Maltrail

Content

• Introduction
• Architecture
• Demo pages
• Requirements
• Quick start
• Administrator's guide
• Sensor
• Server
• User's guide
• Reporting interface
• Real-life cases
• Mass scans
• Anonymous attackers
• Service attackers
• Malware
• Suspicious domain lookups
• Suspicious ipinfo requests
• Suspicious direct file downloads
• Suspicious HTTP requests
• Port scanning
• DNS resource exhaustion
• Data leakage
• False positives
• Best practice(s)
• License
• Sponsors
• Developers
• Presentations
• Publications
• Blacklist
• Thank you
• Third-party integrations

Introduction

Maltrail is a malicious traffic detection system, utilizing publicly available (black)lists containing malicious and/or generally suspicious trails, along with static trails compiled from various AV reports and custom user defined lists, where a trail can be anything from a domain name (e.g. zvpprsensinaix.com for Banjori malware), URL (e.g. hXXp://109.162.38.120/harsh02.exe for known malicious executable), IP address (e.g. 185.130.5.231 for known attacker) or HTTP User-Agent header value (e.g. sqlmap for automatic SQL injection and database takeover tool). Also, it uses (optional) advanced heuristic mechanisms that can help in the discovery of unknown threats (e.g. new malware).

The following (black)lists (i.e. feeds) are being utilized:

360bigviktor, 360chinad, 360conficker, 360cryptolocker, 360gameover, 
360locky, 360necurs, 360suppobox, 360tofsee, 360virut, abuseipdb, alienvault, 
atmos, badips, bitcoinnodes, blackbook, blocklist, botscout, 
bruteforceblocker, ciarmy, cobaltstrike, cruzit, cybercrimetracker, 
dataplane, dshieldip, emergingthreatsbot, emergingthreatscip, 
emergingthreatsdns, feodotrackerip, gpfcomics, greensnow, ipnoise,
kriskinteldns, kriskintelip, malc0de, malwaredomainlistdns, malwaredomains,
maxmind, minerchk, myip, openphish, palevotracker, policeman, pony,
proxylists, proxyrss, proxyspy, ransomwaretrackerdns, ransomwaretrackerip, 
ransomwaretrackerurl, riproxies, rutgers, sblam, socksproxy, sslbl, 
sslproxies, talosintelligence, torproject, trickbot, turris, urlhaus, 
viriback, vxvault, zeustrackermonitor, zeustrackerurl, etc.

As for static entries, the trails for the following malicious entities (e.g. malware C&Cs or sinkholes) have been manually included (from various AV reports and personal research):

