Curly COMrades APT Targets Government and Energy Sectors in Georgia and Moldova
Summary
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A threat actor named Curly COMrades has been conducting a cyber espionage campaign targeting government and energy sectors in Georgia and Moldova since at least November 2023. The group uses a combination of legitimate tools and custom malware to achieve long-term access and data exfiltration. Their tactics include extracting NTDS databases, dumping LSASS memory, and employing a bespoke backdoor called MucorAgent. The operations align with Russia's geopolitical interests. The campaign involves the use of legitimate tools like Resocks, SSH, Stunnel, and SOCKS5 to create multiple access points into internal networks. The MucorAgent backdoor hijacks COM objects to maintain persistence, leveraging the Native Image Generator (Ngen) component of the .NET Framework. The attackers use compromised websites as relays for command-and-control communications and data exfiltration.
Timeline
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12.08.2025 16:00 📰 1 articles · ⏱ 1mo ago
Curly COMrades APT Targets Government and Energy Sectors in Georgia and Moldova
A threat actor named Curly COMrades has been conducting a cyber espionage campaign targeting government and energy sectors in Georgia and Moldova since at least November 2023. The group uses a combination of legitimate tools and custom malware to achieve long-term access and data exfiltration. Their tactics include extracting NTDS databases, dumping LSASS memory, and employing a bespoke backdoor called MucorAgent. The operations align with Russia's geopolitical interests. The campaign involves the use of legitimate tools like Resocks, SSH, Stunnel, and SOCKS5 to create multiple access points into internal networks. The MucorAgent backdoor hijacks COM objects to maintain persistence, leveraging the Native Image Generator (Ngen) component of the .NET Framework. The attackers use compromised websites as relays for command-and-control communications and data exfiltration.
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- New ‘Curly COMrades’ APT Using NGEN COM Hijacking in Georgia, Moldova Attacks — thehackernews.com — 12.08.2025 16:00
Information Snippets
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Curly COMrades targets judicial and government bodies in Georgia and an energy distribution company in Moldova.
First reported: 12.08.2025 16:00📰 1 source, 1 articleShow sources
- New ‘Curly COMrades’ APT Using NGEN COM Hijacking in Georgia, Moldova Attacks — thehackernews.com — 12.08.2025 16:00
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The campaign has been active since at least November 2023, with observations dating back to mid-2024.
First reported: 12.08.2025 16:00📰 1 source, 1 articleShow sources
- New ‘Curly COMrades’ APT Using NGEN COM Hijacking in Georgia, Moldova Attacks — thehackernews.com — 12.08.2025 16:00
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The group uses the curl utility for command-and-control and data transfer, and hijacks COM objects for persistence.
First reported: 12.08.2025 16:00📰 1 source, 1 articleShow sources
- New ‘Curly COMrades’ APT Using NGEN COM Hijacking in Georgia, Moldova Attacks — thehackernews.com — 12.08.2025 16:00
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MucorAgent is a bespoke backdoor that hijacks CLSIDs to target the Native Image Generator (Ngen) component of the .NET Framework.
First reported: 12.08.2025 16:00📰 1 source, 1 articleShow sources
- New ‘Curly COMrades’ APT Using NGEN COM Hijacking in Georgia, Moldova Attacks — thehackernews.com — 12.08.2025 16:00
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The attackers use legitimate tools like Resocks, SSH, Stunnel, and SOCKS5 to create multiple access points into internal networks.
First reported: 12.08.2025 16:00📰 1 source, 1 articleShow sources
- New ‘Curly COMrades’ APT Using NGEN COM Hijacking in Georgia, Moldova Attacks — thehackernews.com — 12.08.2025 16:00
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Compromised websites are used as relays for command-and-control communications and data exfiltration.
First reported: 12.08.2025 16:00📰 1 source, 1 articleShow sources
- New ‘Curly COMrades’ APT Using NGEN COM Hijacking in Georgia, Moldova Attacks — thehackernews.com — 12.08.2025 16:00
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The group employs tools like Mimikatz for credential extraction and various built-in commands for discovery.
First reported: 12.08.2025 16:00📰 1 source, 1 articleShow sources
- New ‘Curly COMrades’ APT Using NGEN COM Hijacking in Georgia, Moldova Attacks — thehackernews.com — 12.08.2025 16:00
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The campaign relies on publicly available tools and open-source projects to minimize detection.
First reported: 12.08.2025 16:00📰 1 source, 1 articleShow sources
- New ‘Curly COMrades’ APT Using NGEN COM Hijacking in Georgia, Moldova Attacks — thehackernews.com — 12.08.2025 16:00
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