Xenomorph Android Banking Trojan Returns with a New and More Powerful Variant

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Mar 10, 2023Ravie LakshmananMobile Security / Android

A new variant of the Android banking trojan named Xenomorph has surfaced in the wild, latest findings from ThreatFabric reveal.

Named “Xenomorph 3rd generation” by the Hadoken Security Group, the threat actor behind the operation, the updated version comes with new features that allow it to perform financial fraud in a seamless manner.

“This new version of the malware adds many new capabilities to an already feature-rich Android banker, most notably the introduction of a very extensive runtime engine powered by Accessibility services, which is used by actors to implement a complete ATS framework,” the Dutch security firm said in a report shared with The Hacker News.

Xenomorph first came to light a year ago in February 2022, when it was found to target 56 European banks through dropper apps published on the Google Play Store.

In contrast, the latest iteration of the banker – which has a dedicated website advertising its features – is designed to target more than 400 banking and financial institutions, including several cryptocurrency wallets.

ThreatFabric said it detected samples of the malware distributed via Discord’s Content Delivery Network (CDN), a technique that has witnessed a surge since 2020. Two of the Xenomorph-laced apps are listed below –

• Play Protect (com.great.calm)
• Play Protect (meritoriousness.mollah.presser)

“Xenomorph v3 is deployed by a Zombinder app ‘bound’ to a legitimate currency converter, which downloads as an ‘update’ an application posing as Google Protect,” ThreatFabric explained.

Zombinder refers to an APK binding service advertised on the dark web that allows cybercriminals to deliver malware via trojanized versions of legitimate apps. The offering has since been shut down.

Targets of the latest campaign go beyond its European focus (i.e., Spain, Italy, and Portugal) to include Belgian and Canadian financial entities.

Xenomorph, like other banking malware, is known to abuse Accessibility Services to perform fraud through overlay attacks. It also packs in capabilities to automatically complete fraudulent transactions on infected devices, a technique called Automated Transfer System (ATS).

With banks moving away from SMS for two-factor authentication (2FA) to authenticator apps, the Xenomorph trojan incorporates an ATS module that allows it to launch the app and extract the authenticator codes.

The Android malware further boasts of cookie-stealing functions, enabling the threat actors to perform account takeover attacks.

“With these new features, Xenomorph is now able to completely automate the whole fraud chain, from infection to funds exfiltration, making it one of the most advanced and dangerous Android Malware trojans in circulation,” the company said.