G0124: Windigo
Security context for executives and security teams
G0124: Windigo describes The [Windigo](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0124) group has been operating since at least 2011, compromising thousands of Linux and Unix servers using the [Ebury](https://attack.mitre.org/software/S0377) SSH backdoor to create a spam botnet. Despite law enforcement intervention against the creators, [Windigo](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0124) operators continued updating [Ebury](https://attack.mitre.org/software/S0377) through 2019.(Citation: ESET Windigo Mar 2014)(Citation: CERN Windigo June 2019)
Executive priority
G0124: Windigo is an official MITRE ATT&CK group. Glexia treats it as defensive behavior context for prioritizing monitoring, control validation, and response planning without using the object by itself as an attribution claim.
Technical view
Security teams should validate G0124: Windigo by reviewing the official ATT&CK relationships, mapped tactics (the mapped ATT&CK tactic context), supported platforms (the platforms named in the official object), and available local telemetry before making detection or mitigation decisions.
Likely telemetry
- Official ATT&CK relationships and object metadata
Detection direction
- Validate whether G0124: Windigo appears in your detection coverage and tabletop scenarios.
- Use the object to align executive risk language with SOC, incident response, and detection engineering work.
- Do not treat ATT&CK relationship context as attribution without corroborating evidence.
Mitigation priorities
- Map the object to existing controls and identify missing telemetry or response ownership.
- Prioritize mitigations that reduce exposure on the listed platforms and tactics.
- Review adjacent ATT&CK relationships before changing policy, detections, or reporting language.
Additional notes and limits
Baseline Glexia take generated from the official MITRE ATT&CK STIX object, source hash, tactics, platforms, and detection fields. It is safe to replace with a richer model-generated take for the same source hash later.
This baseline take is source-grounded and schema-validated, but it does not include environment-specific telemetry, incident evidence, or threat-intelligence corroboration.
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Windigo
How security teams should use this page
Treat this object as behavior context, not an attribution claim. Validate the related groups, software, data sources, and mitigations against official ATT&CK relationships and your own telemetry before making control-coverage decisions.
Techniques used
This mirrors the MITRE pattern of making group, software, campaign, and technique relationships scannable. Relationship notes come from mirrored ATT&CK relationship text when available.
| Domain | ID | Name | Relationship / procedure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enterprise | T1082 | System Information Discovery | Windigo has used a script to detect which Linux distribution and version is currently installed on the system.CitationESET ForSSHe December 2018 |
| Enterprise | T1005 | Data from Local System | Windigo has used a script to gather credentials in files left on disk by OpenSSH backdoors.CitationESET ForSSHe December 2018 |
| Enterprise | T1518 | Software Discovery | Windigo has used a script to detect installed software on targeted systems.CitationESET ForSSHe December 2018 |
| Enterprise | T1090 | Proxy | |
| Enterprise | T1059 | Command and Scripting Interpreter | Windigo has used a Perl script for information gathering.CitationESET ForSSHe December 2018 |
| Enterprise | T1083 | File and Directory Discovery | Windigo has used a script to check for the presence of files created by OpenSSH backdoors.CitationESET ForSSHe December 2018 |
| Enterprise | T1189 | Drive-by Compromise |
Groups, software, and campaigns
S0377: Ebury
Ebury is an OpenSSH backdoor and credential stealer targeting Linux servers and container hosts developed by Windigo. Ebury is primarily installed through modifying shared libraries (`.so` files) executed by the legitimate OpenSSH program. First seen in 2009, Ebury has been used to maintain a botnet of servers, deploy additional malware, and steal cryptocurrency wallets, credentials, and credit card details.[1][2][3][4]
All related ATT&CK context
Object version and sync metadata
The fields below describe the current mirrored snapshot. When Glexia retains multiple ATT&CK source imports, you can open the table to compare the same object across releases (hashes and MITRE timestamps). For MITRE’s own release notes and roadmap, see ATT&CK resources — Updates.
Imported snapshots across ATT&CK releases(2)
| Release | Bundle imported | Object version | Modified | Status | Raw hash |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19.2 | 1.0 | Current bundle | 1b40c2cb8f4e… | ||
| 19.1 | 1.0 | Older bundle | 798b38b04324… |
Mirrored ATT&CK source object
The raw object is retained through the mirrored ATT&CK source bundle and object hash. The raw endpoint returns the exact object from the mirrored bundle when available.
External references and citations
MITRE external references are preserved separately from Glexia analysis so citations remain traceable to their original source records.
- [1]ESET Windigo Mar 2014
Bilodeau, O., Bureau, M., Calvet, J., Dorais-Joncas, A., Léveillé, M., Vanheuverzwijn, B. (2014, March 18). Operation Windigo – the vivisection of a large Linux server‑side credential‑stealing malware campaign. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
Open source URL - [2]CERN Windigo June 2019
CERN. (2019, June 4). 2019/06/04 Advisory: Windigo attacks. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
Open source URL - [3]mitre-attackG0124Open source URL
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