homepage
Open menu
Go one level top
  • Train and Certify
    Train and Certify

    Immediately apply the skills and techniques learned in SANS courses, ranges, and summits

    • Overview
    • Courses
      • Overview
      • Full Course List
      • By Focus Areas
        • Cloud Security
        • Cyber Defense
        • Cybersecurity and IT Essentials
        • DFIR
        • Industrial Control Systems
        • Offensive Operations
        • Management, Legal, and Audit
      • By Skill Levels
        • New to Cyber
        • Essentials
        • Advanced
        • Expert
      • Training Formats
        • OnDemand
        • In-Person
        • Live Online
      • Course Demos
    • Training Roadmaps
      • Skills Roadmap
      • Focus Area Job Roles
        • Cyber Defence Job Roles
        • Offensive Operations Job Roles
        • DFIR Job Roles
        • Cloud Job Roles
        • ICS Job Roles
        • Leadership Job Roles
      • NICE Framework
        • Security Provisionals
        • Operate and Maintain
        • Oversee and Govern
        • Protect and Defend
        • Analyze
        • Collect and Operate
        • Investigate
        • Industrial Control Systems
      • European Skills Framework
    • GIAC Certifications
    • Training Events & Summits
      • Events Overview
      • Event Locations
        • Asia
        • Australia & New Zealand
        • Latin America
        • Mainland Europe
        • Middle East & Africa
        • Scandinavia
        • United Kingdom & Ireland
        • United States & Canada
      • Summits
    • OnDemand
    • Get Started in Cyber
      • Overview
      • Degree and Certificate Programs
      • Scholarships
    • Cyber Ranges
  • Manage Your Team
    Manage Your Team

    Build a world-class cyber team with our workforce development programs

    • Overview
    • Why Work with SANS
    • Group Purchasing
    • Build Your Team
      • Team Development
      • Assessments
      • Private Training
      • Hire Cyber Professionals
      • By Industry
        • Health Care
        • Industrial Control Systems Security
        • Military
    • Leadership Training
  • Security Awareness
    Security Awareness

    Increase your staff’s cyber awareness, help them change their behaviors, and reduce your organizational risk

    • Overview
    • Products & Services
      • Security Awareness Training
        • EndUser Training
        • Phishing Platform
      • Specialized
        • Developer Training
        • ICS Engineer Training
        • NERC CIP Training
        • IT Administrator
      • Risk Assessments
        • Knowledge Assessment
        • Culture Assessment
        • Behavioral Risk Assessment
    • OUCH! Newsletter
    • Career Development
      • Overview
      • Training & Courses
      • Professional Credential
    • Blog
    • Partners
    • Reports & Case Studies
  • Resources
    Resources

    Enhance your skills with access to thousands of free resources, 150+ instructor-developed tools, and the latest cybersecurity news and analysis

    • Overview
    • Webcasts
    • Free Cybersecurity Events
      • Free Events Overview
      • Summits
      • Solutions Forums
      • Community Nights
    • Content
      • Newsletters
        • NewsBites
        • @RISK
        • OUCH! Newsletter
      • Blog
      • Podcasts
      • Summit Presentations
      • Posters & Cheat Sheets
    • Research
      • White Papers
      • Security Policies
    • Tools
    • Focus Areas
      • Cyber Defense
      • Cloud Security
      • Digital Forensics & Incident Response
      • Industrial Control Systems
      • Cyber Security Leadership
      • Offensive Operations
  • Get Involved
    Get Involved

    Help keep the cyber community one step ahead of threats. Join the SANS community or begin your journey of becoming a SANS Certified Instructor today.

