{"id":"CMP-202611-y5bi2q","kind":"campaign","aliases":[],"related":[],"title":"Falcon browser spy framework: attackers plant scripts in government webmail (Roundcube) and portals, sideload a fake 'PDF Viewer' Chrome/Firefox extension and drop the Antino backdoor that uses OneDrive (Unit 42)","description":null,"summary":"Unit 42 (11 Nov 2026) describes Falcon (aka XG / Xiang Ge), a command-and-control framework that runs as JavaScript inside the victim's browser. The operator added a script tag to Roundcube webmail and other government web applications so every visitor loads the Falcon implant, which keeps an encrypted WebSocket open and lets the operator run any JavaScript in the page, harvest usernames and steal logins and session cookies. Unit 42 counted 39 affected Roundcube instances at a Middle Eastern foreign ministry. At a Southeast Asian police entity, selected users were shown a fake Adobe Flash Player update that installed Antino, a Rust backdoor that uses Microsoft OneDrive for command and control. At a Southeast Asian justice entity, a Chrome extension posing as 'PDF Viewer' was sideloaded in developer mode and ran for 3+ weeks; it reads saved passwords, cookies, history and clipboard, swaps file downloads for the operator's, proxies requests with the victim's session, and scrapes Gmail, X/Twitter DMs, Discord and Zalo. How the extension is installed is unknown (the panel lists silent-install tools for Chrome and Firefox). Confirmed victims: foreign, defense and interior ministries, police, justice, military and a telecom in one Middle Eastern and four Southeast Asian countries, March to May 2026; Antino dates back to at least Oct 2025. Whether the activity continues now is unknown; how the attackers got write access to the portals is not stated.","severity":"high","cvss":null,"epss":null,"exploited":false,"exploited_at":null,"products":[{"name":"Roundcube","fixed":[],"affected":"self-hosted webmail with injected script (no flaw named)","ecosystem":""},{"name":"Google Chrome","fixed":[],"affected":"sideloaded PDF Viewer extension mbidcmlcbgbphpoacojjbmfpohcimjji","ecosystem":""},{"name":"Mozilla Firefox","fixed":[],"affected":"sideloaded Falcon extension","ecosystem":""},{"name":"Microsoft OneDrive","fixed":[],"affected":"abused as Antino C2","ecosystem":""}],"ecosystems":[],"tags":["campaign","early-warning"],"not_affected_if":[],"how_to_check":"Look for network traffic or script tags loading from fonts.tarotfree101[.]top, fonts.chrorne[.]com or robot.avbliud[.]com (Falcon C2), and downloads from microsoft-flash[.]com (e.g. /download/Adobe_installer.exe) or wps-cn[.]com. Check Roundcube and other internal webmail, ticketing or case-management templates and headers for added <script> tags pointing to unfamiliar external domains (Unit 42 saw a resource named config_r5lfmqe3; the response is a heavily numeric JavaScript array with a small decoder loop). Look for Chrome extension ID mbidcmlcbgbphpoacojjbmfpohcimjji, or any developer-mode extension named 'PDF Viewer' (description 'Portable Document Format', version 2026.5.13.1) with broad permissions; local storage keys _domain_google_mark, clipboard_replacer_rules or popup_count; Hm_lvt_ (Baidu Analytics) cookies on internal or government apps. Antino on Windows: SHA-256 0c39264337a1186b2e765e24073399cbdcba118306614eb411e315887af578bd (flashcenter_pp_ax_install_en.exe), files %LOCALAPPDATA%\\Windows GatherOSStateKit\\tmp<8 chars>.exe, DllSafeCheck64.dll, slc.dll, %TEMP%\\SDIAG_*\\result\\result.ps1, sdiagnhost.exe adding a Run key, and OAuth/Graph traffic to a foreign OneDrive tenant writing to antino/heartbeat/ or antino/antino_upload/. Extension file hashes are listed in the Unit 42 report.","fix":"Block the listed domains. Audit Roundcube and other web app templates for injected script tags and remove them, then find out how the attacker got write access; force