Vidar Infostealer Campaigns Employ New Obfuscation Techniques
Summary
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Vidar infostealer, active since late 2018, has resurfaced with enhanced stealth and persistence mechanisms. This malware-as-a-service targets a wide range of sensitive data, including credentials, OS details, cookies, financial data, and authentication tokens. It spreads through phishing, compromised websites, and malvertising. New techniques include encrypted C2 channels, LOLBins abuse, and covert exfiltration methods. The malware employs PowerShell scripts for initial infection, uses obfuscation at every stage, and evades defenses by disguising traffic, suppressing errors, and randomizing filenames. It also creates scheduled tasks for persistence and hooks into CryptProtectMemory API to access encrypted data. The C2 server uses TLS encryption for data exfiltration. Vidar 2.0, released in October 2025, has been rewritten in C, supports multi-threading for data theft, and includes extensive anti-analysis checks. It bypasses Chrome's App-Bound encryption and captures screenshots, sending data to delivery points including Telegram bots and URLs stored on Steam profiles.
Timeline
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22.10.2025 01:26 1 articles · 23h ago
Vidar 2.0 released with enhanced data theft and evasion capabilities
Vidar 2.0, released in October 2025, has been rewritten in C, reducing dependencies and improving performance. It supports multi-threading for data theft, reducing dwell time. The malware includes extensive anti-analysis checks, such as debugger detection and hardware profiling. It employs polymorphism options with heavy control-flow flattening for evasion. Vidar 2.0 bypasses Chrome's App-Bound encryption by injecting malicious code into browser processes. It captures screenshots and sends data to delivery points including Telegram bots and URLs stored on Steam profiles.
Show sources
- Vidar Stealer 2.0 adds multi-threaded data theft, better evasion — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 22.10.2025 01:26
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11.09.2025 19:23 2 articles · 1mo ago
Vidar Infostealer Campaigns Employ New Obfuscation Techniques
Vidar 2.0, released in October 2025, has been rewritten in C, reducing dependencies and improving performance. It supports multi-threading for data theft, reducing dwell time. The malware includes extensive anti-analysis checks, such as debugger detection and hardware profiling. It employs polymorphism options with heavy control-flow flattening for evasion. Vidar 2.0 bypasses Chrome's App-Bound encryption by injecting malicious code into browser processes. It captures screenshots and sends data to delivery points including Telegram bots and URLs stored on Steam profiles.
Show sources
- Vidar Infostealer Back With a Vengeance — www.darkreading.com — 11.09.2025 19:23
- Vidar Stealer 2.0 adds multi-threaded data theft, better evasion — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 22.10.2025 01:26
Information Snippets
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Vidar infostealer has evolved with new obfuscation techniques, including encrypted command-and-control (C2) channels, abuse of Living-off-the-Land Binaries (LOLBins), and covert exfiltration methods.
First reported: 11.09.2025 19:232 sources, 2 articlesShow sources
- Vidar Infostealer Back With a Vengeance — www.darkreading.com — 11.09.2025 19:23
- Vidar Stealer 2.0 adds multi-threaded data theft, better evasion — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 22.10.2025 01:26
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Vidar spreads through phishing emails, compromised websites, and malvertising campaigns.
First reported: 11.09.2025 19:232 sources, 2 articlesShow sources
- Vidar Infostealer Back With a Vengeance — www.darkreading.com — 11.09.2025 19:23
- Vidar Stealer 2.0 adds multi-threaded data theft, better evasion — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 22.10.2025 01:26
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The malware uses PowerShell scripts for initial infection, employing a custom Download-Reliable() function with multiple evasion techniques.
First reported: 11.09.2025 19:232 sources, 2 articlesShow sources
- Vidar Infostealer Back With a Vengeance — www.darkreading.com — 11.09.2025 19:23
- Vidar Stealer 2.0 adds multi-threaded data theft, better evasion — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 22.10.2025 01:26
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Vidar disguises its traffic as 'PowerShell' to appear legitimate and uses exponential backoff with jitter to make repeated connections less noticeable.
First reported: 11.09.2025 19:232 sources, 2 articlesShow sources
- Vidar Infostealer Back With a Vengeance — www.darkreading.com — 11.09.2025 19:23
- Vidar Stealer 2.0 adds multi-threaded data theft, better evasion — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 22.10.2025 01:26
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The malware suppresses errors during communication to reduce logs and avoid detection.
First reported: 11.09.2025 19:232 sources, 2 articlesShow sources
- Vidar Infostealer Back With a Vengeance — www.darkreading.com — 11.09.2025 19:23
- Vidar Stealer 2.0 adds multi-threaded data theft, better evasion — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 22.10.2025 01:26
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Vidar creates scheduled tasks for persistence and hooks into the CryptProtectMemory API to access encrypted data.
First reported: 11.09.2025 19:232 sources, 2 articlesShow sources
- Vidar Infostealer Back With a Vengeance — www.darkreading.com — 11.09.2025 19:23
- Vidar Stealer 2.0 adds multi-threaded data theft, better evasion — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 22.10.2025 01:26
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The C2 server used for data exfiltration is TLS-encrypted.
First reported: 11.09.2025 19:232 sources, 2 articlesShow sources
- Vidar Infostealer Back With a Vengeance — www.darkreading.com — 11.09.2025 19:23
- Vidar Stealer 2.0 adds multi-threaded data theft, better evasion — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 22.10.2025 01:26
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Vidar 2.0 has been rewritten in C, reducing dependencies and improving performance.
First reported: 22.10.2025 01:261 source, 1 articleShow sources
- Vidar Stealer 2.0 adds multi-threaded data theft, better evasion — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 22.10.2025 01:26
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Vidar 2.0 supports multi-threading for data theft, reducing dwell time.
First reported: 22.10.2025 01:261 source, 1 articleShow sources
- Vidar Stealer 2.0 adds multi-threaded data theft, better evasion — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 22.10.2025 01:26
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Vidar 2.0 includes extensive anti-analysis checks, such as debugger detection and hardware profiling.
First reported: 22.10.2025 01:261 source, 1 articleShow sources
- Vidar Stealer 2.0 adds multi-threaded data theft, better evasion — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 22.10.2025 01:26
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Vidar 2.0 employs polymorphism options with heavy control-flow flattening for evasion.
First reported: 22.10.2025 01:261 source, 1 articleShow sources
- Vidar Stealer 2.0 adds multi-threaded data theft, better evasion — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 22.10.2025 01:26
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Vidar 2.0 bypasses Chrome's App-Bound encryption by injecting malicious code into browser processes.
First reported: 22.10.2025 01:261 source, 1 articleShow sources
- Vidar Stealer 2.0 adds multi-threaded data theft, better evasion — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 22.10.2025 01:26
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Vidar 2.0 captures screenshots and sends data to delivery points including Telegram bots and URLs stored on Steam profiles.
First reported: 22.10.2025 01:261 source, 1 articleShow sources
- Vidar Stealer 2.0 adds multi-threaded data theft, better evasion — www.bleepingcomputer.com — 22.10.2025 01:26
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