APT35 exploits Log4j vulnerability to distribute new modular PowerShell toolkit

Introduction

With the emergence of the Log4j security vulnerability, we’ve already seen multiple threat actors, mostly financially motivated, immediately add it to their exploitation arsenal. It comes as no surprise that some nation-sponsored actors also saw this new vulnerability as an opportunity to strike before potential targets have identified and patched the affected systems.

APT35 (aka Charming Kitten, TA453, or Phosphorus), which is suspected to be an Iranian nation-state actor, started widespread scanning and attempts to leverage Log4j flaw in publicly facing systems only four days after the vulnerability was disclosed. The ac…