Pteranodon

MITRE ATT&CK: S0147 View on attack.mitre.org

Aliases: Pterodo, Pteranodon

First seen
2016-01-01 00:00:00
Malware type
backdoor
Family
Malware family
Operating systems
windows
Related IoCs
7 (7 malicious)
Last IoC activity
2026-10-12 15:32:27
Profile updated
2026-07-07 15:45:11

Targeted industries: government-and-public-sector

Targeted regions: country_code:ua

Context

Pteranodon is a custom backdoor used by Gamaredon Group.

Recent IoC activity

7 malicious indicators in Maltiverse are attributed to Pteranodon (S0147). The 7 most recently updated:

TypeIndicatorUpdatedSources
file sample 859ec28b7b7ad8655d48a69b22720442c064010d4ae7f31e5d4dd1a99e252a71 2026-10-12 1
file sample 1895941021b6230f2d62cc00b15bb9d159f63491d65841ffd83c72797e31f777 2026-10-12 1
file sample d7b78cf04edc457fa6f0108c0db3002ec83118452ca3cb7c875dfefbad5fbdb0 2026-10-12 1
file sample 8e152a726bcf0235e7fbe199a0cc0fe0547903b8cdd5ab2362cf31e779aa9fc0 2026-10-12 1
file sample 19d1f5ca38cefb5deb63c3ac57b4eb6351b22a1cc5dcd07c79407aaf6b7ad0de 2026-10-12 1
file sample 2e62c6521945b08ed8f013f51bd35a57727f6094f1cb1c4993517f626fe97cfd 2026-10-12 1
hostname microsoft-office.site 2026-10-12 1

Detection coverage

  • 1 YARA rules
  • 322 Sigma rules

Malware & tools used

  • Screen Capture (attack-pattern)
  • Windows Command Shell (attack-pattern)
  • Native API (attack-pattern)
  • Ingress Tool Transfer (attack-pattern)
  • Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder (attack-pattern)
  • Web Protocols (attack-pattern)
  • File and Directory Discovery (attack-pattern)
  • Deobfuscate/Decode Files or Information (attack-pattern)
  • Dynamic API Resolution (attack-pattern)
  • Visual Basic (attack-pattern)
  • Rundll32 (attack-pattern)
  • Exfiltration Over C2 Channel (attack-pattern)
  • File Deletion (attack-pattern)
  • Local Data Staging (attack-pattern)
  • Virtualization/Sandbox Evasion (attack-pattern)
  • Mshta (attack-pattern)
  • Scheduled Task (attack-pattern)

Used by threat actors

Detection rules

  • MALPEDIA_Win_Pteranodon_Auto (yara-rule)

Reports & references

  • Palo Alto Unit 42 — Unit 42 Title Gamaredon Group Toolset Evolution (report)
  • MITRE ATT&CK — G0047 (report)
  • Broadcom/Symantec — Shuckworm Gamaredon Espionage Ukraine (report)
  • Microsoft — Actinium Targets Ukrainian Organizations (report)
  • ESET — Gamaredon Group Grows Its Game (report)
  • Palo Alto Unit 42 — Gamaredon Primitive Bear Ukraine Update 2021 (report)
  • Microsoft — Actinium Targets Ukrainian Organizations (report)
  • researchcenter.paloaltonetworks.com — Unit 42 Title Gamaredon Group Toolset Evolution (report)
  • secureworks.com — Iron Tilden (report)
  • ssu.gov.ua — Technical%20Report%20Armagedon (report)
  • malpedia.caad.fkie.fraunhofer.de — Win.Pteranodon (report)
  • vkremez.com — Lets Learn Deeper Dive Into Gamaredon (report)
  • blogs.blackberry.com — Gamaredon Leverages Microsoft Office Docs To Target Ukraine Government (report)
  • CERT-UA — 42 (report)
  • bleepingcomputer.com — Russian Gamaredon Hackers Use 8 New Malware Payloads In Attacks (report)
  • rnbo.gov.ua — Gamaredon Activity (report)
  • threatrecon.nshc.net — Sectorc08 Multi Layered Sfx Recent Campaigns Target Ukraine (report)
  • Broadcom/Symantec — Shuckworm Intense Campaign Ukraine (report)
  • elastic.co — Playing Defense Against Gamaredon Group (report)
  • labs.sentinelone.com — Pro Russian Cyberspy Gamaredon Intensifies Ukrainian Security Targeting (report)
  • threatmon.io — Cybergun Technical Analysis Of The Armageddons Infostealer (report)
  • CERT-UA — 46 (report)
  • harfanglab.io — Gamaredons Pterolnk Analysis (report)
  • blogs.cisco.com — Network Footprints Of Gamaredon Group (report)
  • CERT-UA — 2807 (report)

External references