    • Overview
    • Join the Community
    • Work Study
    • Teach for SANS
    • CISO Network
    • Partnerships
    • Sponsorship Opportunities
  • About
    About

    Learn more about how SANS empowers and educates current and future cybersecurity practitioners with knowledge and skills

    • SANS
      • Overview
      • Our Founder
      • Awards
    • Instructors
      • Our Instructors
      • Full Instructor List
    • Mission
      • Our Mission
      • Diversity
      • Scholarships
    • Contact
      • Contact Customer Service
      • Contact Sales
      • Press & Media Enquiries
    • Frequent Asked Questions
    • Customer Reviews
    • Press
    • Careers
  • Contact Sales
  • SANS Sites
    • GIAC Security Certifications
    • Internet Storm Center
    • SANS Technology Institute
    • Security Awareness Training
  • Search
  • Log In
  • Join
    • Account Dashboard
    • Log Out
  1. Home >
  2. Blog >
  3. Cracked Brute Ratel C4 framework proliferates across the cybercriminal underground
Will_Thomas_370x370.png
Will Thomas

Cracked Brute Ratel C4 framework proliferates across the cybercriminal underground

English-speaking and Russian-speaking cybercriminal forums are buzzing with activity following the leaking and cracking of the Brute Ratel C4 (BRC4)

October 5, 2022

Since mid-September, English-speaking and Russian-speaking cybercriminal underground forums having been buzzing with activity following the leaking and cracking of the Brute Ratel C4 (BRC4) post-exploitation toolkit.

This significant event is exemplary of the type of underground forum activity that the SANS FOR589: Cybercrime Intelligence course will cover, and this blog highlights key aspects of how FOR589 will teach students to generate actionable intelligence via monitoring the cybercriminal underground. This includes:

  • How to identify what is actionable and what is noise within the cybercriminal underground
  • How to spot significant evolutions and changes within the underground ecosystem
  • How to act as an early warning system for defenders and responders about imminent threats to organizations

Practitioners can sign up for the BETA of this course on the SANS website by selecting ‘FOR589: Cybercrime Intelligence’ and by registering with their information.

Et tu Brute Ratel?

For those unacquainted with Brute Ratel, it was developed by Chetan Nayak, a former offensive security professional who previously worked for Mandiant and CrowdStrike. It is an emerging Red Teaming framework, similar to Sliver, Mythic, and Covenant, that all lag behind the most popular tool, which has been Cobalt Strike for several years. Much like Cobalt Strike, Brute Ratel enables operators to deploy agents, called badgers, while inside a target environment that enable arbitrary command execution to perform lateral movement, privilege escalation, and establish additional avenues of persistence.

The leak of a cracked version of Brute Ratel proves to be a significant event when we reflect on the precedent set by the leak of a cracked version of Cobalt Strike, back in November 2020, when the source code for Cobalt Strike 4.0 was shared via GitHub. Consequently, that leak bolstered free access to Cobalt Strike for threat actors within the cybercriminal underground; since then, Cobalt Strike has been widely adopted by threat actors, particularly ransomware affiliates, as well as nation state advanced persistent threat (APT) groups.

Picture1_Blog.png

Figure 1: Cobalt Strike 4.0 source code offered on Exploit[.]in

Due to this, security products have heavily focused on detecting the tool and it is no longer as proficient as it once was for adversaries. As a result, it has been reported that some threat actors have gone as far as creating spurious US-based firms to be able to bypass Brute Ratel’s licensing verification so they can leverage the new toolkit. The developer of Brute Ratel, Chetan Nayak, could then revoke these licenses for any malicious customers using the framework for cybercrime.

The newly cracked version of Brute Ratel 1.2.2, however, now means that that anyone can use the framework and bypass the license verification system. Chetan Nayak found that the uncracked version was uploaded to VirusTotal and was subsequently cracked by a Russian-speaking group called “Molecules” who reverse engineered and bypassed the license check.

A version of Brute Ratel was uploaded to VirusTotal at 19:59:20 UTC on 13 September 2022, via an archive file called "bruteratel_1.2.2.Scandinavian_Defense.tar.gz". Chetan Nayak confirmed this file contains a valid copy of BRC4 version 1.2.2/5. It was then cracked and was floating around private Telegram groups until it made its way to the mainstream cybercrime forums.

Picture2_Blog.jpg

Figure 2: A cracked version of Brute Ratel v1.2.2 shared on a Russian-speaking Telegram channel (Source: Twitter)

Picture3_Blog.png

Figure 3: Screenshot of Brute Ratel C4 – Scandinavian Defense (1.2)

This cracked version has since been distributed across the popular cybercrime forums where data brokers, malware developers, initial access brokers, and ransomware affiliates all reside. This includes BreachForums, CryptBB, RAMP, Exploit[.]in, and XSS[.]is (aka DaMaGeLaB), as well as other communities on Discord and Telegram.

