PHPsert is a webshell used to execute PHP code that has been in use since at least 2023 against targets in Japan, Singapore, Peru, Taiwan, Iran, Republic of Korea, and the Philippines. PHPsert is not typically deployed as a standalone but integrated into web content such as text editors and content management systems.[1]
6
Techniques29th pct
3
TacticsBottom 21%
0
Threat groupsNone recorded
1
Campaignunranked
Enterprise ATT&CK only. Any Mobile or ICS rows on the same ATT&CK page are not carried.
PHPsert can use multiple obfuscation techniques including XOR encoding, hexadecimal character representation, string concatenation, and randomized variable names.2
PHPsert can use the .php assert function to execute attacker-provided code and maintain persistence on targeted web servers.7
Persistence54 detection rules
Standing S9028
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
Techniques629th pct
29th percentile · 71% 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 groups061% 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.
Campaign185% 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 / technique37medTop 16%
84th percentile · 84% of 825 ATT&CK software entries have this many detection rules per technique or fewer.
Tests / technique3.5med
PHPsert detections S9028
267 distinct rules cover the 6 techniques recorded for this malware. 186 Sigma · 81 Splunk.
6 covered by at least one rule267 distinct rules in total
Showing 1-50 of 200+ rules
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MITRE ATT&CK
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Detects a highly relevant Antivirus alert that reports a web shell. (...)
Detects the Linux-specific execution chain of the plain-crypto-js malicious npm dependency by Axios NPM package, including payload download via curl and detached execution using nohup and python3. (...)
Detects the macOS-specific execution chain of the plain-crypto-js malicious npm dependency in Axios NPM Package, including AppleScript execution via osascript, payload download, permission modification, execution, and cleanup.
The following analytic detects the use of CertUtil.exe with the 'decode' argument, which may indicate an attempt to decode a previously encoded file, potentially containing malicious payloads. (...)
Adversaries may communicate using application layer protocols associated with web traffic to avoid detection/network filtering by blending in with existing traffic. (...)
This analytic detects the usage of the Utility osascript on a macOS device initiated a network connection lasting longer than 10 minutes (600 seconds). (...)
This analytic detects unexpected outbound network connections initiated by known webserver processes such as `httpd.exe`, `nginx.exe`, or `tomcat.exe` to common file sharing or public content hosting services like GitHub, Discord CDN, Transfer.sh, or Pastebin. (...)
The following analytic detects the use of known suspicious SSL certificates in any observed event where the SSL_CertFingerprint field is present. (...)
The following analytic detects potential reverse shell activity by identifying connections involving ports commonly associated with remote access tools, shell listeners, or tunneling utilities. (...)
The following analytic detects connections with a high Encrypted Visibility Engine (EVE) threat confidence score, indicating potentially malicious behavior within encrypted traffic. (...)
This analytic detects HTTP requests to privileged execution paths on Cisco routers, specifically targeting the `/level/15/exec/-/*` endpoint using Cisco Secure Firewall Intrusion Events. (...)
This analytic identifies Snort intrusion signatures that have been triggered by ten or more distinct internal IP addresses within a one-hour window. (...)
The following analytic detects the execution of the curl utility where the command line includes percent-encoded characters and explicit file output options (such as -o or --output). (...)