S1113: RAPIDPULSE
RAPIDPULSE is a web shell that exists as a modification to a legitimate Pulse Secure file that has been used by APT5 since at least 2021.[1]
Security context for executives and security teams
S1113: RAPIDPULSE describes [RAPIDPULSE](https://attack.mitre.org/software/S1113) is a web shell that exists as a modification to a legitimate Pulse Secure file that has been used by [APT5](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G1023) since at least 2021.(Citation: Mandiant Pulse Secure Update May 2021)
Executive priority
S1113: RAPIDPULSE 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 S1113: RAPIDPULSE by reviewing the official ATT&CK relationships, mapped tactics (the mapped ATT&CK tactic context), supported platforms (Network Devices, Linux), 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 S1113: RAPIDPULSE 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.
RAPIDPULSE
RAPIDPULSE is a web shell that exists as a modification to a legitimate Pulse Secure file that has been used by APT5 since at least 2021.[1]
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 | T1140 | Deobfuscate/Decode Files or Information | RAPIDPULSE listens for specific HTTP query parameters in received communications. If specific parameters match, a hard-coded RC4 key is used to decrypt the HTTP query paremter |
| Enterprise | T1005 | Data from Local System | RAPIDPULSE retrieves files from the victim system via encrypted commands sent to the web shell.[1] |
| Enterprise | T1505.003 | Web ShellSub-technique | RAPIDPULSE is a web shell that is capable of arbitrary file read on targeted web servers to exfiltrate items of interest on the victim device.[1] |
| Enterprise | T1027.013 | Encrypted/Encoded FileSub-technique | RAPIDPULSE has the ability to RC4 encrypt and base64 encode decrypted files on compromised servers prior to writing them to stdout.[1] |
Groups, software, and campaigns
G1023: APT5
APT5 is a China-based espionage actor that has been active since at least 2007 primarily targeting the telecommunications, aerospace, and defense industries throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia. APT5 has displayed advanced tradecraft and significant interest in compromising networking devices and their underlying software including through the use of zero-day exploits.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
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(2)
| Release | Bundle imported | Object version | Modified | Status | Raw hash |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19.2 | 1.1 | Current bundle | 18105996be23… | ||
| 19.1 | 1.1 | Older bundle | 18105996be23… |
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]Mandiant Pulse Secure Update May 2021
Perez, D. et al. (2021, May 27). Re-Checking Your Pulse: Updates on Chinese APT Actors Compromising Pulse Secure VPN Devices. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
Open source URL - [2]mitre-attackS1113Open source URL
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