Picture4_Blog.png

Figure 4: Cracked version of Brute Ratel shared to BreachForums

Picture5_Blog.jpg

Figure 5: Cracked version of Brute Ratel shared to Exploit[.]in

Picture6_Blog.png

Figure 6: User of XSS[.]is testing the cracked version of Brute Ratel

So What?

One of the most concerning aspects of Brute Ratel for many security experts is its ability to generate shellcode that is undetected by many endpoint detection and response (EDR) and antivirus (AV) products. This means that every new attack creates unique indicators of compromise (IOCs). The developer of Brute Ratel has demonstrated the tool’s proficiency at doing so; for example, on 29 September 2022, the developer shared a video on YouTube called “Evading Elastic EDR in Full Prevent Mode with Brute Ratel C4.”

This extended window of detection evasion can give threat actors enough time to establish initial access, begin lateral movement, and achieve persistence elsewhere. Brute Ratel’s capabilities closely align with the objectives of ransomware groups that are already highly active and looking for new windows of opportunity. In July 2022, Sophos incident responders confirmed they encountered Brute Ratel in the wild, alongside Cobalt Strike, at an ALPHV (aka BlackCat) ransomware engagement. This compounds our assessment that cybercriminals, especially ransomware affiliates, are going to be using this tool in the foreseeable future.

Further, to prevent Brute Ratel, defenders may try to gather and block related IOCs. However, due to Brute Ratel’s unique generation of evasive new payloads, it makes the practise of blocking of file hashes an inadequate countermeasure. Therefore, It is recommended that defenders implement behavioral-based detection opportunities to thwart attempts, like those outlined in blogs by MdSec and Palo Alto Networks Unit 42.

Overall, enterprises and public sector organizations should recognize the imminent threat of the proliferation of this tool in the hands of organized cybercriminal groups.

Uncracked and cracked versions of Brute Ratel C4 shared on VirusTotal

  • Uncracked: “BruteRatel_1.2.2.Scandinavian_Defense.tar.gz” - available here
  • Cracked: “bruteratel 1.2.2-Cracked.zip” - available here
Share:
TwitterLinkedInFacebook
Copy url Url was copied to clipboard
Subscribe to SANS Newsletters
Receive curated news, vulnerabilities, & security awareness tips
United States
Canada
United Kingdom
Spain
Belgium
Denmark
Norway
Netherlands
Australia
India
Japan
Singapore
Afghanistan
Aland Islands
Albania
Algeria
American Samoa
Andorra
Angola
Anguilla
Antarctica
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Aruba
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belize
Benin
Bermuda
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba
Bosnia And Herzegovina
Botswana
Bouvet Island
Brazil
British Indian Ocean Territory
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Cayman Islands
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Christmas Island
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Colombia
Comoros
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska)
Curacao
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
East Timor
East Timor
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Ethiopia
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
Faroe Islands
Fiji
Finland
France
French Guiana
French Polynesia
French Southern Territories
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Gibraltar
Greece
Greenland
Grenada
Guadeloupe
Guam
Guatemala
Guernsey
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Heard And McDonald Islands
Honduras
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Iraq
Ireland
Isle of Man
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Jersey
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Korea, Republic Of
Kosovo
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Lao People's Democratic Republic
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macau
Macedonia
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Martinique
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mayotte
Mexico
Micronesia, Federated States Of
Moldova, Republic Of
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Montserrat
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Netherlands Antilles
New Caledonia
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Niue
Norfolk Island
Northern Mariana Islands
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
Palestine
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Pitcairn
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Qatar
Reunion
Romania
Russian Federation
Rwanda
Saint Bartholemy
Saint Kitts And Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Martin
Saint Vincent And The Grenadines
Samoa
San Marino
Sao Tome And Principe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Sint Maarten
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
South Africa
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
South Sudan
Sri Lanka
St. Helena
St. Pierre And Miquelon
Suriname
Svalbard And Jan Mayen Islands
Swaziland
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Tokelau
Tonga
Trinidad And Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Turks And Caicos Islands
Tuvalu
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States Minor Outlying Islands
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Vatican City
Venezuela
Vietnam
Virgin Islands (British)
Virgin Islands (U.S.)
Wallis And Futuna Islands
Western Sahara
Yemen
Yugoslavia
Zambia
Zimbabwe