1ms0rry, 404, 9002, aboc, absent, ab, acbackdoor, acridrain, activeagent, 
adrozek, advisorbot, adwind, adylkuzz, adzok, afrodita, agaadex, agenttesla, 
aldibot, alina, allakore, almalocker, almashreq, alpha, alureon, amadey, 
amavaldo, amend_miner, ammyyrat, android_acecard, android_actionspy, 
android_adrd, android_ahmythrat, android_alienspy, android_andichap, 
android_androrat, android_anubis, android_arspam, android_asacub, 
android_backflash, android_bankbot, android_bankun, android_basbanke, 
android_basebridge, android_besyria, android_blackrock, android_boxer, 
android_buhsam, android_busygasper, android_calibar, android_callerspy, 
android_camscanner, android_cerberus, android_chuli, android_circle, 
android_claco, android_clickfraud, android_cometbot, android_cookiethief, 
android_coolreaper, android_copycat, android_counterclank, android_cyberwurx, 
android_darkshades, android_dendoroid, android_dougalek, android_droidjack, 
android_droidkungfu, android_enesoluty, android_eventbot, android_ewalls, 
android_ewind, android_exodus, android_exprespam, android_fakeapp, 
android_fakebanco, android_fakedown, android_fakeinst, android_fakelog, 
android_fakemart, android_fakemrat, android_fakeneflic, android_fakesecsuit, 
android_fanta, android_feabme, android_flexispy, android_fobus, 
android_fraudbot, android_friend, android_frogonal, android_funkybot, 
android_gabas, android_geinimi, android_generic, android_geost, 
android_ghostpush, android_ginmaster, android_ginp, android_gmaster, 
android_gnews, android_godwon, android_golddream, android_goldencup, 
android_golfspy, android_gonesixty, android_goontact, android_gplayed, 
android_gustuff, android_gypte, android_henbox, android_hiddad, 
android_hydra, android_ibanking, android_joker, android_jsmshider, 
android_kbuster, android_kemoge, android_ligarat, android_lockdroid, 
android_lotoor, android_lovetrap, android_malbus, android_mandrake, 
android_maxit, android_mobok, android_mobstspy, android_monokle, 
android_notcompatible, android_oneclickfraud, android_opfake, 
android_ozotshielder, android_parcel, android_phonespy, android_pikspam, 
android_pjapps, android_qdplugin, android_raddex, android_ransomware, 
android_redalert, android_regon, android_remotecode, android_repane, 
android_riltok, android_roamingmantis, android_roidsec, android_rotexy, 
android_samsapo, android_sandrorat, android_selfmite, android_shadowvoice, 
android_shopper, android_simbad, android_simplocker, android_skullkey, 
android_sndapps, android_spynote, android_spytekcell, android_stels, 
android_svpeng, android_swanalitics, android_teelog, android_telerat, 
android_tetus, android_thiefbot, android_tonclank, android_torec, 
android_triada, android_uracto, android_usbcleaver, android_viceleaker, 
android_vmvol, android_walkinwat, android_windseeker, android_wirex, 
android_wolfrat, android_xavirad, android_xbot007, android_xerxes, 
android_xhelper, android_xploitspy, android_z3core, android_zertsecurity, 
android_ztorg, andromeda, antefrigus, antibot, anubis, anuna, apocalypse, 
apt_12, apt_17, apt_18, apt_23, apt_27, apt_30, apt_33, apt_37, apt_38, 
apt_aridviper, apt_babar, apt_bahamut, etc.

Architecture

Maltrail is based on the Traffic -> Sensor <-> Server <-> Client architecture. Sensor(s) is a standalone component running on the monitoring node (e.g. Linux platform connected passively to the SPAN/mirroring port or transparently inline on a Linux bridge) or at the standalone machine (e.g. Honeypot) where it "monitors" the passing Traffic for blacklisted items/trails (i.e. domain names, URLs and/or IPs). In case of a positive match, it sends the event details to the (central) Server where they are being stored inside the appropriate logging directory (i.e. LOG_DIR described in the Configuration section). If Sensor is being run on the same machine as Server (default configuration), logs are stored directly into the local logging directory. Otherwise, they are being sent via UDP messages to the remote server (i.e. LOG_SERVER described in the Configuration section).

Server's primary role is to store the event details and provide back-end support for the reporting web application. In default configuration, server and sensor will run on the same machine. So, to prevent potential disruptions in sensor activities, the front-end reporting part is based on the "Fat client" architecture (i.e. all data post-processing is being done inside the client's web browser instance). Events (i.e. log entries) for the chosen (24h) period are transferred to the Client, where the reporting web application is solely responsible for the presentation part. Data is sent toward the client in compressed chunks, where they are processed sequentially. The final report is created in a highly condensed form, practically allowing presentation of virtually unlimited number of events.

Note: Server component can be skipped altogether, and just use the standalone Sensor. In such case, all events would be stored in the local logging directory, while the log entries could be examined either manually or by some CSV reading application.

Demo pages

Fully functional demo pages with collected real-life threats can be found here.

Requirements

To run Maltrail properly, Python 2.6, 2.7 or 3.x is required on *nix/BSD system, together with installed pcapy-ng package.

NOTE: Please use pcapy-ng. The older pcapy library is deprecated and causes issues in Python 3 environments. Examples.

• Sensor component requires at least 1GB of RAM to run in single-process mode or more if run in multiprocessing mode, depending on the value used for option CAPTURE_BUFFER. Additionally, Sensor component (in the general case) requires administrative/root privileges.

• Server component does not have any special requirements.

Quick start

The following set of commands should get your Maltrail Sensor up and running (out of the box with default settings and monitoring interface "any"):

• For **Ubuntu/Debi