Analysis

  • max time kernel
    150s
  • max time network
    143s
  • platform
    windows11-ltsc_2024_x64
  • resource
    win11ltsc2024-20260710-en
  • resource tags

    arch:x64arch:x86image:win11ltsc2024-20260710-enlocale:en-usos:windows11-ltsc_2024-x64systemwindows
  • submitted
    18/08/2026, 20:05

General

  • Target
    2026-08-18_c2caed9ee8c93e8942b60bb41ba775e1_amadey_darkgate_elex_smoke-loader_stop.exe
  • Size 1.9MB
  • Sample260818-yvb7dabb27
  • SHA256 99ca51ce83079842fde31743370d83ec3246412c042ce88f01f19679e4a13539
  • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 SSDEEP TLSH

Malware Config

Signatures

  • Executes dropped EXE 1 IoCs
  • Reads user/profile data of web browsers 3 TTPs

    Infostealers often target stored browser data, which can include saved credentials etc.

  • Checks whether UAC is enabled 1 TTPs 1 IoCs
  • Drops file in Program Files directory 64 IoCs
  • Enumerates physical storage devices 1 TTPs

    Attempts to interact with connected storage/optical drive(s).

  • System Location Discovery: System Language Discovery 1 TTPs 2 IoCs

    Attempt gather information about the system language of a victim in order to infer the geographical location of that host.

  • Suspicious use of SetWindowsHookEx 3 IoCs
  • Suspicious use of WriteProcessMemory 2 IoCs

Processes

  • C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Temp\2026-08-18_c2caed9ee8c93e8942b60bb41ba775e1_amadey_darkgate_elex_smoke-loader_stop.exe
    "C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Temp\2026-08-18_c2caed9ee8c93e8942b60bb41ba775e1_amadey_darkgate_elex_smoke-loader_stop.exe"
    1⤵
    • Drops file in Program Files directory
    • System Location Discovery: System Language Discovery
    • Suspicious use of SetWindowsHookEx
    • Suspicious use of WriteProcessMemory
    PID:1352
    • C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Temp\2026-08-18_c2caed9ee8c93e8942b60bb41ba775e1_amadey_darkgate_elex_smoke-loader_stop.exe.exe
      C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Temp/2026-08-18_c2caed9ee8c93e8942b60bb41ba775e1_amadey_darkgate_elex_smoke-loader_stop.exe.exe
      2⤵
      • Executes dropped EXE
      • Checks whether UAC is enabled
      • System Location Discovery: System Language Discovery
      • Suspicious use of SetWindowsHookEx
      • Suspicious use of WriteProcessMemory
      PID:956
      • C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\Reader_sl.exe
        "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\Reader_sl.exe"
        3⤵
          PID:4916

    Network

          MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v16

          Replay Monitor

          Loading Replay Monitor...

          Downloads

          identity_helper.exe

          • Path C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\EdgeCore\122.0.2365.106\identity_helper.exe
          • Size 1.9MB
          • SHA256 65b70a5f6dfb74399e8a28571c3f2da320f521391d48c507c20d7d1c4425eadd
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 SSDEEP TLSH

          msedge.exe

          • Path C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\EdgeCore\139.0.3405.125\msedge.exe
          • Size 4.7MB
          • SHA256 a79fc0eddf06ae72b5eda02f9bfae99a29a830c75d83a276accc052dc047714a
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 SSDEEP TLSH

          msedge_pwa_launcher.exe

          • Path C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\EdgeCore\139.0.3405.125\msedge_pwa_launcher.exe
          • Size 2.6MB
          • SHA256 eec42f0699f8b2b8ea7c6977e08381e74a8c522de0fd5e2c9d2cb73ef42594ae
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 SSDEEP TLSH

          pwahelper.exe

          • Path C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\EdgeCore\139.0.3405.125\pwahelper.exe
          • Size 2.2MB
          • SHA256 7283b96c40897d8438c388d19183665e0695785f9d9d05ad1d665743f12ff327
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 SSDEEP TLSH

