Malicious SSLoad Downloader C2 Beacon via Custom SSLoad User-Agent (via proxy)

PremiumReviewedSigma · High · v1
Category
proxy
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-05-11
Updated
2026-08-28

ATT&CK techniques

C2
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Persistence

  6. Priv Esc

  7. Defense Evasion

  8. Cred Access

  9. Discovery

  10. Lateral Movement

  11. Collection

  12. Exfiltration

  13. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects outbound HTTP traffic carrying the hardcoded SSLoad User-Agent used by the SSLoad downloader when it registers a fingerprinted host and beacons for tasks to its command-and-control server. This bespoke agent string is not produced by legitimate software and identifies the downloader stage of the intrusion on the wire.

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Pivot detection · T1071.001 · 9 related

Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.