password resets and end sessions for users who signed in while the script was present. Block developer-mode / sideloaded browser extensions by policy (Chrome ExtensionInstallAllowlist / DeveloperToolsAvailability, Firefox enterprise policy) and remove the 'PDF Viewer' extension; reset passwords and sessions for any affected browser profile. Never install 'Adobe Flash' updates (Flash is discontinued). Isolate hosts with Antino artifacts and review OneDrive/Graph connections to tenants you do not own.","status":"open","published_at":null,"first_seen_at":"2026-11-13T22:00:54+00:00","triaged_at":"2026-11-13T22:00:54+00:00","updated_at":"2026-11-13T22:00:58+00:00","category":"infrastructure","confidence":null,"triage":{"cause":{"at":"2026-11-13T22:01:31Z","path":"tampered-install","entry":"tampered-install","reason":"The record says the attacker got write access to the portals is not stated, but at the police entity selected users were shown a fake Adobe Flash Player update that installed Antino, while the justice entity's extension installation method is unknown.","confidence":0.4}},"analyst_status":"done","analyst_note":null,"search":"'-202611':32A '11':47B '2025':263B '2026':49B,255B '3':180B '39':119B '42':30A,46B,117B 'access':276B 'activ':266B 'add':73B 'adob':141B 'affect':120B 'aka':52B 'antino':24A,147B,256B 'applic':84B 'asian':132B,162B,250B 'attack':5A,273B 'back':258B 'backdoor':25A,150B 'browser':2A,70B 'campaign':41B 'chrome':36A,166B,227B 'chrome/firefox':19A 'clipboard':189B 'cmp':31A 'command':58B,156B 'command-and-control':57B 'confirm':230B 'continu':267B 'control':60B,158B 'cooki':115B,186B 'count':118B 'countri':251B 'date':257B 'defens':233B 'describ':50B 'develop':175B 'discord':209B 'dms':208B 'download':192B 'drop':22A 'earli':43B 'early-warn':42B 'eastern':126B,246B 'encrypt':95B 'entiti':134B,164B 'everi':86B 'extens':20A,167B,214B 'fake':16A,140B 'falcon':1A,51B,90B 'file':191B 'firefox':38A,229B 'flash':142B 'foreign':127B,232B 'four':248B 'framework':4A,61B 'ge':55B 'gmail':206B 'google':35A 'got':274B 'govern':9A,82B 'harvest':108B 'histori':187B 'implant':91B 'insid':66B 'instal':146B,216B,224B 'instanc':122B 'interior':235B 'javascript':65B,104B 'justic':163B,238B 'keep':93B 'least':261B 'let':99B 'list':221B 'load':88B 'login':112B 'march':252B 'may':254B 'microsoft':39A,153B 'middl':125B,245B 'militari':239B 'ministri':128B,236B 'mode':176B 'mozilla':37A 'nov':48B 'oct':262B 'one':244B 'onedr':28A,154B 'onedrive':40A 'open':97B 'oper':72B,101B,195B 'page':107B 'panel':220B 'password':185B 'pdf':17A,170B 'plant':6A 'player':143B 'polic':133B,237B 'portal':13A,279B 'pose':168B 'proxi':197B 'ran':178B 'read':183B 'request':198B 'roundcub':11A,78B,121B 'roundcube':34A 'run':63B,102B 'rust':149B 'save':184B 'scrape':205B 'script':7A,75B 'select':135B 'session':114B,203B 'shown':138B 'sideload':14A,173B 'silent':223B 'silent-instal':222B 'southeast':131B,161B,249B 'spi':3A 'state':282B 'steal':111B 'swap':190B 'tag':76B 'telecom':242B 'tool':225B 'unit':29A,45B,116B 'unknown':218B,270B 'updat':144B 'use':27A,152B 'user':136B 'usernam':109B 'victim':68B,201B,231B 'viewer':18A,171B 'visitor':87B 'warn':44B 'web':83B 'webmail':10A,79B 'websocket':96B 'week':181B 'whether':264B 'write':275B 'x/twitter':207B 'xg':53B 'xiang':54B 'y5bi2q':33A 'zalo':211B","nicknames":["Falcon","XG","Xiang Ge","Antino"],"mitigations":[],"who_affected":null,"tier":"A","verified":{},"analyst_revisit_at":null,"fix_status":null,"audience":null,"plain_action":null,"pkeys":["antino","chrome","falcon","firefox","googlechrome","microsoftonedrive","mozillafirefox","onedrive","roundcube","xg","xiangge"],"ptokens":["chrome","firefox","google","microsoft","mozilla","onedrive","roundcube"],"labels":["campaign","earlywarning","high","infrastructure"],"campaign_type":"malware","search_a":"'-202611':32A '42':30A 'antino':24A 'attack':5A 