11 Malicious NuGet Tools Pose as Game Cheats to Drop a Windows Host-Surveillance Payload

Socket's Threat Research Team identified 11 malicious NuGet packages masquerading as game utilities and bots, which are actually first-stage downloaders that fetch a secondary payload named pepesoft.exe. These packages, presented as .NET tools, use DNS-over-HTTPS to bypass system resolvers and aim to retrieve and execute a secondary payload from GitHub and Hugging Face, with a BitTorrent fallback code present but inactive. The payloads utilize AWS-style keys to access configurations, authenticate to Google Sheets, and can bind activations to hardware, with the ability to enforce a remote hardware ban-list. Notably, the direct-bytecode payloads include Telegram bot commands for remote control, such as capturing screenshots, posing a threat to privacy by potentially exposing sensitive information. The shared infrastructure and indicators point to a Russian-speaking operator using these tools for game-automation cheating services rather than legitimate development. The report has led to requests for the removal of these packages from NuGet and account suspension for the publisher.

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