S0240: ROKRAT
Security context for executives and security teams
S0240: ROKRAT describes [ROKRAT](https://attack.mitre.org/software/S0240) is a cloud-based remote access tool (RAT) used by [APT37](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0067) to target victims in South Korea. [APT37](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0067) has used ROKRAT during several campaigns from 2016 through 2021.(Citation: Talos ROKRAT)(Citation: Talos Group123)(Citation: Volexity InkySquid RokRAT August 2021)
Executive priority
S0240: ROKRAT 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 S0240: ROKRAT 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 S0240: ROKRAT 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.
ROKRAT
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 | T1112 | Modify Registry | ROKRAT can modify the `HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\` registry key so it can bypass the VB object model (VBOM) on a compromised host.CitationMalwarebytes RokRAT VBA January 2021 |
| Enterprise | T1123 | Audio Capture | ROKRAT has an audio capture and eavesdropping module.CitationSecurelist ScarCruft May 2019 |
| Enterprise | T1012 | Query Registry | |
| Enterprise | T1555.003 | Credentials from Web BrowsersSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1056.001 | KeyloggingSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1106 | Native API | ROKRAT can use a variety of API calls to execute shellcode.CitationMalwarebytes RokRAT VBA January 2021 |
| Enterprise | T1622 | Debugger Evasion | |
| Enterprise | T1057 | Process Discovery | |
| Enterprise | T1070.004 | File DeletionSub-technique | ROKRAT can request to delete files.CitationNCCGroup RokRat Nov 2018 |
| Enterprise | T1059.005 | Visual BasicSub-technique | ROKRAT has used Visual Basic for execution.CitationMalwarebytes RokRAT VBA January 2021 |
| Enterprise | T1555.004 | Windows Credential ManagerSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1480.001 | Environmental KeyingSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1041 | Exfiltration Over C2 Channel | |
| Enterprise | T1566.001 | Spearphishing AttachmentSub-technique | ROKRAT has been delivered via spearphishing emails that contain a malicious Hangul Office or Microsoft Word document.CitationMalwarebytes RokRAT VBA January 2021 |
| Enterprise | T1115 | Clipboard Data | |
| Enterprise | T1027 | Obfuscated Files or Information | |
| Enterprise | T1497.001 | System ChecksSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1083 | File and Directory Discovery | |
| Enterprise | T1105 | Ingress Tool Transfer | |
| Enterprise | T1140 | Deobfuscate/Decode Files or Information | |
| Enterprise | T1102.002 | Bidirectional CommunicationSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1113 | Screen Capture | |
| Enterprise | T1033 | System Owner/User Discovery | ROKRAT can collect the username from a compromised host.CitationMalwarebytes RokRAT VBA January 2021 |
| Enterprise | T1055 | Process Injection | ROKRAT can use `VirtualAlloc`, `WriteProcessMemory`, and then `CreateRemoteThread` to execute shellcode within the address space of `Notepad.exe`.CitationMalwarebytes RokRAT VBA January 2021 |
| Enterprise | T1082 | System Information Discovery | |
| Enterprise | T1010 | Application Window Discovery | |
| Enterprise | T1005 | Data from Local System | |
| Enterprise | T1204.002 | Malicious FileSub-technique | ROKRAT has relied upon users clicking on a malicious attachment delivered through spearphishing.CitationMalwarebytes RokRAT VBA January 2021 |
| Enterprise | T1567.002 | Exfiltration to Cloud StorageSub-technique | |
| Enterprise | T1071.001 | Web ProtocolsSub-technique |
Groups, software, and campaigns
G0067: APT37
APT37 is a North Korean state-sponsored cyber espionage group that has been active since at least 2012. The group has targeted victims primarily in South Korea, but also in Japan, Vietnam, Russia, Nepal, China, India, Romania, Kuwait, and other parts of the Middle East. APT37 has also been linked to the following campaigns between 2016-2018: Operation Daybreak, Operation Erebus, Golden Time, Evil New Year, Are you Happy?, FreeMilk, North Korean Human Rights, and Evil New Year 2018.[1][2][3]
North Korean group definitions are known to have significant overlap, and some security researchers report all North Korean state-sponsored cyber activity under the name Lazarus Group instead of tracking clusters or subgroups.
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(3)
| Release | Bundle imported | Object version | Modified | Status | Raw hash |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20.0 | 2.3 | Current bundle | 887050d01d7f… | ||
| 19.2 | 2.3 | Older bundle | 887050d01d7f… | ||
| 19.1 | 2.3 | Older bundle | 887050d01d7f… |
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]Talos ROKRAT
Mercer, W., Rascagneres, P. (2017, April 03). Introducing ROKRAT. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
Open source URL - [2]Talos Group123
Mercer, W., Rascagneres, P. (2018, January 16). Korea In The Crosshairs. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
Open source URL - [3]Volexity InkySquid RokRAT August 2021
Cash, D., Grunzweig, J., Adair, S., Lancaster, T. (2021, August 25). North Korean BLUELIGHT Special: InkySquid Deploys RokRAT. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
Open source URL - [4]Talos ROKRAT 2
Mercer, W., Rascagneres, P. (2017, November 28). ROKRAT Reloaded. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
Open source URL - [5]ROKRAT
(Citation: Talos ROKRAT 2) (Citation: Talos Group123)
- [6]mitre-attackS0240Open source URL
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