HeartCrypt can add several hundred thousand kilobytes of null padding to payloads before saving onto the file system.2
tool
HeartCrypt S9018
- Type
- malware
- Platforms
- Linux, Windows
- Created
- 16 April 2026
- Last modified
- 23 April 2026
HeartCrypt is a packer-as-a-service (PaaS) used to protect malware that has been available since at least 2024. HeartCrypt has been used to pack a variety of malware including Lumma Stealer, Remcos, and Rhadamanthys. In the HeartCrypt PaaS model, customers submit malware via private messaging services and it is then packed and returned by the operator as a new binary.[1]
11
Techniques51st pct
5
Tactics41st pct
1
Threat groupunranked
0
CampaignsNone recorded
Enterprise ATT&CK only. Any Mobile or ICS rows on the same ATT&CK page are not carried.
MITRE reference S9018
HeartCrypt can pack malicious Windows x86 and .NET payloads in order to evade detection.34
HeartCrypt strings are encrypted via a single-byte XOR operation rotating over a hard-coded key, possibly provided by the PaaS customers. 5
HeartCrypt can append a BMP header to encoded malicious payloads to masquerade them as BMP files.6
HeartCrypt has the ability to use NtQueueApcThread as an alternate method for process injection.7
For .NET payloads, HeartCrypt can use process hollowing to inject into processes spawned by csc.exe or AppLaunch.exe.8
Standing S9018
Reach is how much of ATT&CK this tool 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
Techniques1151st pct
51st percentile · 51% of 825 ATT&CK software entries have this many Enterprise techniques or fewer.
Tactics541st pct
41st percentile · 59% 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 / technique4medBottom 4%
4th percentile · 96% of 825 ATT&CK software entries have more detection rules per technique.
Tests / technique4med
Detection coverage S9018
158 distinct rules cover the 11 techniques recorded for this tool. The 160 technique-to-rule mappings resolve to 158 distinct rules, because one rule can cover several techniques. 130 Sigma · 28 Splunk.
11 covered by at least one rule158 distinct rules in total
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