          MicrosoftEdgeUpdateComRegisterShell64.exe

          • Path C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\EdgeUpdate_bk\1.3.185.27\MicrosoftEdgeUpdateComRegisterShell64.exe
          • Size 1016KB
          • SHA256 f0c272cdf0e2159caba746b1c4a2b4ce37b63769f74dfd8fd1d8537c81b4f11d
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 SSDEEP TLSH

          MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe.ico

          • Path C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\EdgeUpdate_bk\MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe.ico
          • Size 3KB
          • SHA256 2e039a7ce5af3783a3d522d27112bfe7a1dac319ed5061de3bef89790d5ad63e
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 TLSH

          ie_to_edge_stub.exe

          • Path C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\EdgeWebView\Application\122.0.2365.106\BHO\ie_to_edge_stub.exe
          • Size 1.3MB
          • SHA256 ac3b97912f946264dcc54195a360c8fe228deb7dd3bcca44ed33cb3fc53fdaf1
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 SSDEEP TLSH

          msedgewebview2.exe

          • Path C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\EdgeWebView\Application\122.0.2365.106\msedgewebview2.exe
          • Size 4.2MB
          • SHA256 ec838e58364d9a2aee8c98b67deb7acdd8793a2d4606654ac7aa8db81ddec6fa
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 SSDEEP TLSH

          pwahelper.exe

          • Path C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\EdgeWebView\Application\122.0.2365.106\pwahelper.exe
          • Size 1.9MB
          • SHA256 103f2bb2cb5d744f81797eb99286ecd2bda55f3722b3d7171e5c4437b99db517
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 SSDEEP TLSH

          setup.exe.ico

          • Path C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\139.0.3405.125\Installer\setup.exe.ico
          • Size 3KB
          • SHA256 3d275500cf3ebda5e878d81dcbbaa53528397ccbe631aae8fae60de1ffefccf7
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 TLSH

          msedge_proxy.exe

          • Path C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\139.0.3405.125\msedge_proxy.exe
          • Size 2.2MB
          • SHA256 2a4b3d07195753dbe89027477993e2676f46a3a8f358fc3c1cc5f46aff11b2e3
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 SSDEEP TLSH

          msedge_pwa_launcher.exe.ico

          • Path C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\139.0.3405.125\msedge_pwa_launcher.exe.ico
          • Size 3KB
          • SHA256 4785d266a2c476e0948100ea80f927d16389f7718b540daf0488457ba01958b0
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 TLSH

          Uninstall.exe.ico

          • Path C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Maintenance Service\Uninstall.exe.ico
          • Size 3KB
          • SHA256 44ae793c391e8578709e181e83cb820caaa10c08844440885d969a6c839b8a2b
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 TLSH

          MpCmdRun.exe.ico

          • Path C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Defender\MpCmdRun.exe.ico
          • Size 3KB
          • SHA256 02221d573edefa486ba8fe5aee3c8a10c8c7e3188914c0f22df06bb1338db790
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 TLSH

          RCX7FB5.tmp

          • Path C:\Program Files\7-Zip\RCX7FB5.tmp
          • Size 796KB
          • SHA256 104191d30a605b3e3b2e44b9aec8964492fdc652191905a93188e1fbbd16ff38
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 SSDEEP TLSH

          AppVShNotify.exe.ico

          • Path C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ClickToRun\AppVShNotify.exe.ico
          • Size 3KB
          • SHA256 463b6e99198762de39ea3c9156504527673355f452c17063d0fcc34caa3cfded
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 TLSH

          OfficeClickToRun.exe.ico

          • Path C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ClickToRun\OfficeClickToRun.exe.ico
          • Size 3KB
          • SHA256 19306f3f899e8bae15a744924f1ebf2ce88624f5dd297e3993645fe8453adaa9
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 TLSH

          iexplore.exe.ico

          • Path C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe.ico
          • Size 3KB
          • SHA256 dd8074940b2a1e8d0ad513e7c6e2a0d0b11a857893f11dc77387800ca272e970
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 TLSH

          javaws.exe.ico

          • Path C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-1.8\bin\javaws.exe.ico
          • Size 3KB
          • SHA256 6c3d33a5119708abbf19b802f0908183037cd57a6394e45b7b234a76ef4b46c5
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 TLSH

