XORIndex Loader
MITRE ATT&CK: S1248 View on attack.mitre.org
Aliases: XORIndex Loader
- First seen
- 2025-06-01 00:00:00
- Malware type
- downloader, loader
- Family
- Malware family
- Operating systems
- windows
- Profile updated
- 2026-07-07 14:32:40
Targeted industries: government-and-public-sector technology-and-telecommunications
Targeted regions: country_code:kr country_code:jp country_code:us
Context
XORIndex Loader is a XOR-encoded loader that collects host data, decodes follow-on scripts and acts as a downloader for the BeaverTail malware. XORIndex Loader was first reported in June 2025. XORIndex Loader has been leveraged by North Korea-affiliated threat actors identified as Contagious Interview. XORIndex Loader has been delivered to victims through code repository sites utilizing typo squatting naming conventions of various npm packages.
Detection coverage
- 230 Sigma rules
Malware & tools used
- System Information Discovery (attack-pattern)
- Deobfuscate/Decode Files or Information (attack-pattern)
- System Location Discovery (attack-pattern)
- System Network Configuration Discovery (attack-pattern)
- Exfiltration Over C2 Channel (attack-pattern)
- Ingress Tool Transfer (attack-pattern)
- Encrypted/Encoded File (attack-pattern)
- Web Protocols (attack-pattern)
- Command Obfuscation (attack-pattern)
- Match Legitimate Resource Name or Location (attack-pattern)
- JavaScript (attack-pattern)
- System Owner/User Discovery (attack-pattern)
Used by threat actors
- Contagious Interview (threat-actor)
Reports & references
- socket.dev — Contagious Interview Campaign Escalates 67 Malicious Npm Packages (report)
- MITRE ATT&CK — S1248 (report)