The North Korean risk actor often known as the Lazarus Group has been noticed leveraging a “web-based administrative platform” to supervise its command-and-control (C2) infrastructure, giving the adversary the power to centrally supervise all elements of their campaigns.
“Every C2 server hosted a web-based administrative platform, constructed with a React software and a Node.js API,” SecurityScorecard’s STRIKE group mentioned in a brand new report shared with The Hacker Information. “This administrative layer was constant throughout all of the C2 servers analyzed, even because the attackers different their payloads and obfuscation methods to evade detection.”
The hidden framework has been described as a complete system and a hub that enables attackers to arrange and handle exfiltrated information, keep oversight of their compromised hosts, and deal with payload supply.
The net-based admin panel has been recognized in reference to a provide chain assault marketing campaign dubbed Operation Phantom Circuit concentrating on the cryptocurrency sector and builders worldwide with trojanized variations of legit software program packages that include backdoors.
The marketing campaign, which came about between September 2024 and January 2025, is estimated to have claimed 233 victims internationally, with most of them recognized in Brazil, France, and India. In January alone, the exercise focused 110 distinctive victims in India.
The Lazarus Group has change into one thing of a social engineering knowledgeable, luring potential targets utilizing LinkedIn as an preliminary an infection vector underneath the guise of profitable job alternatives or a joint collaboration on crypto-related tasks.
The operation’s hyperlinks to Pyongyang stem from using Astrill VPN – which has beforehand been linked to the fraudulent data expertise (IT) employee scheme – and the invention of six distinct North Korean IP addresses which have been discovered initiating connections, which had been routed by Astrill VPN exit nodes and Oculus Proxy endpoints.
“The obfuscated visitors in the end reached the C2 infrastructure, hosted on Stark Industries servers. These servers facilitated payload supply, sufferer administration, and information exfiltration,” SecurityScorecard mentioned.
Additional evaluation of the admin part has revealed that it permits the risk actors to view exfiltrated information from victims, in addition to search and filter of curiosity.
“By embedding obfuscated backdoors into legit software program packages, Lazarus deceived customers into executing compromised purposes, enabling them to exfiltrate delicate information and handle victims by command-and-control (C2) servers over port 1224,” the corporate mentioned.
“The marketing campaign’s infrastructure leveraged hidden React-based web-admin panels and Node.js APIs for centralized administration of stolen information, affecting over 233 victims worldwide. This exfiltrated information was traced again to Pyongyang, North Korea, by a layered community of Astrill VPNs and intermediate proxies.”
