{
  "family": "loki",
  "sample_count": 5,
  "category": "trojan",
  "description": "TrojanSpy:Win32/Loki (universally known as **LokiBot**) is one of the most prevalent, enduring, and dangerous information stealers on the cybercriminal market. Sold cheaply on underground forums, LokiBot is designed for the rapid, automated exfiltration of a massive variety of sensitive data, including web browser passwords, cryptocurrency wallets, FTP credentials, email accounts, and SSH keys. It is a favored tool for both low-level cybercriminals and advanced APT groups as an initial data-gathering mechanism.<br><br><b>Understanding LokiBot (Information Stealer)</b><br>To an end-user, a LokiBot infection is completely silent; the malware executes, steals the data in seconds, and often terminates itself to avoid detection. For a SOC analyst, LokiBot is a severe credential compromise event. Because it targets so many different applications, a single infection can lead to the compromise of the user's personal bank accounts, corporate VPN access, and server infrastructure (via stolen FTP/SSH keys).<br><br><b>Execution and Credential Harvesting Mechanics</b><br>LokiBot is heavily distributed via malicious spam campaigns (malspam) containing weaponized Office documents (macros) or archived executables (`T1566.001`). It is also frequently dropped by exploit kits. Upon execution, it uses Process Hollowing (`T1055.012`), often injecting its payload into a legitimate Windows process like `vbc.exe` or `explorer.exe`. Once running in memory, LokiBot iterates through a massive hardcoded list of target applications (Chrome, Firefox, Outlook, FileZilla, PuTTY, Bitcoin Core, etc.), querying their specific credential storage locations and decrypting the stored passwords (`T1555`). It packages the stolen data into a compressed archive and exfiltrates it to a C2 server via HTTP POST requests (`T1048.003`), often accompanied by a distinct user-agent string and unique hardware ID profiling the infected machine.<br><br><b>Indicators of Compromise & Impact</b><br>The impact is catastrophic credential loss leading to immediate account takeovers and lateral movement. Host-based IoCs include EDR alerts for 'Suspicious Process Hollowing' and rapid, unauthorized access to browser SQLite databases (like `Login Data`) and email credential stores. Network IoCs include outbound HTTP POST traffic containing specific URL patterns (e.g., `fre.php` or `five/fre.php`) associated with default LokiBot C2 panels.",
  "cta": "Published by the SystemHelpdesk team.",
  "aliases": [],
  "enrichment_level": "expert-seo",
  "faq": [
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "What is Loki and what threat category does it belong to?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Loki is classified as a Trojan. 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 Loki establish persistence and evade defensive controls?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Loki 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 Loki compromise?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Security teams responding to Loki 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 secondary payloads and staging behaviors are commonly associated with Loki?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Loki frequently operates as a loader or dropper designed to establish a foothold before downloading and executing secondary high-impact malware payloads. Depending on the threat actor's objectives, these dropped modules can range from ransomware and banking injects to modular infostealers and remote management backdoors."
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "How can security operations teams effectively detect and hunt for Loki across enterprise endpoints?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Defenders should hunt for Loki by deploying behavioral endpoint detection and response (EDR) rules that monitor suspicious process spawning (such as cmd.exe or powershell.exe spawned from office documents or temporary directories), anomalous outbound network connections from non-browser binaries, and unauthorized modifications to Windows Run keys and scheduled task registries."
      }
    }
  ],
  "faq_count": 5,
  "mitre_attack": [
    "T1566.001",
    "T1048.003",
    "T1555.003",
    "T1055.012"
  ],
  "cisa_advisory": null,
  "last_updated": "2026-06-09",
  "mitre_attack_detail": [
    {
      "id": "T1555.003",
      "name": "Credentials from Password Stores: Credentials from Web Browsers",
      "tactic": "Credential Access"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1055.012",
      "name": "Process Injection: Process Hollowing",
      "tactic": "Defense Evasion"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1048.003",
      "name": "Exfiltration Over Alternative Protocol: Exfiltration Over Unencrypted/Obfuscated Non-C2 Protocol (HTTP POST)",
      "tactic": "Exfiltration"
    },
    {
      "id": "T1566.001",
      "name": "Phishing: Spearphishing Attachment",
      "tactic": "Initial Access"
    }
  ],
  "containment_steps": [
    "Assume ALL credentials stored on the machine (browsers, email, FTP, SSH, crypto wallets) have been compromised. Force immediate, enterprise-wide password resets for the user.",
    "Isolate the endpoint to prevent further exfiltration or the downloading of secondary payloads (LokiBot can sometimes act as a downloader).",
    "Identify the C2 domain/IP from network logs and block it across the enterprise; use this to hunt for other infected machines.",
    "Audit VPN and external portal logs for the recently stolen credentials to detect immediate attempts at lateral movement by the attackers."
  ],
  "what_to_avoid": [
    "Do not assume the network is safe just because the AV deleted the initial dropper; LokiBot harvests and exfiltrates credentials in a matter of seconds.",
    "Avoid relying solely on file-based scanning; memory forensics is often required to analyze the hollowed process and extract the LokiBot C2 configuration."
  ],
  "target_industries": [
    "Global / Opportunistic"
  ],
  "motivation": "Opportunistic",
  "threat_actors": [
    "Unknown / Cybercriminal"
  ],
  "target_geographies": [
    "Global"
  ],
  "attack_stage": [
    "execution",
    "persistence"
  ],
  "ecosystem": [
    "windows_pe"
  ],
  "is_emerging": false,
  "target_platforms": [
    "Windows 11",
    "Windows 10",
    "Windows 7"
  ]
}