Introduction to Ghidra Scripting for Embedded ELFs and UPX

About the Project

The more Cryptominer malware I look at (or anything targeting Linux), the more trends I’ve identified that are common regardless of the underlying intent. Everyone loves to use UPX.

And why wouldn’t they? It’s a free Open Source packer that you can modify if you so choose, or leverage what’s available in most Linux distribution repos. Everyone loves embedding ELFs in ELFs.

In my anecdotal analysis, Cryptominers have triaged systems for basic OS information before deciding which 2nd stage payload to drop. In the case of Skidmap, if the host machine was a CentOS machine PAM modules would be loaded that would allow for hardcoded credentials to work for access.

Staying organized can be difficult where there are numerous embedded ELFs. To stay a bit more organized, I wrote a Ghidra script to help with said analysis. Instead of having multiple folders open with IDA, I can leverage Ghidra’s project directory and write scripts to help identify areas of interest. The Ghidra script is nothing fancy, but I do think it’s an easy introduction to Ghidra scripting. If you are out there reading this, thinking “hey, how do I get started with scripting in Ghidra?” hopefully, this blog post helps!

https://www.archcloudlabs.com/projects/ghidra_scripting_01/

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