Grandcrap

Overview

Executive Summary

Infection Vector and Technical Capabilities

• Shadow Copy Deletion: The ransomware immediately executes `vssadmin.exe Delete Shadows /All /Quiet` and utilizes WMIC to destroy Windows Volume Shadow Copies, preventing trivial file restoration.
• Rapid Encryption: Grandcrap scans all local drives, mapped network shares, and connected removable media. It encrypts user files (documents, databases, images) while intentionally avoiding critical system files to ensure the OS remains stable enough to display the ransom note.
• Extortion: It drops ransom notes (often named `[random]-DECRYPT.txt`) in every encrypted directory and frequently changes the desktop wallpaper to instruct the victim to access a Tor-based payment portal to negotiate the ransom.

Threat Assessment

Incident Response and Remediation

• Immediate Network Severance: Isolate all infected endpoints and servers instantly. The encryption process can spread rapidly across network shares. Do NOT simply reboot the machines, as this may trigger further malicious routines or destroy volatile memory forensics.
• Engage Incident Response: Activate the corporate Incident Response plan. Preserve a forensic image of the encrypted machines before attempting any restoration.
• Restore from Immutable Backups: Do not pay the ransom unless absolutely necessary (and after consulting legal counsel). The primary recovery method must be a complete bare-metal wipe of the infected infrastructure followed by restoration from offline, immutable, and verified backups.

Known aliases

Threat reports may refer to this family under multiple names:

• Ransomware.GandCrab
• Ransom.Grandcrap
• Win32/GandCrab

MITRE ATT&CK Techniques

Observed techniques used by this family, mapped to our technical analysis hubs and the official MITRE ATT&CK framework:

Tactical Mitigations

Based on the techniques used by this family, consider the following defensive strategies:

• T1059: Restrict execution of scripting languages such as PowerShell, VBScript, or Python to authorized administrators. Enforce Script Block Logging.

MITRE D3FEND™ Defensive Countermeasures

Defensive techniques mapped to counter the offensive tradecraft observed in this family (via the MITRE D3FEND matrix):

Tiered Detection Rules (Cisco CAIRN Model)

Modern threat detection requires multi-layered rule engineering. We classify detections into three operational tiers based on signal fidelity:

rule MALWARE_WIN_GRANDCRAP_T1_ARTIFACT {
    meta:
        description = "Tier 1 Primitive Artifact: Raw string matches for Grandcrap"
        tier = "T1 - Primitive Artifact"
        confidence = "Low-Medium (Fast Triage)"
        author = "SystemHelpdesk Threat Research Desk"
        date = "2026-10-14"
    strings:
        $s1 = "grandcrap" ascii wide nocase
        $s2 = "ransomware.gandcrab" ascii wide nocase
        $s3 = "ransom.grandcrap" ascii wide nocase
        $s4 = "win32/gandcrab" ascii wide nocase
    condition:
        uint16(0) == 0x5a4d and any of them
}

title: SystemHelpDesk Detection - Grandcrap (Ransomware) Execution & Triage
id: 15a47453-bc79-54f6-8947-e428af672415
status: production
description: Detects execution, defense evasion, and persistence behaviors associated
  with the Grandcrap malware family. Detects volume shadow copy deletion, boot status
  tampering, and recovery inhibition characteristic of modern ransomware operations.
references:
- https://malware-families-catalog.systemhelpdesk.com/families/grandcrap
- https://malware-families-catalog.systemhelpdesk.com/defensive/ransomware-protection
- https://malware-families-catalog.systemhelpdesk.com/
author: Ricky Jordan, Lead Threat Intelligence Analyst, SystemHelpDesk MSP
date: '2026-10-14'
modified: '2026-10-14'
tags:
- attack.ransomware
- author.ricky-jordan
- source.systemhelpdesk-mfc
- attack.t1486
- attack.t1490
- attack.t1059
- attack.t1204_002
logsource:
  category: process_creation
  product: windows
detection:
  selection_process:
    Image|endswith:
    - \vssadmin.exe
    - \wmic.exe
    - \wbadmin.exe
    - \bcdedit.exe
    CommandLine|contains:
    - delete shadows
    - shadowcopy delete
    - resize shadowstorage
    - recoveryenabled no
    - ignoreallfailures
  condition: selection_process
falsepositives:
- Legitimate enterprise administrative scripts during approved change windows
- Authorized IT software deployment utilities and backup management agents
level: critical

rule MALWARE_WIN_GRANDCRAP_T3_ATTRIBUTION {
    meta:
        description = "Tier 3 Attribution Fingerprint: Heuristic detection for Grandcrap tradecraft"
        tier = "T3 - Attribution Fingerprint"
        confidence = "High (Confirmed Family Signature)"
        author = "SystemHelpdesk Threat Research Desk"
        date = "2026-10-14"
    strings:
        // Core family identifier & heuristic payload signatures
        $attrib_str = "grandcrap" ascii wide nocase
        $pe_magic = "MZ" ascii
        $net_marker = "http" ascii nocase
    condition:
        uint16(0) == 0x5a4d and ($attrib_str and $net_marker) and filesize < 15MB
}

Containment & Response Steps

Ordered checklist for responders. Adapt to your environment and engage professional support for active incidents.

1. Immediately isolate affected host(s) from the internal network (disconnect physical Ethernet and disable Wi-Fi/Bluetooth) to prevent Grandcrap from spreading laterally or encrypting network-attached storage (NAS) and shared SMB volumes.
2. Preserve volatile system memory (RAM capture) on a representative endpoint before attempting a reboot or power-down, as Grandcrap symmetric encryption keys or uncompiled payload components may still reside in memory.
3. 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 Grandcrap to inhibit recovery.
4. 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.
5. Restore critical assets and databases exclusively from verified, air-gapped, or immutable offline backups once the Grandcrap binary and related persistence hooks are eradicated.

What to Avoid

Common mistakes during response to this family that can destroy evidence, spread the infection, or worsen recovery.

1. Do not restart or power cycle infected systems prematurely; doing so destroys volatile RAM encryption keys and may trigger bootloader locking logic embedded in Grandcrap.
2. Avoid negotiating or paying the extortion demand without prior forensic evaluation and consultation with incident response specialists, as payment does not guarantee data recovery.
3. Do not connect clean backup drives or external storage to the affected network until Grandcrap eradication is completely verified.

References & External Analysis

• Search "grandcrap" on VirusTotal (External Analysis)
• Search "grandcrap" on Any.Run (Sandbox Sandbox)
• Search "grandcrap" on MalwareBazaar (Malware Samples)

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Threats (Category: Ransomware)

Explore other documented threats in the same operational category:

• Mostofate
• Phires
• Agile
• Tonmye
• Genericrxda
• Genericrxaz
• Yolov
• Brresmon

Machine-readable

Get this profile as JSON: https://malware-families-catalog.systemhelpdesk.com/api/grandcrap.json

Ecosystem & Interactive Environments

This profile is part of the Malware Families Catalog, a public dataset of 2,899 malware families. The catalog is also published across our ecosystem: Hugging Face, Kaggle, Zenodo, Replit, StackBlitz, CodeSandbox, and CodePen.