'backdoor':25A 'browser':2A 'chrome':36A 'chrome/firefox':19A 'cmp':31A 'drop':22A 'extens':20A 'fake':16A 'falcon':1A 'firefox':38A 'framework':4A 'google':35A 'govern':9A 'microsoft':39A 'mozilla':37A 'onedr':28A 'onedrive':40A 'pdf':17A 'plant':6A 'portal':13A 'roundcub':11A 'roundcube':34A 'script':7A 'sideload':14A 'spi':3A 'unit':29A 'use':27A 'viewer':18A 'webmail':10A 'y5bi2q':33A","search_b":"'11':47B '2025':263B '2026':49B,255B '3':180B '39':119B '42':46B,117B 'access':276B 'activ':266B 'add':73B 'adob':141B 'affect':120B 'aka':52B 'antino':147B,256B 'applic':84B 'asian':132B,162B,250B 'attack':273B 'back':258B 'backdoor':150B 'browser':70B 'campaign':41B 'chrome':166B,227B 'clipboard':189B 'command':58B,156B 'command-and-control':57B 'confirm':230B 'continu':267B 'control':60B,158B 'cooki':115B,186B 'count':118B 'countri':251B 'date':257B 'defens':233B 'describ':50B 'develop':175B 'discord':209B 'dms':208B 'download':192B 'earli':43B 'early-warn':42B 'eastern':126B,246B 'encrypt':95B 'entiti':134B,164B 'everi':86B 'extens':167B,214B 'fake':140B 'falcon':51B,90B 'file':191B 'firefox':229B 'flash':142B 'foreign':127B,232B 'four':248B 'framework':61B 'ge':55B 'gmail':206B 'got':274B 'govern':82B 'harvest':108B 'histori':187B 'implant':91B 'insid':66B 'instal':146B,216B,224B 'instanc':122B 'interior':235B 'javascript':65B,104B 'justic':163B,238B 'keep':93B 'least':261B 'let':99B 'list':221B 'load':88B 'login':112B 'march':252B 'may':254B 'microsoft':153B 'middl':125B,245B 'militari':239B 'ministri':128B,236B 'mode':176B 'nov':48B 'oct':262B 'one':244B 'onedr':154B 'open':97B 'oper':72B,101B,195B 'page':107B 'panel':220B 'password':185B 'pdf':170B 'player':143B 'polic':133B,237B 'portal':279B 'pose':168B 'proxi':197B 'ran':178B 'read':183B 'request':198B 'roundcub':78B,121B 'run':63B,102B 'rust':149B 'save':184B 'scrape':205B 'script':75B 'select':135B 'session':114B,203B 'shown':138B 'sideload':173B 'silent':223B 'silent-instal':222B 'southeast':131B,161B,249B 'state':282B 'steal':111B 'swap':190B 'tag':76B 'telecom':242B 'tool':225B 'unit':45B,116B 'unknown':218B,270B 'updat':144B 'use':152B 'user':136B 'usernam':109B 'victim':68B,201B,231B 'viewer':171B 'visitor':87B 'warn':44B 'web':83B 'webmail':79B 'websocket':96B 'week':181B 'whether':264B 'write':275B 'x/twitter':207B 'xg':53B 'xiang':54B 'zalo':211B","search_c":"","cause_entry":"tampered-install","cause_path":"tampered-install","disclosures_checked_at":null,"first_public_at":"2026-10-27T20:18:40+00:00","kev":null,"cvss_vector":null,"cvss_by":null,"poc_count":0,"sources":[{"source":"analyst","external_id":"CMP-202611-y5bi2q","url":"https://www.crowdstrike.com/en-us/blog/vapor-panda-uses-artex-to-scale-global-campaign/","severity":null,"published_at":null,"modified_at":null,"first_seen_at":"2026-11-13T22:00:54+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-11-13T22:00:54+00:00","note":null,"cites":["https://www.crowdstrike.com/en-us/blog/vapor-panda-uses-artex-to-scale-global-campaign/","https://thehackernews.com/2026/11/backdoored-docker-image-for-artex-ai.html"]}],"documents":[{"id":150359,"url":"https://x.com/Unit42_Intel/status/2121359457263194271","title":"@Unit42_Intel: We analyzed Falcon, a browser C2 framework targeting government portals in five ","kind":"post","source":"x","publisher":null,"text":"We analyzed Falcon, a browser C2 framework targeting government portals in five countries. Attackers steal credentials, sideload malicious PDF viewer extensions and deliver the Antino implant. Read our complete analysis: https://t.co/BgCfnXae5l https://t.co/zUrU4l28Kf\n\nlikes 12 reposts 1","published_at":"2026-11-13T21:48:02+00:00","relation":"describes","confidence":null,"note":null},{"id":126499,"url":"https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/falcon-c2-browser-compromise/","title":"The XG Files: Falcon C2 Flying Under The (Browser) Radar","kind":"blog","source":"blog","publisher":null,"text":"Unit 42: Falcon (aka XG, Xiang Ge) browser C2 framework. Operator injected script tags into government web apps and Roundcube webmail (39 Roundcube instances at a Middle Eastern foreign ministry), harvested usernames, showed fake Adobe Flash update delivering Antino Rust implant (OneDrive C2) from microsoft-flash[.]com; sideloaded 'PDF Viewer' Chrome/Firefox extension (ID mbidcmlcbgbphpoacojjbmfpohcimjji, v2026.5.13.1) stealing passwords, cookies, clipboard, Gmail, X DMs, Discord, Zalo, swapping downloads. Government targets in one Middle Eastern and four Southeast Asian countries, March-May 2026. IOCs: fonts.tarotfree101[.]top, fonts.chrorne[.]com, robot.avbliud[.]com, microsoft-flash[.]com, wps-cn[.]com; Antino 0c39264337a1186b2e765e24073399cbdcba118306614eb411e315887af578bd flashcenter_pp_ax_install_en.exe; %LOCALAPPDATA%\\Windows GatherOSStateKit\\, %TEMP%\\SDIAG_*, OneDrive paths antino/heartbeat/, antino/antino_upload/; Hm_lvt_ cookies on internal apps.","published_at":"2026-11-11T00:00:00+00:00","relation":"describes","confidence":null,"note":null},{"id":7677,"url":"https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50265202","title":"The NYPD's New Cell Tracker Is Built for Mobility","kind":"post","source":"hackernews","publisher":null,"text":"The NYPD's New Cell Tracker Is Built for Mobility\nhttps://reclaimthenet.org/nypd-cognyte-falconet-cell-tracker-surveillance\n\n1 points, 0 comments on Hacker News","published_at":"2026-10-27T20:18:40+00:00","relation":"discussion","confidence":null,"note":null},{"id":23994,"url":"https://x.com/GreyNoiseIO/status/2116177671000641990","title":"@GreyNoiseIO: GreyNoise is heading to Barcelona for #FalCon Europe!\n\nStop by Booth #211 to see","kind":"post","source":"x","publisher":null,"text":"GreyNoise is heading to Barcelona for #FalCon Europe!\n\nStop by Booth #211 to see how GreyNoise integrates with @CrowdStrike Falcon to cut through alert noise and surface what actually matters.\n\nDiscover ways to engage: https://t.co/7dZMTFmGNr https://t.co/7O4i5CzuFb\n\nlikes 0 reposts 0","published_at":"2026-10-30T14:37:28+00:00","relation":"discussion","confidence":null,"note":"@GreyNoiseIO"},{"id":51334,"url":"https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50334987","title":"From Gianni Infantino to my dishwasher: Edith Pritchett's week in Venn diagrams","kind":"post","source":"hackernews","publisher":null,"text":"From Gianni Infantino to my dishwasher: Edith Pritchett's week in Venn diagrams\nhttps://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/picture/2026/nov/02/from-gianni-infantino-to-my-dishwasher-edith-pritchetts-week-in-venn-diagrams-cartoon\n\n1 points, 0 comments on Hacker News","published_at":"2026-11-02T10:13:40+00:00","relation":"discussion","confidence":null,"note":null},{"id":137057,"url":"https://x.com/TheHackersNews/status/2120941100441702854","title":"@TheHackersNews: 🚨 Microsoft uncovers 59 Linux kernel bugs, including 8 with working root exploit","kind":"post","source":"x","publisher":null,"text":"🚨 Microsoft uncovers 59 Linux kernel bugs, including 8 with working root exploits.\n\nAlso in this week's #ThreatsDay:\n\n• Falcon browser spyware\n• GSocket backdoor surge\n• Europol server takedown\n• $6.43B crypto laundering\n• AI-powered espionage\n• Citrus ransomware\n• OAuth https://t.co/TVq1v9ahmZ\n\nlikes 68 reposts 17","published_at":"2026-11-12T18:05:38+00:00","relation":"discussion","confidence":null,"note":"@TheHackersNews"},{"id":19904,"url":"https://www.crowdstrike.com/en-us/blog/vapor-panda-uses-artex-to-scale-global-campaign/","title":"VAPOR PANDA Uses AI-Driven ARTEX to Scale a Global Espionage Campaign (CrowdStrike)","kind":"blog","source":"analyst","publisher":null,"text":"CrowdStrike OverWatch: from 2026-10-17, a single ARTEX controller linked to China-nexus VAPOR PANDA ran