Trojan Malware (Disguised Implants & Multi-Stage Payloads)

Threat Class: Deceptive Binary / Multi-Stage Implant Tracked Families: 548 Severity: HIGH MITRE ATT&CK Aligned

Threat Landscape & Operational Overview

Trojans represent the largest and most diverse category of cyber threats. Masquerading as legitimate software, software cracks, document attachments, or system updates, Trojans deceive users and automated security filters into authorizing execution. Once unpacked in memory, Trojans establish persistent backdoors, install secondary droppers, or deploy modular payloads tailored to operator objectives. From credential harvesting and surveillance to unauthorized proxy routing, Trojans form the operational foundation of modern cybercrime campaigns and Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) intrusion sets.

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Primary MITRE ATT&CK Tactics & Techniques

Observed technical tradecraft, privilege escalation, and persistence patterns mapped across threat families in this category:

ID Technique Tactic Observed Operational Behavior
T1036 Masquerading Defense Evasion Mimics trusted system binaries, legitimate vendor names, or disguised icon extensions.
T1055 Process Injection Defense Evasion Injects malicious shellcode into legitimate processes (svchost.exe, explorer.exe).
T1547.001 Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder Persistence Establishes automatic boot persistence across system reboots via registry entries.
T1071.001 Application Layer Protocol: Web Protocols Command & Control Communicates with remote C2 infrastructure using TLS-encrypted HTTPS or HTTP beacons.
T1082 System Information Discovery Discovery Enumerates host operating system, patch levels, hardware UUIDs, and installed security software.

Actively Weaponized Exploits & Vulnerabilities (12 CVEs)

Adversaries deploying trojan malware (disguised implants & multi-stage payloads) frequently weaponize the following software vulnerabilities for initial ingress, privilege escalation, or lateral movement:

CVE-2015-5119 CVSS 10.0 CRITICAL

Adobe Flash Player ByteArray Use-After-Free (Hacking Team Leak)

Attributed Payloads: kovter

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CVE-2020-1472 CVSS 10.0 CRITICAL

Microsoft Active Directory Netlogon Elevation of Privilege (Zerologon)

Attributed Payloads: trickbot

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CVE-2017-0144 CVSS 9.8 CRITICAL

Microsoft Windows SMBv1 Remote Code Execution (EternalBlue / MS17-010)

Attributed Payloads: trickbot

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CVE-2019-19781 CVSS 9.8 CRITICAL

Citrix ADC & Gateway Directory Traversal Remote Code Execution (Shitrix)

Attributed Payloads: trickbot

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CVE-2012-0158 CVSS 9.3 CRITICAL

Microsoft Office MSCOMCTL.OCX ActiveX TreeView / ListView Buffer Overflow

Attributed Payloads: agentb, ausiv, dfay +20 more

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CVE-2010-2568 CVSS 9.3 CRITICAL

Microsoft Windows Shell Shortcut LNK / PIF Code Execution (Stuxnet)

Attributed Payloads: agentb, ausiv, ekstak +16 more

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CVE-2015-1641 CVSS 9.3 CRITICAL

Microsoft Office Discretionary Memory Corruption Vulnerability (MS15-033)

Attributed Payloads: dfay, ganelp, memery +1 more

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CVE-2008-1447 CVSS 7.8 HIGH

Kaminsky DNS Cache Poisoning Multiple Transaction ID Flaw

Attributed Payloads: dnschanger

View Exploitation Dossier →
→ Explore all 63 weaponized vulnerabilities in our master CVE Exploitation Matrix

SOC Incident Containment Checklist

Standard operating triage procedure for security teams responding to suspicious or confirmed infections in this category:

  1. Sever host network connectivity to immediately terminate active C2 control channels.
  2. Identify the initial ingress artifact (e.g. email attachment, malicious download) and calculate SHA-256 hashes.
  3. Inspect Registry Run keys, Scheduled Tasks, and services for unauthorized binary paths or obfuscated commands.
  4. Conduct full memory and process tree inspection to detect injected DLLs or hollowing anomalies.
  5. Quarantine infected host and deploy updated EDR endpoint signatures across the fleet.
⚠️ Critical Mistakes to Avoid:
  • Do not delete isolated suspicious binaries before computing hashes and capturing forensic artifacts.
  • Do not allow an un-remediated host to reconnect to the internal corporate VPN or local domain.

Prominent Malware Families in this Category

Top documented threats ranked by historical prevalence and behavioral signatures:

kovter

EMBER Samples: 2,414

Kovter is an extraordinarily evasive, polymorphic malware strain first detected in 2013.

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delf

EMBER Samples: 1,727

Trojan:Win32/Delf (historically cataloged across antivirus telemetry as TrojanSpy:Win32/Delf, Trojan.Win32.Delf, or Win32/Delf) is one of...

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qhost

EMBER Samples: 1,722

Trojan:Win32/Qhost (cataloged widely across security telemetry as TROJ_QHOST, DNSChanger.Qhost, or Win32/Qhost) is a classic and persiste...

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cerberus

EMBER Samples: 1,500

Cerberus is a highly sophisticated Android banking Trojan that emerged in 2019, initially operating under a Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS) m...

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erazer

EMBER Samples: 1,500

Erazer (identified across antivirus engines as Trojan:Win32/Erazer and Backdoor.Erazer) is a classic dual-function Remote Access Trojan (...

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erazer_lite

EMBER Samples: 1,500

Erazer Lite (tracked as Trojan:Win32/ErazerLite and Backdoor.Erazer.Lite) is a streamlined, optimized variant of the parent Erazer remote...

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hack_a_tack

EMBER Samples: 1,500

Hack a Tack (cataloged across antivirus vendors as Trojan:Win32/HackaTack, Backdoor.HackaTack, and Trojan.Hack-a-Tack) is a classic remot...

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hue

EMBER Samples: 1,500

Hue (cataloged across security engines as Trojan:Win32/Hue, Backdoor:Win32/Hue, and Trojan.Win32.Hue) is a legacy Delphi-authored remote ...

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Complete Directory (548 Families)

Alphabetical index of all tracked malware families cataloged under trojan malware (disguised implants & multi-stage payloads):

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