          XLICONS.EXE.ico

          • Path C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\XLICONS.EXE.ico
          • Size 3KB
          • SHA256 6454633b8c6a69aad48c3fc556c5e81cb5362db0c449b3f543bddfa41eba8d6b
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 TLSH

          lyncicon.exe

          • Path C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\Windows\Installer\{90160000-000F-0000-1000-0000000FF1CE}\lyncicon.exe
          • Size 1.6MB
          • SHA256 3d5e76be6c32826757b9e556b87f83a9226ade6b84b8f1bc0e00a3c87c27d78a
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 SSDEEP TLSH

          misc.exe.ico

          • Path C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\Windows\Installer\{90160000-000F-0000-1000-0000000FF1CE}\misc.exe.ico
          • Size 3KB
          • SHA256 df2cca9b322f9432b3f3aa7b91a12dd5f22fd50e589e3107e066d99bdb071176
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 TLSH

          ohub32.exe.ico

          • Path C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\Windows\Installer\{90160000-000F-0000-1000-0000000FF1CE}\ohub32.exe.ico
          • Size 3KB
          • SHA256 063c8f44d23e1ebbe390ea320eee672c449f47333120b7abbd4a78094c613113
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 TLSH

          pptico.exe.ico

          • Path C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\Windows\Installer\{90160000-000F-0000-1000-0000000FF1CE}\pptico.exe.ico
          • Size 3KB
          • SHA256 3b07d1aaa1c9c27082d7811d694aae3d422d5d965a91b2d4b8ecda3a79f760a2
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 TLSH

          sscicons.exe.ico

          • Path C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\Windows\Installer\{90160000-000F-0000-1000-0000000FF1CE}\sscicons.exe.ico
          • Size 3KB
          • SHA256 b2a350ffac5074add67fe974467351777915de5a319be7879ba15d1f6915a092
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 TLSH

          wordicon.exe.ico

          • Path C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\Windows\Installer\{90160000-000F-0000-1000-0000000FF1CE}\wordicon.exe.ico
          • Size 3KB
          • SHA256 5bd706a18e0cf54197df7f1d5239f3e058652bfde372afcab230ee9b95ba14a5
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 TLSH

          maintenanceservice.exe

          • Path C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\maintenanceservice.exe
          • Size 1.0MB
          • SHA256 59e3364f0c326ddfb94ceb996f85c49d6fdf17e599edb1116d2a1a6f3565806b
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 SSDEEP TLSH

          vlc.exe.ico

          • Path C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe.ico
          • Size 3KB
          • SHA256 3b17b29b6c4e39fc36571f8e0795eae6559637529602ae7a37d5f8f6254d0500
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 TLSH

          OfflineScannerShell.exe.ico

          • Path C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\Offline\OfflineScannerShell.exe.ico
          • Size 3KB
          • SHA256 9e3f1f8e5166514df44b02a1e0bf7474708dafba161e263cff087af62ba89ae5
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 TLSH

          wmplayer.exe.ico

          • Path C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe.ico
          • Size 3KB
          • SHA256 a32208cf5c16d7223999e6ecf1c185bc88d519483ff56ad5ca5f2cc00e677307
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 TLSH

          ArmReport.ini

          • Path C:\ProgramData\Adobe\ARM\ArmReport.ini
          • Size 634B
          • SHA256 4f9b2f699943dc7a42321fde879d884202e9b3bd8391519cc69bd83d8d485aae
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 TLSH

          ArmReport.ini

          • Path C:\ProgramData\Adobe\ARM\ArmReport.ini
          • Size 782B
          • SHA256 8395f93b0e0240f5c79ce70bc2257f9cb0d92227b15f7724ba65b1c5c0b19625
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 TLSH