parallel AI-agent intrusions (DeepSeek + a second commercial LLM, human operator steering in Chinese) against 200+ organisations in 14+ countries over 11 days: foreign ministries (LatAm, Europe, Asia, Middle East), US pharma/semiconductor/defense/nuclear/finance/think tanks, telecoms in US, Belgium, Philippines. Post-exploitation confirmed at 9 orgs with BLOODALCHEMY backdoor (GameHook binary renamed svchost.exe sideloads graphics-hook-filter64.dll, decrypts graphics-hook_config.bin; path D:\\ProjectX\\Merman_New\\); password spraying at 12+ more. Techniques: unsigned SAML assertion + XXE to query cloud IMDS for an admin role, web shells (JSP/PHP), unauthenticated orchestration service to root in containers, LAPS reads, RBCD impersonation, forging mail admin tokens with unrotated keys from old directory exports, VPN configs from mail; agents told to find hosts without Falcon. Separate from Storm-0940 ARTEX activity. Hunt: artx/artex in command lines, artx-prefixed cloud roles, art18- admin-command comments, C:\\ProgramData\\artx5v\\. IOCs: nginxmysql[.]com 45.153.126[.]223; sqlserver-sqlite[.]com 89.46.234[.]50; www[.]ddduuuppp[.]com 192.121.47[.]20; SHA256 49fe70419fd19b81ca8d730a6ef7c1ec71b681d60b390761070d42686c7d2068 (renamed svchost.exe), 3fb5a9fb3e2cb1d6208966bd4e55d10282d19c7250d827efa560463d60a12ee4 (loader DLL), 364251838edfcf5ef1107fa692da3c5bd9a540482449f645992830134bf807ab (payload). Tunnels: Chisel, SoftEther, Tor/SOCKS. Recs: rotate keys incl. those in old backups/exports, enforce SAML signature validation, require IMDSv2, restrict cloud command-execution roles, patch internet-facing appliances, EDR on all servers.","published_at":"2026-10-29T00:00:00+00:00","relation":"mentions","confidence":null,"note":null},{"id":77393,"url":"https://x.com/GreyNoiseIO/status/2118367352639341008","title":"@GreyNoiseIO: NoiseFest Barcelona was a magical evening 🪄 🎩Thank you to everyone who joined Gr","kind":"post","source":"x","publisher":null,"text":"NoiseFest Barcelona was a magical evening 🪄 🎩Thank you to everyone who joined GreyNoise, @Vega_Threat, and @NomaSecurity at Nobu Barcelona for cocktails, great conversation, and a night we won’t forget.\n\nUntil next time, Barcelona!\n#NoiseFest #FalCon #GreyNoise https://t.co/RNRFj4hsgm\n\nlikes 8 reposts 1","published_at":"2026-11-05T15:38:28+00:00","relation":"discussion","confidence":null,"note":"@GreyNoiseIO"},{"id":74818,"url":"https://thehackernews.com/2026/11/backdoored-docker-image-for-artex-ai.html","title":"Backdoored Docker Image for ARTEX AI Hacking Tool Exposes Servers to Root Access","kind":"blog","source":"analyst","publisher":null,"text":"The Hacker News (Ravie Lakshmanan), citing researcher Badbyte: after ARTEX's developer took the repo off GitHub, copies appeared (github.com/trhhubsd/ARTEXX, github.com/mhtsec/ARTEX, github.com/RuoJi6/ARTEX). The trhhubsd copy (2,449 stars, 600+ forks) changed one line in docker-compose.yml to pull Docker Hub image tomicdd/artex (9,000 pulls), which adds a hidden verifyCaptcha() in the login handler: if the CAPTCHA field starts with a secret marker, the rest runs via sh -c as root before any credential check. congdonglinux/artex is identical and also backdoored. Other artex namespaces: mianhuatang11, autumn26, andy1099zz, dgddw, trhhubsd, ylh440104 (not stated as backdoored). 62 internet-facing consoles served the backdoored build 2-4 Nov 2026; first by 20 Oct 2026, 12 days after image push; 26 US, 17 Hong Kong, 7 China; 1,645 ARTEX consoles total as of 4 Nov. Also: CERT-In reports AI-assisted actor Crafty Falcon targeting Indian BFSI using ARTEX, PentAGI, Cairn, CyberStrikeAI.","published_at":"2026-11-05T08:42:00+00:00","relation":"mentions","confidence":null,"note":null}],"disclosures":[],"exploit_sources":[],"notice":"Free to read, with fair use of about 60 pages a minute. For higher limits or API access: sales@infrastack.ai"}