YARA · Trellix Advanced Research Center
TRELLIX_ARC_Ransom_Xinof
Detect Xinof ransomware
- Author
- Thomas Roccia | McAfee ATR team
- Date
- 2020-11-20
- Score / Quality
- 75 / 70
What this rule detects
Detect Xinof ransomware
Associated malware family: Ransom/XINOF.
Targets: Windows PE.
It defines 10 patterns (10 text, 0 hex, 0 regex).
Summary generated from the rule's metadata and condition.
Rule source
Includes the imports and 1 rule(s) it depends on needed to compile it on its own.
private rule TRELLIX_ARC_Ransom_Xinof_Chunk_PRIVATE : RANSOMWARE
{
meta:
= "Detect chunk of Xinof ransomware"
= "Thomas Roccia | McAfee ATR Team"
= "243c39fd-b5f6-5f64-8058-43da182480c0"
= "2020-11-20"
= "2020-11-20"
= "2020-11-20"
= "https://labs.sentinelone.com/the-fonix-raas-new-low-key-threat-with-unnecessary-complexities/"
= "https://github.com/advanced-threat-research/Yara-Rules//blob/1919562a59f190bda60c982424f6a24c542ee3e0/ransomware/RANSOM_xinof.yar#L1-L51"
= "https://github.com/advanced-threat-research/Yara-Rules//blob/1919562a59f190bda60c982424f6a24c542ee3e0/LICENSE"
= "0c1e6299a2392239dbe7fead33ef4146"
= "f0266962357a7cb26995cdbfcc99749b73fc4ed09c813fa8e2ed0f5143cde554"
= 75
= 70
= "RANSOMWARE"
= "v1"
= "ransomware"
= "Ransom/XINOF"
= "Cybercrime"
= "FONIX"
strings:
$chunk1 = {
C6 45 ?? ??
68 ?? ?? ?? ??
50
E8 ?? ?? ?? ??
53
50
8D 85 ?? ?? ?? ??
C6 45 ?? ??
50
E8 ?? ?? ?? ??
56
50
8D 85 ?? ?? ?? ??
C6 45 ?? ??
50
E8 ?? ?? ?? ??
83 C4 ??
C6 45 ?? ??
8B CC
57
50
51
E8 ?? ?? ?? ??
83 C4 ??
8D 8D ?? ?? ?? ??
E8 ?? ?? ?? ??
83 C4 ??
8D 8D ?? ?? ?? ??
E8 ?? ?? ?? ??
}
condition:
any of them
}
rule TRELLIX_ARC_Ransom_Xinof : RANSOMWARE FILE
{
meta:
= "Detect Xinof ransomware"
= "Thomas Roccia | McAfee ATR team"
= "3b064ce4-cd5b-5a4a-bb55-a2c2c361791e"
= "2020-11-20"
= "2020-11-20"
= "https://labs.sentinelone.com/the-fonix-raas-new-low-key-threat-with-unnecessary-complexities/"
= "https://github.com/advanced-threat-research/Yara-Rules//blob/1919562a59f190bda60c982424f6a24c542ee3e0/ransomware/RANSOM_xinof.yar#L53-L82"
= "https://github.com/advanced-threat-research/Yara-Rules//blob/1919562a59f190bda60c982424f6a24c542ee3e0/LICENSE"
= "0c1e6299a2392239dbe7fead33ef4146"
= "42110ee8869d56c53dc201cbc83652c6457541b8d502aa12b37ef6200e735a15"
= 75
= 70
= "RANSOMWARE, FILE"
= "v1"
= "ransomware"
= "Ransom/XINOF"
= "Cybercrime"
= "FONIX"
strings:
$s1 = "XINOF.exe" nocase ascii
$s2 = "C:\\Users\\Phoenix" nocase ascii
$s3 = "How To Decrypt Files.hta" nocase ascii
$s4 = "C:\\ProgramData\\norunanyway" nocase ascii
$s5 = "C:\\ProgramData\\clast" nocase ascii
$s6 = "fonix1" nocase ascii
$s7 = "C:\\Windows\\System32\\shatdown.exe" nocase ascii
$s8 = "XINOF Ransomw" nocase ascii
$s9 = "XINOF v4.2" nocase ascii
$s10 = "XINOF Ransomware Version 3.3" nocase ascii
condition:
uint16( 0 ) == 0x5a4d and filesize < 2000KB and 5 of ( $s* ) or TRELLIX_ARC_Ransom_Xinof_Chunk_PRIVATE
}
Strings (10 patterns)
| Identifier | Type | Value | Modifiers |
|---|---|---|---|
| $s1 | text | "XINOF.exe" | nocase ascii |
| $s2 | text | "C:\\Users\\Phoenix" | nocase ascii |
| $s3 | text | "How To Decrypt Files.hta" | nocase ascii |
| $s4 | text | "C:\\ProgramData\\norunanyway" | nocase ascii |
| $s5 | text | "C:\\ProgramData\\clast" | nocase ascii |
| $s6 | text | "fonix1" | nocase ascii |
| $s7 | text | "C:\\Windows\\System32\\shatdown.exe" | nocase ascii |
| $s8 | text | "XINOF Ransomw" | nocase ascii |
| $s9 | text | "XINOF v4.2" | nocase ascii |
| $s10 | text | "XINOF Ransomware Version 3.3" | nocase ascii |
Condition
uint16( 0 ) == 0x5a4d and filesize < 2000KB and 5 of ( $s* ) or TRELLIX_ARC_Ransom_Xinof_Chunk_PRIVATEIn plain words (Heuristic)
- The file must start with “MZ” — a Windows executable (PE).
- The file must be smaller than 2000KB (a cheap guard that skips large files).
- At least 5 patterns in ( $s* ) must match.
- Depends on the rule TRELLIX_ARC_Ransom_Xinof_Chunk_PRIVATE.
Test this rule in your browser
Drop a file to scan it with this rule using YARA-X compiled to WebAssembly. Nothing is uploaded.
References
Sample hashes
Hashes of samples the author lists in the rule's meta (look them up in your threat-intelligence platform).
- 0c1e6299a2392239dbe7fead33ef4146
Licence & attribution
Author: Thomas Roccia | McAfee ATR team
Source repository: Trellix Advanced Research Center @ 1919562a59
Licence: Apache License 2.0 (repository licence)
Mirrored via YARA Forge 20260927, which prefixes rule names with the source and adds normalised meta fields.
Rule id: 3b064ce4-cd5b-5a4a-bb55-a2c2c361791e
Metadata
| rule_version | v1 |
|---|---|
| malware_type | ransomware |
| malware_family | Ransom/XINOF |
| actor_type | Cybercrime |
| actor_group | FONIX |
Tags:RANSOMWAREFILE
Related rules
- MalwareTrellix Advanced Research Center· Thomas Roccia | McAfee ATR Team· 2020-11-20
- MalwareTrellix Advanced Research Center· Marc Rivero | McAfee ATR Team· 2026-09-01
- MalwareTrellix Advanced Research Center· Marc Rivero | McAfee ATR Team· 2026-09-01
- MalwareTrellix Advanced Research Center· McAfee ATR team· 2026-09-01
- MalwareTrellix Advanced Research Center· Trellix ATR· 2022-01-06
- MalwareTrellix Advanced Research Center· Christiaan @ ATR· 2021-07-19
- MalwareTrellix Advanced Research Center· Marc Rivero | McAfee ATR Team· 2020-03-17
- MalwareTrellix Advanced Research Center· Marc Rivero | McAfee ATR Team· 2020-02-23