PhantomVAI Loader Delivers a Range of Infostealers

    Date: 10/16/2025

    Severity: High

    Summary

    PhantomVAI Loader is a stealthy, multi-stage loader propagated via phishing that uses obfuscated scripts and steganography to hide payloads. Originally called Katz Stealer Loader for delivering Katz Stealer, it has evolved to deliver multiple infostealers (including Katz, AsyncRAT, XWorm, FormBook and DCRat) and is offered as malware-as-a-service. Campaigns target organizations worldwide across sectors such as manufacturing, education, utilities, technology, healthcare, information, and government.

    Indicators of Compromise (IOC) List

    Hash

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    2852770f459c0c6a0ecfc450b29201bd348a55fb3a7a5ecdcc9986127fdb786b

    Gurucul Threat Detection and Incident Response (TDIR) Queries for Detection

    Detection Query 1 :

    sha256hash IN ("5dd629b610aee4ed7777e81fc5135d20f59e43b5d9cc55cdad291fcf4b9d20eb","309da3c8422422089b7f9af3b1b3f89e2d5c36e48e4d9d9faa07affb7d9a7b17","639eb0d2c2da5487412e7891638b334927232ff270781fad81dc5371f44f7c8e","373c820cc395ea5b9c6f38b9470913e6684e8afea59e9dfeb3da490014074bf1","96ada593d54949707437fa39628960b1c5d142a5b1cb371339acc8f86dbc7678","bf6a5e37097330d7d68b6ac3deb6a10a1d3269be575fd51315774d1e7e1eca34","c3de728850dc1e777ad50a211a4be212ca6c4ac9d94bf7bb6d5f7fe5f4574021","e05b7f44ef8d0b58cfc2f407b84dcff1cb24e0ec392f792a49ad71e7eab39143","a7993775f4518c6c68db08e226c11e51f9bc53314e4ff9385269baac582e2528","87fae395c0e9ce3631dece94971befa578623ff0540d06539f583df921568814","c0e3c93c59b45e47dda93438311f50ddb95808fd615a467285c9c359bce02cf0","4b8bde867c06b617d731ea9e965bf64800330701942324e475b8119352122e7c","74052cf53b45399b31743a6c4d3a1643e125a277e4ddcfcad4f2903b32bc7dc4","2dba8e38ac557374ae8cbf28f5be0541338afba8977fbff9b732dee7cee7b43e","45fddf55acb50df5b027701073dee604b4135f750c585b29d6dcac824f26ae00","b60ee1cd3a2c0ffadaad24a992c1699bcc29e2d2c73107f605264dbf5a10d9b6","ece74382ec6f319890e24abbf8e0a022d0a4bd7e0aeaf13c20bab3a37035dcd1","4346c3c08df612b8bcd23a3b57845755bafb0efc57ff77203f8da3b46628a008","b912f06cf65233b9767953ccf4e60a1a7c262ae54506b311c65f411db6f70128","a62a81785714844a099a918c66df9367b5eb14df06e589d59bc81f392358c5cc","84e0a543df302b18f1188139160fc5a8bd669da071e492453d5d6756064ee568","fcad234dc2ad5e2d8215bcf6caac29aef62666c34564e723fa6d2eee8b6468ed","02aa167e4bb41e3e40a75954f5a0bd5915f9a16fd6c21b544a557f2a7df3c89b","c929ee54bdd45df0fa26d0e357ba554ef01159533501ec40f003a374e1e36974","964ec70fc2fdf23f928f78c8af63ce50aff058b05787e43c034e04ea6cbe30ef","4c5d7e437f59b41f9f321be8c17ae1f128c04628107a36f83df21b33d12ff8db","97b76d61941b790deff9f025dec55484e32ebff32b1b6e173d6fbf42cd8996ef","3c6a8132df3351e2b7d186d0b3f41847e6920ebcb940548e3c9ed274901104c2","9f28f82d21fe99d0efdcab403f73870d68fd94e6d0f762e658d923ccd1e7424c","20bde6276d6355d33396d5ebfc523b4f4587f706b599573de78246811aabd33c","0c0dae4d7da069c928f06addb1c5c824e820e4556a1244142f56227954bf9c7d","d92bb6e47cb0a0bdbb51403528ccfe643a9329476af53b5a729f04a4d2139647")

