HKTL_ACTREDIR

Posted: August 20, 2013

Threat Metric

The Threat Meter is a malware assessment that SpywareRemove.com's research team is able to give every identifiable malware threat. Our Threat Meter includes several criteria based off of specific malware threats to value their severity, reach and volume. The Threat Meter is able to give you a numerical breakdown of each threat's initial Threat Level, Detection Count, Volume Count, Trend Path and Percentage Impact. The overall ranking of each threat in the Threat Meter is a basic breakdown of how all threats are ranked within our own extensive malware database. The scoring for each specific malware threat can be easily compared to other emerging threats to draw a contrast in its particular severity. The Threat Meter is a useful tool in the endeavor of seeking a solution to remove a threat or pursue additional analytical research for all types of computer users.

The following fields listed on the Threat Meter containing a specific value, are explained in detail below:

Threat Level: The threat level scale goes from 1 to 10 where 10 is the highest level of severity and 1 is the lowest level of severity. Each specific level is relative to the threat's consistent assessed behaviors collected from SpyHunter's risk assessment model.

Detection Count: The collective number of confirmed and suspected cases of a particular malware threat. The detection count is calculated from infected PCs retrieved from diagnostic and scan log reports generated by SpyHunter.

Volume Count: Similar to the detection count, the Volume Count is specifically based on the number of confirmed and suspected threats infecting systems on a daily basis. High volume counts usually represent a popular threat but may or may not have infected a large number of systems. High detection count threats could lay dormant and have a low volume count. Criteria for Volume Count is relative to a daily detection count.

Trend Path: The Trend Path, utilizing an up arrow, down arrow or equal symbol, represents the level of recent movement of a particular threat. Up arrows represent an increase, down arrows represent a decline and the equal symbol represent no change to a threat's recent movement.

% Impact (Last 7 Days): This demonstrates a 7-day period change in the frequency of a malware threat infecting PCs. The percentage impact correlates directly to the current Trend Path to determine a rise or decline in the percentage.

Threat Level:	9/10
Infected PCs:	84

First Seen:	August 20, 2013
Last Seen:	October 10, 2019
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

HKTL_ACTREDIR (along with a related PC threat, JS_SPRAT.SM) is a malicious Remote Access Tool or RAT that compromises Apache-based Web servers for the purpose of allowing criminals to access them remotely. HKTL_ACTREDIR's attacks are equivalent to those of a backdoor Trojan and exploit outdated vulnerabilities in Struts 2, a Java-based framework for managing Web applications. HKTL_ACTREDIR's identity was confirmed by other PC security companies in the last month of this year, and HKTL_ACTREDIR's attack campaign shows every sign of being ongoing. SpywareRemove.com malware researchers heartily recommend that website admins in affected countries take all relevant precautions against compromises caused by HKTL_ACTREDIR, including, in particular, updating Struts to its latest security patch and using relevant anti-malware tools to delete HKTL_ACTREDIR if such actions are needed.

HKTL_ACTREDIR: Giving Criminals the Keys to Your Website

HKTL_ACTREDIR and JS_SPRAT.SM are the two primary components of a RAT that is designed to compromise a website server to allow a remote attacker to gain control over it. These attacks use the following Struts-based vulnerabilities, all of which are outdated but still effective on unpatched systems:

CVE-2010-1870
CVE-2011-3923
CVE-2013-2251
CVE-2013-1966

Current HKTL_ACTREDIR infections appear to be spearheaded by targeted attacks against specific victims in Southeast Asia, which is no great surprise since HKTL_ACTREDIR's origins are most likely based in China. By default, HKTL_ACTREDIR uses these vulnerabilities to provide various basic system information about your Web server to criminals, such as network configuration data and file directory setups. However, SpywareRemove.com malware experts note that HKTL_ACTREDIR also easily transitions into other backdoor attacks through its built-in support for a variety of Web shell interfaces. Depending on the Web shell used with HKTL_ACTREDIR, HKTL_ACTREDIR may enable criminals to steal highly confidential information, force malicious content onto your Web server or implement various other attacks.

How Staying Up-To-Date Can Keep HKTL_ACTREDIR Off Your Site

As always for PC threats that utilize software vulnerabilities for their attacks and/or distribution, the first point of defense against HKTL_ACTREDIR always should be considered keeping all vulnerable software updated. HKTL_ACTREDIR currently only uses outdated Struts vulnerabilities – meaning that Web administrators who kept Struts updated to its latest version are not in danger of being affected by the latest known version of HKTL_ACTREDIR. However, HKTL_ACTREDIR's campaign most likely will remain in development for the foreseeable future, leading to the necessity of installing new security patches as they're provided.

Non-Struts-using website servers are not vulnerable to current variants of HKTL_ACTREDIR, although SpywareRemove.com malware researchers do emphasize that Struts and Apache are extremely popular and make up an estimated quantity of slightly more than half of all active websites. If your Web server is vulnerable to HKTL_ACTREDIR attacks and you think it may have been compromised, anti-malware software can be used to delete HKTL_ACTREDIR and related PC threats, such as JS_SPRAT.SM, without harming the site, itself.

HKTL_ACTREDIR

Threat Metric

HKTL_ACTREDIR: Giving Criminals the Keys to Your Website

How Staying Up-To-Date Can Keep HKTL_ACTREDIR Off Your Site

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