Chinese Hackers Exploit SSH Daemon to Maintain Persistent Access in Cyber-Espionage Operations

A sophisticated cyber-espionage campaign attributed to the Chinese hacking group Evasive Panda, also known as DaggerFly, has been uncovered, targeting network appliances through a newly identified attack suite. According to cybersecurity researchers at Fortinet’s FortiGuard Labs, the attackers are leveraging a malicious toolkit named ELF/Sshdinjector.A!tr, injecting malware into the SSH daemon (SSHD) to establish long-term access and execute covert operations. 

Active since at least mid-November 2024, this attack method enables unauthorized control over compromised systems. While the initial entry point remains unclear, once infiltrated, a dropper module determines whether the device is already infected and assesses its privilege level. If running under root permissions, the malware deploys multiple binaries, including libssdh.so, which serves as the primary backdoor responsible for command-and-control (C2) communication and data exfiltration. 

Additional components such as “mainpasteheader” and “selfrecoverheader” are used to maintain persistence.

The injected SSH library covertly monitors and executes commands received from a remote C2 server, allowing the attackers to conduct system reconnaissance, steal credentials, manipulate files, and execute arbitrary commands. 

The malware supports fifteen different functions, ranging from collecting system details and listing active processes to reading sen

[…]
Content was cut in order to protect the source.Please visit the source for the rest of the article.