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MITRE ATT&CK® Malware

S0391: HAWKBALL

HAWKBALL is a backdoor that was observed in targeting of the government sector in Central Asia.[1]

EnterpriseS0391MalwareObject v1.2Modified
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Glexia's Take · Automated analysis

Security context for executives and security teams

Automation confidenceMedium

S0391: HAWKBALL describes [HAWKBALL](https://attack.mitre.org/software/S0391) is a backdoor that was observed in targeting of the government sector in Central Asia.(Citation: FireEye HAWKBALL Jun 2019)

Executive priority

S0391: HAWKBALL 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 S0391: HAWKBALL 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 S0391: HAWKBALL 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

HAWKBALL

HAWKBALL is a backdoor that was observed in targeting of the government sector in Central Asia.[1]

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.

11 rows
DomainIDNameRelationship / procedure
EnterpriseT1559.002Dynamic Data ExchangeSub-technique

HAWKBALL has used an OLE object that uses Equation Editor to drop the embedded shellcode.[1]

EnterpriseT1027.013Encrypted/Encoded FileSub-technique

HAWKBALL has encrypted the payload with an XOR-based algorithm.[1]

EnterpriseT1082System Information Discovery

HAWKBALL can collect the OS version, architecture information, and computer name.[1]

EnterpriseT1071.001Web ProtocolsSub-technique

HAWKBALL has used HTTP to communicate with a single hard-coded C2 server.[1]

EnterpriseT1033System Owner/User Discovery

HAWKBALL can collect the user name of the system.[1]

EnterpriseT1041Exfiltration Over C2 Channel

HAWKBALL has sent system information and files over the C2 channel.[1]

EnterpriseT1560.003Archive via Custom MethodSub-technique

HAWKBALL has encrypted data with XOR before sending it over the C2 channel.[1]

EnterpriseT1203Exploitation for Client Execution

HAWKBALL has exploited Microsoft Office vulnerabilities CVE-2017-11882 and CVE-2018-0802 to deliver the payload.[1]

EnterpriseT1059.003Windows Command ShellSub-technique

HAWKBALL has created a cmd.exe reverse shell, executed commands, and uploaded output via the command line.[1]

EnterpriseT1070.004File DeletionSub-technique

HAWKBALL has the ability to delete files.[1]

EnterpriseT1106Native API

HAWKBALL has leveraged several Windows API calls to create processes, gather disk information, and detect debugger activity.[1]

Relationship explorer

All related ATT&CK context

uses · TechniqueT1559.002: Dynamic Data ExchangeEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1027.013: Encrypted/Encoded FileEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1082: System Information DiscoveryEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1071.001: Web ProtocolsEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1033: System Owner/User DiscoveryEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1041: Exfiltration Over C2 ChannelEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1560.003: Archive via Custom MethodEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1203: Exploitation for Client ExecutionEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1059.003: Windows Command ShellEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1070.004: File DeletionEnterpriseuses · TechniqueT1106: Native APIEnterprise
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
19.2
Object version
1.2
Created
Modified
Raw hash
ade9db1d24ff4b99...
Imported snapshots across ATT&CK releases(2)
ReleaseBundle importedObject versionModifiedStatusRaw hash
19.21.2Current bundleade9db1d24ff…
19.11.2Older bundleade9db1d24ff…
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]
    FireEye HAWKBALL Jun 2019

    Patil, S. and Williams, M.. (2019, June 5). Government Sector in Central Asia Targeted With New HAWKBALL Backdoor Delivered via Microsoft Office Vulnerabilities. Retrieved June 20, 2019.

    Open source URL
  2. [2]
    HAWKBALL

    (Citation: FireEye HAWKBALL Jun 2019)

  3. [3]
    mitre-attackS0391
    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.

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