          AdobeARMHelper.exe.ico

          • Path C:\ProgramData\Adobe\ARM\S\13369\AdobeARMHelper.exe.ico
          • Size 3KB
          • SHA256 2f33dacaebb8bdf6d2d88550cce349c09b51dfeb4f499796f32bd30e14aab86c
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 TLSH

          RdrManifest2.msi

          • Path C:\ProgramData\Adobe\ARM\{291AA914-A987-4CE9-BD63-AC0A92D435E5}\RdrManifest2.msi
          • Size 18KB
          • SHA256 0abcb8b7c0bda3128316b3e4f4a5857e9c8194105043a0c0e9801a1a96105d01
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 SSDEEP TLSH

          vcredist_x86.exe

          • Path C:\ProgramData\Package Cache\{33d1fd90-4274-48a1-9bc1-97e33d9c2d6f}\vcredist_x86.exe
          • Size 1.2MB
          • SHA256 ca60746525d2cc836e71d821ecff74202114d2d34629d0b8d8c33fc4b9da7530
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 SSDEEP TLSH

          VC_redist.x86.exe.ico

          • Path C:\ProgramData\Package Cache\{4d8dcf8c-a72a-43e1-9833-c12724db736e}\VC_redist.x86.exe.ico
          • Size 3KB
          • SHA256 6ed1664d7718a68084ea1a4abb1d9621a6ae8da8e19db35cfca13aaa4c05eb33
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 TLSH

          windowsdesktop-runtime-6.0.27-win-x64.exe

          • Path C:\ProgramData\Package Cache\{d87ae0f4-64a6-4b94-859a-530b9c313c27}\windowsdesktop-runtime-6.0.27-win-x64.exe
          • Size 1.4MB
          • SHA256 df56527434e3f28134a04b718db44944b681a5cd563536120b7d9716f99a32d4
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 SSDEEP TLSH

          FileSyncConfig.exe

          • Path C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive\18.151.0729.0013\FileSyncConfig.exe
          • Size 1.0MB
          • SHA256 d9438425339d18e9550541e3b838e962e39b9931dda2b3bddd1acbc8cf12a9de
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 SSDEEP TLSH

          OneDriveSetup.exe.ico

          • Path C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive\18.151.0729.0013\OneDriveSetup.exe.ico
          • Size 3KB
          • SHA256 3a2d7fd9799178af58fbd08a2fffc56398cbf289c7ddd5c5f0fb2e241395261e
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 TLSH

          2026-08-18_c2caed9ee8c93e8942b60bb41ba775e1_amadey_darkgate_elex_smoke-loader_stop.exe.exe

          • Path C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Temp\2026-08-18_c2caed9ee8c93e8942b60bb41ba775e1_amadey_darkgate_elex_smoke-loader_stop.exe.exe
          • Size 1.1MB
          • SHA256 c374a1b3f2c982648a994ea24abf5bae848ee09d40f2b1aac1115471bc6c29a5
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 SSDEEP TLSH

          ArmUI.ini

          • Path C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Temp\ArmUI.ini
          • Size 251KB
          • SHA256 b4d4dcd9594d372d7c0c975d80ef5802c88502895ed4b8a26ca62e225f2f18b0
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 SSDEEP TLSH

          TmpB8C7.tmp

          • Path C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Temp\TmpB8C7.tmp
          • Size 3KB
          • SHA256 ff9b4cf04e3202f150f19c1711767361343935da7841c98b876c42fd2cabce9b
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 TLSH

          TmpF6BC.tmp

          • Path C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Temp\TmpF6BC.tmp
          • Size 3KB
          • SHA256 19fe53c801ad7edc635f61e9e28d07da31780c2480e6f37ecfc63fffe1b250fe
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 TLSH

          TmpF6EC.tmp

          • Path C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Temp\TmpF6EC.tmp
          • Size 3KB
          • SHA256 dcc9d2695125406282ba990fec39403c44b12964acf51b5e0dc7f2080d714398
          • MD5 SHA1 SHA512 TLSH

          memory/1352-634-0x0000000000400000-0x00000000004E9000-memory.dmp

          memory/1352-0-0x0000000000400000-0x00000000004E9000-memory.dmp