LiveActive security incident?Get immediate response
MITRE ATT&CK® Malware

S0081: Elise

Elise is a custom backdoor Trojan that appears to be used exclusively by Lotus Blossom. It is part of a larger group of tools referred to as LStudio, ST Group, and APT0LSTU.[1][2]

EnterpriseS0081MalwareObject v1.3Modified
Discuss defensive coverageBack to ATT&CK
Glexia's Take · Automated analysis

Security context for executives and security teams

Automation confidenceMedium

S0081: Elise describes [Elise](https://attack.mitre.org/software/S0081) is a custom backdoor Trojan that appears to be used exclusively by [Lotus Blossom](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0030). It is part of a larger group of tools referred to as LStudio, ST Group, and APT0LSTU.(Citation: Lotus Blossom Jun 2015)(Citation: Accenture Dragonfish Jan 2018)

Executive priority

S0081: Elise is an official MITRE ATT&CK software. 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 S0081: Elise by reviewing the official ATT&CK relationships, mapped tactics (the mapped ATT&CK tactic context), supported platforms (Windows), and available local telemetry before making detection or mitigation decisions.

Likely telemetry

  • Official ATT&CK relationships and object metadata
  • Network, endpoint, and security-tool telemetry

Detection direction

  • Validate whether S0081: Elise 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.

Official MITRE ATT&CK definition

Elise

Elise is a custom backdoor Trojan that appears to be used exclusively by Lotus Blossom. It is part of a larger group of tools referred to as LStudio, ST Group, and APT0LSTU.[1][2]

View the same entry on attack.mitre.org (MITRE-hosted reference; in-page links above use the Glexia ATT&CK library.)

Glexia analysis

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.

ATT&CK relationship table

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.

19 rows
DomainIDNameRelationship / procedure
EnterpriseT1036.005Match Legitimate Resource Name or LocationSub-technique

If installing itself as a service fails, Elise instead writes itself as a file named svchost.exe saved in %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Network.[1]

EnterpriseT1105Ingress Tool Transfer

Elise can download additional files from the C2 server for execution.[2]

EnterpriseT1082System Information Discovery

Elise executes systeminfo after initial communication is made to the remote server.[1]

EnterpriseT1573.001Symmetric CryptographySub-technique

Elise encrypts exfiltrated data with RC4.[1]

EnterpriseT1007System Service Discovery

Elise executes net start after initial communication is made to the remote server.[1]

EnterpriseT1543.003Windows ServiceSub-technique

Elise configures itself as a service.[1]

EnterpriseT1016System Network Configuration Discovery

Elise executes ipconfig /all after initial communication is made to the remote server.[1][2]

EnterpriseT1218.011Rundll32Sub-technique

After copying itself to a DLL file, a variant of Elise calls the DLL file using rundll32.exe.[1]

EnterpriseT1057Process Discovery

Elise enumerates processes via the tasklist command.[2]

EnterpriseT1027.013Encrypted/Encoded FileSub-technique

Elise encrypts several of its files, including configuration files.[1]

EnterpriseT1070.006TimestompSub-technique

Elise performs timestomping of a CAB file it creates.[1]

EnterpriseT1083File and Directory Discovery

A variant of Elise executes dir C:\progra~1 when initially run.[1][2]

EnterpriseT1074.001Local Data StagingSub-technique

Elise creates a file in AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer and stores all harvested data in that file.[2]

EnterpriseT1070.004File DeletionSub-technique

Elise is capable of launching a remote shell on the host to delete itself.[2]

EnterpriseT1071.001Web ProtocolsSub-technique

Elise communicates over HTTP or HTTPS for C2.[1]

EnterpriseT1132.001Standard EncodingSub-technique

Elise exfiltrates data using cookie values that are Base64-encoded.[1]

EnterpriseT1087.001Local AccountSub-technique

Elise executes net user after initial communication is made to the remote server.[1]

EnterpriseT1547.001Registry Run Keys / Startup FolderSub-technique

If establishing persistence by installation as a new service fails, one variant of Elise establishes persistence for the created .exe file by setting the following Registry key: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\svchost : %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Network\svchost.exe. Other variants have set the following Registry keys for persistence: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\imejp : [self] and HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\IAStorD.[1][2]

EnterpriseT1055.001Dynamic-link Library InjectionSub-technique

Elise injects DLL files into iexplore.exe.[1][2]

Associated objects

Groups, software, and campaigns

Relationship explorer

All related ATT&CK context

uses · TechniqueT1036.005: Match Legitimate Resource Name or LocationEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1105: Ingress Tool TransferEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1082: System Information DiscoveryEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1573.001: Symmetric CryptographyEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1007: System Service DiscoveryEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1543.003: Windows ServiceEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1016: System Network Configuration DiscoveryEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1218.011: Rundll32Enterpriseuses · TechniqueT1057: Process DiscoveryEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1027.013: Encrypted/Encoded FileEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1070.006: TimestompEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1083: File and Directory DiscoveryEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1074.001: Local Data StagingEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1070.004: File DeletionEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1071.001: Web ProtocolsEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1132.001: Standard EncodingEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1087.001: Local AccountEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1547.001: Registry Run Keys / Startup FolderEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1055.001: Dynamic-link Library InjectionEnterpriseuses · GroupG0030: Lotus BlossomEnterprise
Change history

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.

ATT&CK release
20.0
Object version
1.3
Created
Modified
Raw hash
5b753848d64e7311...
Imported snapshots across ATT&CK releases(3)
ReleaseBundle importedObject versionModifiedStatusRaw hash
20.01.3Current bundle5b753848d64e…
19.21.3Older bundle5b753848d64e…
19.11.3Older bundle5b753848d64e…
Raw source

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.

Open mirrored raw JSONOpen MITRE-hosted copy
Source references

External references and citations

MITRE external references are preserved separately from Glexia analysis so citations remain traceable to their original source records.

  1. [1]
    Lotus Blossom Jun 2015

    Falcone, R., et al.. (2015, June 16). Operation Lotus Blossom. Retrieved February 15, 2016.

    Open source URL
  2. [2]
    Accenture Dragonfish Jan 2018

    Accenture Security. (2018, January 27). DRAGONFISH DELIVERS NEW FORM OF ELISE MALWARE TARGETING ASEAN DEFENCE MINISTERS’ MEETING AND ASSOCIATES. Retrieved November 17, 2024.

    Open source URL
  3. [3]
    BKDR_ESILE

    (Citation: Lotus Blossom Jun 2015)

  4. [4]
    Elise

    (Citation: Accenture Dragonfish Jan 2018)

  5. [5]
    Page

    (Citation: Lotus Blossom Jun 2015)

  6. [6]
    mitre-attackS0081
    Open source URL
Source and licensing

Source: MITRE ATT&CK®. © 2026 The MITRE Corporation. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of The MITRE Corporation. MITRE ATT&CK and ATT&CK are registered trademarks of The MITRE Corporation. Glexia is not affiliated with or endorsed by MITRE.

Official MITRE ATT&CK siteOfficial STIX data repositoryMITRE ATT&CK terms of use