UNC4540
- First seen
- 2021-01-01 00:00:00
- Origin
- CN
- Primary motivation
- espionage
- Sophistication
- advanced
- Resource level
- government
- Actor type
- nation-state
- Profile updated
- 2026-07-07 12:17:07
Targeted industries: government-and-public-sector technology-and-telecommunications
Context
UNC4540 is a suspected Chinese threat actor targeting unpatched SonicWall Secure Mobile Access appliances to deploy custom malware that establishes long-term persistence for cyber espionage. The malware is designed to steal hashed credentials, provide shell access, and persist through firmware upgrades, utilizing a variant of the TinyShell backdoor. Mandiant has tracked UNC4540's activities back to 2021, noting their focus on maintaining access to compromised devices. The group's tactics are consistent with patterns observed in other Chinese threat actor campaigns targeting network devices for zero-day exploits.
Reports & references
- Mandiant — Suspected Chinese Persist Sonicwall (report)