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

S0585: Kerrdown

Kerrdown is a custom downloader that has been used by APT32 since at least 2018 to install spyware from a server on the victim's network.[1][2]

EnterpriseS0585MalwareObject v2.0Modified
Glexia's Take · Automated analysis

Security context for executives and security teams

Automation confidenceMedium

S0585: Kerrdown describes [Kerrdown](https://attack.mitre.org/software/S0585) is a custom downloader that has been used by [APT32](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0050) since at least 2018 to install spyware from a server on the victim's network.(Citation: Amnesty Intl. Ocean Lotus February 2021)(Citation: Unit 42 KerrDown February 2019)

Executive priority

S0585: Kerrdown 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 S0585: Kerrdown 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 S0585: Kerrdown 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

Kerrdown

Kerrdown is a custom downloader that has been used by APT32 since at least 2018 to install spyware from a server on the victim's network.[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.

11 rows
DomainIDNameRelationship / procedure
EnterpriseT1566.002Spearphishing LinkSub-technique

Kerrdown has been distributed via e-mails containing a malicious link.[1]

EnterpriseT1059.005Visual BasicSub-technique

Kerrdown can use a VBS base64 decoder function published by Motobit.[2]

EnterpriseT1566.001Spearphishing AttachmentSub-technique

Kerrdown has been distributed through malicious e-mail attachments.[1]

EnterpriseT1027.013Encrypted/Encoded FileSub-technique

Kerrdown can encrypt, encode, and compress multiple layers of shellcode.[2]

EnterpriseT1082System Information Discovery

Kerrdown has the ability to determine if the compromised host is running a 32 or 64 bit OS architecture.[2]

EnterpriseT1574.001DLLSub-technique

Kerrdown can use DLL side-loading to load malicious DLLs.[2]

EnterpriseT1105Ingress Tool Transfer

Kerrdown can download specific payloads to a compromised host based on OS architecture.[2]

EnterpriseT1027.015CompressionSub-technique

Kerrdown can encrypt, encode, and compress multiple layers of shellcode.[2]

EnterpriseT1140Deobfuscate/Decode Files or Information

Kerrdown can decode, decrypt, and decompress multiple layers of shellcode.[2]

EnterpriseT1204.002Malicious FileSub-technique

Kerrdown has gained execution through victims opening malicious files.[1][2]

EnterpriseT1204.001Malicious LinkSub-technique

Kerrdown has gained execution through victims opening malicious links.[1]

Associated objects

Groups, software, and campaigns

GroupEnterprise

G0050: APT32

APT32 is a suspected Vietnam-based threat group that has been active since at least 2014. The group has targeted multiple private sector industries as well as foreign governments, dissidents, and journalists with a strong focus on Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam, the Philippines, Laos, and Cambodia. They have extensively used strategic web compromises to compromise victims.[1][2][3]

Relationship explorer

All related ATT&CK context

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
2.0
Created
Modified
Raw hash
1436b8e38a6c7c6e...
Imported snapshots across ATT&CK releases(2)
ReleaseBundle importedObject versionModifiedStatusRaw hash
19.22.0Current bundle1436b8e38a6c…
19.12.0Older bundle1436b8e38a6c…
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.

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]
    Amnesty Intl. Ocean Lotus February 2021

    Amnesty International. (2021, February 24). Vietnamese activists targeted by notorious hacking group. Retrieved March 1, 2021.

    Open source URL
  2. [2]
    Unit 42 KerrDown February 2019

    Ray, V. and Hayashi, K. (2019, February 1). Tracking OceanLotus’ new Downloader, KerrDown. Retrieved October 1, 2021.

    Open source URL
  3. [3]
    mitre-attackS0585
    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.