Karma-X Blog
Disrupting Hell's Gate, Caro Kann, and GuLoader with DJB2 Hash Collisions
Shellcode Disruption Revisited with DJB2 Hash Collisions
Shellcode leveraging the DJB2 hash algorithm is not quite as common as ROR13. See our previous blog here on disrupting ROR13 which includes disrupting a whole litany of things including Metasploit, Meterpreter, Cobalt Strike, and other malware, but it has been used in several prominent malware examples including GuLoader, Caro Kann, and Hell's Gate. The DJB2 algorithm, although simple, provides a robust means of obfuscating and resolving API function names, making detection and analysis more challenging. This blog delves into the techniques used in these frameworks and how defenders can disrupt such shellcode. DJB2, another weak shellcode API hashing algorithm The DJB2 hash function, created by Daniel J. Bernstein, is a simple yet effective hashing algorithm widely used in various applications, including shellcode obfuscation. Its effectiveness lies in its ability to generate a unique hash for each input string, making it difficult for security tools to detect obfuscated API calls through simple pattern matching. GuLoader, Caro Kann, and Hell's Gate GuLoader, a sophisticated malware loader, Caro Kann a shellcode that uses DJB2 for api resolution, and Hell's Gate, a technique for executing direct syscalls, are notable examples that use DJB2 hashing to obfuscate and resolve API function names....
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The Bottom Line: Karma-X discovered another way to stop sophisticated malware by exploiting the same trick we used before—but this time against a different code system (DJB2) used by advanced threats like GuLoader, Hell's Gate, and Caro Kann. We're systematically defeating the hacker's playbook, one algorithm at a time.
Remember our previous blog about ROR13 hash collisions? We explained how hackers use secret codes to hide what they're doing, and how we create "fake keys" that confuse their code.
This blog is the sequel. Different secret code (DJB2 instead of ROR13), but the same winning strategy.
ROR13 Blog: We disrupted Metasploit, Meterpreter, Cobalt Strike, and hundreds of common hacking tools
This Blog (DJB2): We're disrupting GuLoader, Hell's Gate, Caro Kann, and other advanced malware families
Together, we're covering the entire spectrum of shellcode-based attacks.
DJB2 is another "scrambling system" (hash algorithm) that malware uses to hide what it's doing—just like ROR13, but with a...
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