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MITRE ATT&CK® Malware

S0630: Nebulae

Nebulae Is a backdoor that has been used by Naikon since at least 2020.[1]

EnterpriseS0630MalwareObject v1.0Modified
Glexia's Take · Automated analysis

Security context for executives and security teams

Automation confidenceMedium

S0630: Nebulae describes [Nebulae](https://attack.mitre.org/software/S0630) Is a backdoor that has been used by [Naikon](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0019) since at least 2020.(Citation: Bitdefender Naikon April 2021)

Executive priority

S0630: Nebulae 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 S0630: Nebulae 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 S0630: Nebulae 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

Nebulae

Nebulae Is a backdoor that has been used by Naikon since at least 2020.[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.

15 rows
DomainIDNameRelationship / procedure
EnterpriseT1105Ingress Tool Transfer

Nebulae can download files from C2.[1]

EnterpriseT1680Local Storage Discovery

Nebulae can discover logical drive information including the drive type, free space, and volume information.[1]

EnterpriseT1005Data from Local System

Nebulae has the capability to upload collected files to C2.[1]

EnterpriseT1095Non-Application Layer Protocol

Nebulae can use TCP in C2 communications.[1]

EnterpriseT1547.001Registry Run Keys / Startup FolderSub-technique

Nebulae can achieve persistence through a Registry Run key.[1]

EnterpriseT1057Process Discovery

Nebulae can enumerate processes on a target system.[1]

EnterpriseT1106Native API

Nebulae has the ability to use CreateProcess to execute a process.[1]

EnterpriseT1036.004Masquerade Task or ServiceSub-technique

Nebulae has created a service named "Windows Update Agent1" to appear legitimate.[1]

EnterpriseT1070.004File DeletionSub-technique

Nebulae has the ability to delete files and directories.[1]

EnterpriseT1543.003Windows ServiceSub-technique

Nebulae can create a service to establish persistence.[1]

EnterpriseT1036.005Match Legitimate Resource Name or LocationSub-technique

Nebulae uses functions named StartUserModeBrowserInjection and StopUserModeBrowserInjection indicating that it's trying to imitate chrome_frame_helper.dll.[1]

EnterpriseT1574.001DLLSub-technique

Nebulae can use DLL side-loading to gain execution.[1]

EnterpriseT1059.003Windows Command ShellSub-technique

Nebulae can use CMD to execute a process.[1]

EnterpriseT1083File and Directory Discovery

Nebulae can list files and directories on a compromised host.[1]

EnterpriseT1573.001Symmetric CryptographySub-technique

Nebulae can use RC4 and XOR to encrypt C2 communications.[1]

Associated objects

Groups, software, and campaigns

GroupEnterprise

G0019: Naikon

Naikon is assessed to be a state-sponsored cyber espionage group attributed to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Chengdu Military Region Second Technical Reconnaissance Bureau (Military Unit Cover Designator 78020).[1] Active since at least 2010, Naikon has primarily conducted operations against government, military, and civil organizations in Southeast Asia, as well as against international bodies such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).[1][2]

While Naikon shares some characteristics with APT30, the two groups do not appear to be exact matches.[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
1.0
Created
Modified
Raw hash
058aee646eafa76c...
Imported snapshots across ATT&CK releases(2)
ReleaseBundle importedObject versionModifiedStatusRaw hash
19.21.0Current bundle058aee646eaf…
19.11.0Older bundle058aee646eaf…
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]
    Bitdefender Naikon April 2021

    Vrabie, V. (2021, April 23). NAIKON – Traces from a Military Cyber-Espionage Operation. Retrieved June 29, 2021.

    Open source URL
  2. [2]
    mitre-attackS0630
    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.