Machete

MITRE ATT&CK: S0409 View on attack.mitre.org

Aliases: Pyark, El Machete, Machete

First seen
2010-01-01 00:00:00
Malware type
backdoor
Family
Malware family
Operating systems
windows
Profile updated
2026-07-07 12:51:01

Targeted industries: government-and-public-sector

Targeted regions: country_code:ve country_code:ec country_code:co

Context

Machete is a cyber espionage toolset used by Machete. It is a Python-based backdoor targeting Windows machines that was first observed in 2010.

Detection coverage

  • 1 YARA rules
  • 375 Sigma rules

Malware & tools used

  • Deobfuscate/Decode Files or Information (attack-pattern)
  • Symmetric Cryptography (attack-pattern)
  • Private Keys (attack-pattern)
  • Exfiltration Over C2 Channel (attack-pattern)
  • File Deletion (attack-pattern)
  • Process Discovery (attack-pattern)
  • Video Capture (attack-pattern)
  • Software Packing (attack-pattern)
  • Scheduled Task (attack-pattern)
  • Browser Information Discovery (attack-pattern)
  • Credentials from Web Browsers (attack-pattern)
  • Standard Encoding (attack-pattern)
  • File Transfer Protocols (attack-pattern)
  • System Network Configuration Discovery (attack-pattern)
  • Masquerade Task or Service (attack-pattern)
  • Automated Exfiltration (attack-pattern)
  • Match Legitimate Resource Name or Location (attack-pattern)
  • Scheduled Transfer (attack-pattern)
  • Local Data Staging (attack-pattern)
  • Clipboard Data (attack-pattern)
  • Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder (attack-pattern)
  • Audio Capture (attack-pattern)
  • Web Protocols (attack-pattern)
  • Application Window Discovery (attack-pattern)
  • Archive via Custom Method (attack-pattern)

Used by threat actors

Detection rules

  • SIGNATURE_BASE_Gen_Python_Pyminifier_Encoded_Payload (yara-rule)

Reports & references

  • Kaspersky — 66108 (report)
  • cylance.com — El Machete Malware Attacks Cut Through Latam (report)
  • blog.360totalsecurity.com — Apt C 43 Steals Venezuelan Military Secrets To Provide Intelligence Support For The Reactionaries Hpreact Campaign (report)
  • ESET — Eset Machete (report)
  • atomicmatryoshka.com — Infographic Apts In South America (report)
  • malpedia.caad.fkie.fraunhofer.de — Win.Machete (report)
  • brandefense.io — El Machete Apt Group (report)
  • medium.com — El Machete What Do We Know About The Apt Targeting Latin America Be7D11E690E6 (report)
  • ESET — Sharpening Machete Cyberespionage (report)
  • static1.squarespace.com — Day3 1130 Green A+Study+Of+Machete+Cyber+Espionage+Operations+In+Latin+America (report)
  • threatvector.cylance.com — Threat Spotlight Machete Info Stealer (report)
  • MITRE ATT&CK — S0409 (report)

External references