Propagate

Overview

Worm:Win32/Propagate is a behavioral heuristic detection utilized by antivirus engines to flag malware that aggressively attempts to copy itself across a network, removable drives, or email systems, exhibiting the classic, self-replicating characteristics of a computer worm.

Understanding Propagate
To an end-user, a Propagate detection indicates that the security software blocked a threat that was actively trying to spread. For a security analyst, the 'Propagate' designation highlights a severe risk to the broader network infrastructure. It is not a specific malware family; rather, it is a behavioral signature. The underlying payload could be a destructive ransomware variant (like WannaCry, which utilized SMB propagation), a botnet agent, or a cryptocurrency miner aiming to maximize its hashing power by infecting as many hosts as possible.

Execution and Evasion Strategies
The execution of a worm flagged as Propagate relies heavily on exploiting trusted communication channels. EDR telemetry will often show the malicious process rapidly querying the local ARP cache or Active Directory to build a list of target IP addresses. It will then attempt to authenticate to network shares (IPC$, ADMIN$) using stolen credentials (`T1078`), exploit known vulnerabilities (e.g., MS17-010 EternalBlue), or drop `autorun.inf` files onto any connected USB drives. The sheer volume of this automated lateral movement makes it highly noisy, but its speed can outpace human intervention.

Indicators of Compromise & Impact
The primary impact is a rapid, uncontrolled infection across the corporate network. Incident responders will observe a massive spike in outbound SMB (TCP 445), RDP (TCP 3389), or WMI traffic originating from the initially compromised host. EDR platforms will flag processes attempting to write executable files to mapped network drives or rapidly iterating through IP subnets.

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:

• T1566.001: Scan email attachments for malicious macros, scripts, or suspicious archive files.

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_PROPAGATE_T1_ARTIFACT {
    meta:
        description = "Tier 1 Primitive Artifact: Raw string matches for Propagate"
        tier = "T1 - Primitive Artifact"
        confidence = "Low-Medium (Fast Triage)"
        author = "SystemHelpdesk Threat Research Desk"
        date = "2026-10-14"
    strings:
        $s1 = "propagate" ascii wide nocase
    condition:
        uint16(0) == 0x5a4d and any of them
}

title: SystemHelpDesk Detection - Propagate (Ransomware) Execution & Triage
id: c5e9dddf-9532-534c-8e4f-8d9d9df2f482
status: production
description: Detects execution, defense evasion, and persistence behaviors associated
  with the Propagate 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/propagate
- 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.t1091
- attack.t1047
- attack.t1078
- attack.t1566_001
- attack.t1021_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_PROPAGATE_T3_ATTRIBUTION {
    meta:
        description = "Tier 3 Attribution Fingerprint: Heuristic detection for Propagate 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 = "propagate" 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 sever the infected endpoint from the network; a Propagate detection implies the malware is actively attempting to infect adjacent hosts.
2. Enforce strict network segmentation and temporarily block lateral SMB (TCP 445) and RDP traffic between workstation subnets.
3. Audit all connected removable media (USB drives) and disable AutoRun/AutoPlay enterprise-wide via Group Policy.
4. Perform a comprehensive sweep of the network to identify any other hosts exhibiting similar anomalous outbound scanning behavior.

What to Avoid

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

1. Do not assume the threat is contained simply by quarantining the initial binary; the worm may have already successfully replicated to other endpoints.
2. Avoid leaving the network unsegmented; a flat network topology allows worms to spread unimpeded.

References & External Analysis

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Threats (Category: Ransomware)

Explore other documented threats in the same operational category:

• Paper
• Rz0A4Oaeuqdi
• Xorpix
• Shepher
• Pabin
• Genericrxdi
• Petun
• Boaxxe

Machine-readable

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