RustyWater

MITRE ATT&CK: S9037 View on attack.mitre.org

Aliases: Archer RAT / RUSTRIC, RustyWater

First seen
2023-01-15 00:00:00
Malware type
rat
Family
Malware family
Operating systems
windows
Profile updated
2026-07-07 14:44:53

Targeted industries: government-and-public-sector technology-and-telecommunications energy-and-utilities

Targeted regions: country_code:ir country_code:sa country_code:us

Context

RustyWater is a Rust-based implant used by MuddyWater. Historically, MuddyWater has used PowerShell-based tools and RustyWater reflects a shift in tooling, demonstrating better techniques for defense evasion and reverse engineering.

Detection coverage

  • 329 Sigma rules

Malware & tools used

  • Impersonation (attack-pattern)
  • System Owner/User Discovery (attack-pattern)
  • Encrypted/Encoded File (attack-pattern)
  • System Information Discovery (attack-pattern)
  • Web Protocols (attack-pattern)
  • Standard Encoding (attack-pattern)
  • Spearphishing Attachment (attack-pattern)
  • Native API (attack-pattern)
  • Symmetric Cryptography (attack-pattern)
  • Portable Executable Injection (attack-pattern)
  • Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder (attack-pattern)
  • Delay Execution (attack-pattern)
  • Domain Account (attack-pattern)
  • Obfuscated Files or Information (attack-pattern)
  • Debugger Evasion (attack-pattern)
  • Security Software Discovery (attack-pattern)
  • Component Object Model (attack-pattern)
  • Deobfuscate/Decode Files or Information (attack-pattern)
  • Match Legitimate Resource Name or Location (attack-pattern)
  • Malicious File (attack-pattern)

Used by threat actors

Reports & references

  • cloudsek.com — Reborn In Rust Muddywater Evolves Tooling With Rustywater Implant (report)
  • MITRE ATT&CK — S9037 (report)

External references