Cheerscrypt is a ransomware that was developed by Cinnamon Tempest and has been used in attacks against ESXi and Windows environments since at least 2022. Cheerscrypt was derived from the leaked Babuk source code and has infrastructure overlaps with deployments of Night Sky ransomware, which was also derived from Babuk.[1][2]
5
TechniquesBottom 23%
3
TacticsBottom 21%
1
Threat groupunranked
0
CampaignsNone recorded
Enterprise ATT&CK only. Any Mobile or ICS rows on the same ATT&CK page are not carried.
Cheerscrypt has leveraged esxcli vm process list in order to gather a list of running virtual machines to terminate them.8
Discovery2 detection rules
Standing S1096
Reach is how much of ATT&CK this malware touches. Coverage is how well defended each thing it does is, as a median per technique rather than a total — a total would just restate the reach. Each figure is ranked against all 825 ATT&CK software entries only where that population actually spreads. Where most of the population shares one value, a percentile would rank the tie instead of the entity, so the raw value is shown and no rank is claimed.
Reach
Techniques5Bottom 23%
23rd percentile · 77% of 825 ATT&CK software entries have more Enterprise techniques.
Tactics3Bottom 21%
21st percentile · 79% of 825 ATT&CK software entries have more tactics spanned.
Threat group161% tie · 22 values
61% of the population shares a single value across only 22 distinct values, so a percentile here would rank the tie, not the entity.
Campaigns085% tie · 8 values
85% of the population shares a single value across only 8 distinct values, so a percentile here would rank the tie, not the entity.
Coverage
Rules / technique27med66th pct
66th percentile · 66% of 825 ATT&CK software entries have this many detection rules per technique or fewer.
Tests / technique9medTop 19%
81st percentile · 81% of 825 ATT&CK software entries have this many atomic tests per technique or fewer.
Data comps / technique4med54% tie · 11 values
54% of the population shares a single value across only 11 distinct values, so a percentile here would rank the tie, not the entity.
Mitigations / technique0medBottom 17%
17th percentile · 83% of 825 ATT&CK software entries have more mitigations per technique.
5 of 8 axes carry an honest rank on this page. Coverage medians are taken across this malware’s 5 Enterprise techniques.
Range
Technique Campaign use over its cumulative rule count.
Detects the usage of schtasks with the delete flag and the asterisk symbol to delete all tasks from the schedule of the local computer, including tasks scheduled by other users.
The following analytic detects when all virtual machines on an ESXi host are abruptly terminated, which may indicate malicious activity such as a deliberate denial-of-service, ransomware staging, or an attempt to destroy critical workloads.
Detects execution of the "esxcli" command with the "storage" flag in order to retrieve information about the storage status and other related information. (...)
This detection identifies the use of ESXCLI commands to discover virtual machines on an ESXi host While used by administrators, this activity may also indicate adversary reconnaissance aimed at identifying high value targets, mapping the virtual environment, or preparing for data theft or destructive operations.
The following analytic detects suspicious database file and directory discovery activities, which may signal an attacker attempt to locate and assess critical database assets on a compromised system. (...)
The following analytic detects suspicious file and directory discovery activities, which may indicate an attacker's effort to locate sensitive documents and files on a compromised system. (...)
The following analytic detects suspicious creation of hidden files and directories, which may indicate an attacker's attempt to conceal malicious activities or unauthorized data. (...)
The following analytic detects suspicious stopping of the `osquery` service, which may indicate an attempt to disable monitoring and evade detection. (...)
The following analytic detects suspicious discovery of virtual disk files and directories, which may indicate an attacker's attempt to locate and access virtualized storage environments. (...)