Security News > 2023 > August > Bogus OfficeNote app delivers XLoader macOS malware

Bogus OfficeNote app delivers XLoader macOS malware
2023-08-23 11:30

A new macOS-specific variant of the well known XLoader malware is being delivered disguised as the "OfficeNote" app.

XLoader is a malware-as-a-service infostealer and botnet that has been active since 2015, but first appeared as a macOS variant in 2021, written in Java.

"The Java Runtime Environment hasn't shipped by default on macOS since the days of Snow Leopard, meaning the malware was limited in its targeting to environments where Java had been optionally installed," SentinelOne researchers explained.

So the malware developers rewrote XLoader for Mac to function without dependencies.

"Written natively in the C and Objective C programming languages and signed with an Apple developer signature, XLoader is now masquerading as an office productivity app called 'OfficeNote'," they discovered.

"XLoader continues to present a threat to macOS users and businesses. This latest iteration masquerading as an office productivity application shows that the targets of interest are clearly users in a working environment," the researchers concluded.


News URL

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/08/23/xloader-macos-officenote/