system memory (RAM capture) on a representative endpoint before attempting a reboot or power-down, as Donut symmetric encryption keys or uncompiled payload components may still reside in memory.",
    "Audit process execution logs and terminate active scripting interpreters (e.g. PowerShell, CMD, WScript) or commands executing 'vssadmin.exe delete shadows' or 'wbadmin' used by Donut to inhibit recovery.",
    "Investigate the initial compromise vector (such as exposed RDP instances, spearphishing attachments, or vulnerable edge gateways) and enforce an immediate credential reset for all compromised Active Directory accounts.",
    "Restore critical assets and databases exclusively from verified, air-gapped, or immutable offline backups once the Donut binary and related persistence hooks are eradicated."
  ],
  "what_to_avoid": [
    "Do not restart or power cycle infected systems prematurely; doing so destroys volatile RAM encryption keys and may trigger bootloader locking logic embedded in Donut.",
    "Avoid negotiating or paying the extortion demand without prior forensic evaluation and consultation with incident response specialists, as payment does not guarantee data recovery.",
    "Do not connect clean backup drives or external storage to the affected network until Donut eradication is completely verified."
  ],
  "target_platforms": [
    "Windows 11",
    "Windows 10",
    "Windows Server 2022",
    "Windows Server 2019"
  ]
}