    Detection Query 2 :

    sha256hash IN ("b263df6b58c9259000e45a238327de8c07e79f2e7462c2b687c1c5771bac1dd5","3a039ce210a0b5ff65f57d304519b885bae91d1bec345c54e59e07bc39fca97e","01222c6c2dbb021275688b0965e72183876b7adb5363342d7ac49df6c3e36ebe","9b6fb4c4dd2c0fa86bffb4c64387e5a1a90adb04cb7b5f7e39352f9eae4b93fa","e345d793477abbecc2c455c8c76a925c0dfe99ec4c65b7c353e8a8c8b14da2b6","0df13fd42fb4a4374981474ea87895a3830eddcc7f3bd494e76acd604c4004f7","87c9bede1feac2e3810f3d269b4492fe0902e6303020171e561face400e9bdb4","553d76d0c449377be550570e65e2bcae4371964fc3b539a1e1022d80699da5db","4ab4a37db01eba53ee47b31cba60c7a3771b759633717e2c7b9c75310f57f429","76cbb0abd9511aab2cc9dda993e3b9ab77afb09d2959f143647065ca47e725cc","6051384898e7c2e48a2ffb170d71dbf87e6410206614989a037dac7c11b8d346","e663916cc91b4285a1ee762716ff7ce4537153c7893e2d88c13c7e57bbb646a9","d5ead682c9bed748fd13e3f9d0b7d7bacaf4af38839f2e4a35dc899ef1e261e2","c44bac8b66ad11756b4c5ff3b1cd7e1187c634088f9e7aa2250067033df24e8d","63dfdb4927c0bca64f8952904f463330360eb052f2a2a749bf91a851a2be89b4","b2245ca7672310681caa52dc72e448983d921463c94cdab0ba9c40ad6b2a58fe","05d66568017f2c2e417fa6680f9b4fa4a8a9bc1b7256fe46fbf3e71956b99773","9ae50e74303cb3392a5f5221815cd210af6f4ebf9632ed8c4007a12defdfa50d","893ee952fa11f4bdc71aee3d828332f939f93722f2ec4ae6c1edc47bed598345","6f7c5bad09698592411560a236e87acae3195031646ff06a24f1cfada6774ba6","6aa2989ebb38e77a247318b5a3410b5d4f72b283c7833a0b800ea7d1de84ccc6","7ddce5be3642b66c7559821e26877c9f0242c748da64b2e68a81844bb1a6b148","920309f3822f993afeaa8ec70b4ef6b43dd2562be85cc2985efedc6cda2e7578","421c4b4b53d291da2b53c068a491b3913d92fe0eb6f330861e7b60f3d9f8eee7","ed1b4a03595c59e5a90dd4f02f1993a2c5a43ca46a33aab0d15a1bbb1f8b3d30","f05bc36211301087e403df09daa014ea8f04f5bdae5cef75eb866b56b82af2d6","c45d3b6d2237fc500688a73d3ba18335d0002917f1a1f09df6934c87deaa097f","e5daa86418ac444d590a2c693cd7749d87134c47d8e0dbac30c69f23a8e8131f","a6b736988246610da83ce17c2c15af189d3a3a4f82233e4fedfabdcbbde0cff0","925e6375deaa38d978e00a73f9353a9d0df81f023ab85cf9a1dc046e403830a8","b249814a74dff9316dc29b670e1d8ed80eb941b507e206ca0dfdc4ff033b1c1f","11e90765640cbb12b13afa1bcec31f96f50578a5e65e2aa7be24465001b92e41","fdc86a5b3d7df37a72c3272836f743747c47bfbc538f05af9ecf78547fa2e789","25b1ec4d62c67bd51b43de181e0f7d1bda389345b8c290e35f93ccb444a2cf7a","2852770f459c0c6a0ecfc450b29201bd348a55fb3a7a5ecdcc9986127fdb786b")

    Reference:    

    https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/phantomvai-loader-delivers-infostealers/


    Tags

    MalwarePhantomVAIPhishingSteganographyKatz StealerInfostealerAsyncRATXWormFormBookDCRATCritical ManufacturingEducationInformation TechnologyHealthcare and Public HealthGovernment Services and FacilitiesWater and Wastewater SectorMaaS

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