Operation AppleJeus: Lazarus hits cryptocurrency exchange with fake installer and macOS malware
2018-08-23 • Kaspersky •
Kaspersky describes Operation AppleJeus, a Lazarus campaign that targeted a cryptocurrency exchange through a trojanized Celas Trade Pro cryptocurrency trading application. The victim installed the application from a legitimate-looking website after receiving a download link by email, and the Windows installer launched a signed Updater.exe that collected host and process information before contacting www.celasllc[.]com/checkupdate.php. The updater disguised encrypted data transfer as GIF-like upload content, used hardcoded XOR and RC4 keys, and downloaded an additional payload when the server returned HTTP 200. The operation also included a macOS version with a hidden autoupdater launched through a dot-prefixed plist, making this notable as one of the first observed Lazarus malware operations against macOS. The report matters because it shows Lazarus using supply-chain-style software trojanization against cryptocurrency targets and expanding beyond Windows-only tooling.
Indicators of Compromise
| Type | Value | First Seen | Last Seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| DOMAIN | celasllc.com | 2018-08-23 | 2024-03-05 |
| HASH | e2199fc4e4b31f7e4c61f6d90385776… | 2018-08-23 | 2021-12-21 |
| HASH | 4f9a8e4f807b52f941213b0d55990a3… | 2018-08-23 | 2021-12-21 |
| HASH | 08012e68f4f84bba8b74690c379cb0b… | 2018-08-23 | 2021-12-21 |
| HASH | d404c0a634cef0d32029286fde8efcc… | 2018-08-23 | 2021-02-18 |
| HASH | bdff852398f174e9eef1db1c2d3fefd… | 2018-08-15 | 2021-02-18 |
| HASH | 6ee19085ad5c17f989616d17ef68041… | 2018-08-23 | 2021-02-17 |
| HASH | efa6c2894896343e55337231989d46c… | 2018-08-23 | 2021-02-17 |
| HASH | e4226e9f6faaafaafca5f572770eeff… | 2018-08-23 | 2021-02-17 |
| IPv4 | 185.142.236.226 | 2018-08-23 | 2021-02-17 |
| IPv4 | 196.38.48.121 | 2018-08-23 | 2021-02-17 |
| HASH | 7f000893320d77e012686e20e1212e2… | 2018-08-23 | 2021-02-17 |
| IPv4 | 185.142.236.213 | 2018-08-23 | 2021-02-17 |
| HASH | 0b6056e7ce278fb31bf644ef41e9532… | 2018-08-23 | 2020-03-09 |
| HASH | ca70aa2f89bee0c22ebc18bd5569e54… | 2018-08-23 | 2020-03-09 |
| HASH | 1b8d3e69fc214cb7a08bef3c0012471… | 2018-08-23 | 2020-03-09 |
| HASH | 0c06e129902925c7ebd70e93d4d0970… | 2018-08-23 | 2020-03-09 |
| HASH | c0e22e80ea020ca8f71f58a8b538552… | 2018-08-23 | 2020-03-09 |
| HASH | fe29ed0336d7b3259ab8c391e0d0f40… | 2018-08-23 | 2018-08-23 |
| HASH | d3ef262bae0beb5d35841d131b3f89a… | 2018-08-23 | 2018-08-23 |
| HASH | 7c61fc881b84a60c84876f9d6ff7400… | 2018-08-23 | 2018-08-23 |
| HASH | ef400d73c6920ac811af401259e3764… | 2018-08-23 | 2018-08-23 |
| HASH | 8ae766795cda6336fd5cad9e89199ea… | 2018-08-23 | 2018-08-23 |
| HASH | d555dcb6da4a6b87e256ef75c015078… | 2018-08-23 | 2018-08-23 |
| HASH | 6829b51523f69bd0ea6ebc6157e989d… | 2018-08-23 | 2018-08-23 |
| HASH | e1ed584a672cab33af29114576ad6cce | 2018-08-23 | 2018-08-23 |
| HASH | 0a15a33844c9df11f12a4889ae7b7e4b | 2018-08-23 | 2018-08-23 |
| HASH | d8484469587756ce0d10a09027044808 | 2018-08-23 | 2018-08-23 |
| [email protected] | 2018-08-23 | 2018-08-23 | |
| URL | https://www.domains4bitcoins.co… | 2018-08-23 | 2018-08-23 |
| URL | https://libertyvps.net/ | 2018-08-23 | 2018-08-23 |
| URL | https://www.changeip.com/ | 2018-08-23 | 2018-08-23 |
| DOMAIN | libertyvps.net | 2018-08-23 | 2018-08-23 |
| IPv4 | 80.82.64.91 | 2018-08-23 | 2018-08-23 |
| IPv4 | 185.142.239.173 | 2018-08-23 | 2018-08-23 |
| URL | https://www.celasllc.com/checku… | 2018-08-15 | 2018-08-23 |