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MITRE ATT&CK® Malware

S1082: Sunbird

Sunbird is one of two mobile malware families known to be used by the APT Confucius. Analysis suggests that Sunbird was first active in early 2017. While Sunbird and Hornbill overlap in core capabilities, Sunbird has a more extensive set of malicious features.[1]

MobileS1082MalwareObject v1.0Modified
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Glexia's Take · Automated analysis

Security context for executives and security teams

Automation confidenceMedium

S1082: Sunbird describes [Sunbird](https://attack.mitre.org/software/S1082) is one of two mobile malware families known to be used by the APT [Confucius](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G0142). Analysis suggests that [Sunbird](https://attack.mitre.org/software/S1082) was first active in early 2017. While [Sunbird](https://attack.mitre.org/software/S1082) and [Hornbill](https://attack.mitre.org/software/S1077) overlap in core capabilities, [Sunbird](https://attack.mitre.org/software/S1082) has a more extensive set of malicious features.(Cit...

Executive priority

S1082: Sunbird 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 S1082: Sunbird by reviewing the official ATT&CK relationships, mapped tactics (the mapped ATT&CK tactic context), supported platforms (Android), and available local telemetry before making detection or mitigation decisions.

Likely telemetry

  • Official ATT&CK relationships and object metadata

Detection direction

  • Validate whether S1082: Sunbird 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

Sunbird

Sunbird is one of two mobile malware families known to be used by the APT Confucius. Analysis suggests that Sunbird was first active in early 2017. While Sunbird and Hornbill overlap in core capabilities, Sunbird has a more extensive set of malicious features.[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.

17 rows
DomainIDNameRelationship / procedure
MobileT1422System Network Configuration Discovery

Sunbird can exfiltrate phone number and IMEI.[1]

MobileT1623.001Unix ShellSub-technique

Sunbird can try to run arbitrary commands as root.[1]

MobileT1429Audio Capture

Sunbird can record environmental and call audio.[1]

MobileT1513Screen Capture

Sunbird can take screenshots and abuse accessibility services to scrape BlackBerry Messenger and WhatsApp messages, contacts, and notifications[1]

MobileT1626.001Device Administrator PermissionsSub-technique

Sunbird can request device administrator privileges. [1]

MobileT1533Data from Local System

Sunbird can access images stored on external storage.[1]

MobileT1426System Information Discovery

Sunbird can exfiltrate the victim device ID, model, manufacturer, and Android version.[1]

MobileT1430Location Tracking

Sunbird can access a device’s location.[1]

MobileT1636.002Call LogSub-technique

Sunbird can exfiltrate call logs.[1]

MobileT1636.003Contact ListSub-technique

Sunbird can exfiltrate a device's contacts.[1]

MobileT1544Ingress Tool Transfer

Sunbird can download adversary specified content from FTP shares.[1]

MobileT1409Stored Application Data

Sunbird can exfiltrate browser history, BlackBerry Messenger files, IMO instant messaging content, and WhatsApp voice notes.[1]

MobileT1418Software Discovery

Sunbird can exfiltrate a list of installed applications.[1]

MobileT1646Exfiltration Over C2 Channel

Sunbird can exfiltrate compressed ZIP files containing gathered info to C2 infrastructure.[1]

MobileT1532Archive Collected Data

Sunbird can exfiltrate collected data as a ZIP file.[1]

MobileT1512Video Capture

Sunbird can access a device’s camera and take photos.[1]

MobileT1636.001Calendar EntriesSub-technique

Sunbird can exfiltrate calendar information.[1]

Associated objects

Groups, software, and campaigns

GroupMobile

G0142: Confucius

Confucius is a cyber espionage group that has primarily targeted military personnel, high-profile personalities, business persons, and government organizations in South Asia since at least 2013. Security researchers have noted similarities between Confucius and Patchwork, particularly in their respective custom malware code and targets.[1][2][3]

Relationship explorer

All related ATT&CK context

uses · GroupG0142: ConfuciusMobileuses · TechniqueT1422: System Network Configuration DiscoveryMobileuses · TechniqueT1623.001: Unix ShellMobileuses · TechniqueT1429: Audio CaptureMobileuses · TechniqueT1513: Screen CaptureMobileuses · TechniqueT1626.001: Device Administrator PermissionsMobileuses · TechniqueT1533: Data from Local SystemMobileuses · TechniqueT1426: System Information DiscoveryMobileuses · TechniqueT1430: Location TrackingMobileuses · TechniqueT1636.002: Call LogMobileuses · TechniqueT1636.003: Contact ListMobileuses · TechniqueT1544: Ingress Tool TransferMobileuses · TechniqueT1409: Stored Application DataMobileuses · TechniqueT1418: Software DiscoveryMobileuses · TechniqueT1646: Exfiltration Over C2 ChannelMobileuses · TechniqueT1532: Archive Collected DataMobileuses · TechniqueT1512: Video CaptureMobileuses · TechniqueT1636.001: Calendar EntriesMobile
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
31b6e569557fe362...
Imported snapshots across ATT&CK releases(2)
ReleaseBundle importedObject versionModifiedStatusRaw hash
19.21.0Current bundle31b6e569557f…
19.11.0Older bundle31b6e569557f…
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]
    lookout_hornbill_sunbird_0221

    Apurva Kumar, Kristin Del Rosso. (2021, February 10). Novel Confucius APT Android Spyware Linked to India-Pakistan Conflict. Retrieved June 9, 2023.

    Open source URL
  2. [2]
    mitre-attackS1082
    Open source URL
Source and licensing

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