By providing this information, you agree to the processing of your personal data by SANS as described in our Privacy Policy.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recommended Training

  • FOR532: Enterprise Memory Forensics In-Depth
  • FOR508: Advanced Incident Response, Threat Hunting, and Digital Forensics
  • FOR498: Digital Acquisition and Rapid Triage

Tags:
  • Digital Forensics and Incident Response

Related Content

Blog
DFIR_-_Advise_from_the_Trenches_-_340x340_Thumb.jpg
Digital Forensics and Incident Response
March 22, 2023
What is In a Name?
In digital forensics, the highlights come from the cases where incident response teams have proven that the threat actors were caught red-handed.
370x370_Kevin-Ripa.jpg
Kevin Ripa
read more
Blog
Google.png
Digital Forensics and Incident Response, Cloud Security
March 13, 2023
Google Cloud Log Extraction
In this blog post, we review the methods through which we can extract logs from Google Cloud.
Megan_Roddie_370x370.png
Megan Roddie
read more
Blog
DFIR_-_DFIR_Origin_Stories_-_340x340_Thumb.jpg
Digital Forensics and Incident Response
February 27, 2023
DFIR Origin Stories - Kevin Ripa
Never thought a career in IT would be one for you? Think again. That’s what happened to Kevin Ripa.
DFIR_ICON_(1).PNG
SANS DFIR
read more
  • Register to Learn
  • Courses
  • Certifications
  • Degree Programs
  • Cyber Ranges
  • Job Tools
  • Security Policy Project
  • Posters & Cheat Sheets
  • White Papers
  • Focus Areas
  • Cyber Defense
  • Cloud Security
  • Cybersecurity Leadership
  • Digital Forensics
  • Industrial Control Systems
  • Offensive Operations
Subscribe to SANS Newsletters
Receive curated news, vulnerabilities, & security awareness tips
United States
Canada
United Kingdom
Spain
Belgium
Denmark
Norway
Netherlands
Australia
India
Japan
Singapore
Afghanistan
Aland Islands
Albania
Algeria
American Samoa
Andorra
Angola
Anguilla
Antarctica
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Aruba
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belize
Benin
Bermuda
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba
Bosnia And Herzegovina
Botswana
Bouvet Island
Brazil
British Indian Ocean Territory
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Cayman Islands
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Christmas Island
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Colombia
Comoros
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska)
Curacao
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
East Timor
East Timor
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Ethiopia
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
Faroe Islands
Fiji
Finland
France
French Guiana
French Polynesia
French Southern Territories
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Gibraltar
Greece
Greenland
Grenada
Guadeloupe
Guam
Guatemala
Guernsey
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Heard And McDonald Islands
Honduras
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Iraq
Ireland
Isle of Man
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Jersey
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Korea, Republic Of
Kosovo
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Lao People's Democratic Republic
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macau
Macedonia
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Martinique
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mayotte
Mexico
Micronesia, Federated States Of
Moldova, Republic Of
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Montserrat
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Netherlands Antilles
New Caledonia
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Niue
Norfolk Island
Northern Mariana Islands
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
Palestine
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Pitcairn
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Qatar
Reunion
Romania
Russian Federation
Rwanda
Saint Bartholemy
Saint Kitts And Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Martin
Saint Vincent And The Grenadines
Samoa
San Marino
Sao Tome And Principe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Sint Maarten
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
South Africa
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
South Sudan
Sri Lanka
St. Helena
St. Pierre And Miquelon
Suriname
Svalbard And Jan Mayen Islands
Swaziland
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Tokelau
Tonga
Trinidad And Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Turks And Caicos Islands
Tuvalu
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States Minor Outlying Islands
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Vatican City
Venezuela
Vietnam
Virgin Islands (British)
Virgin Islands (U.S.)
Wallis And Futuna Islands
Western Sahara
Yemen
Yugoslavia
Zambia
Zimbabwe

By providing this information, you agree to the processing of your personal data by SANS as described in our Privacy Policy.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
  • © 2023 SANS™ Institute
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Careers
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn