CaddyWiper
CaddyWiper (canonical ESET naming per March 14, 2022 9:38am UK time first discovery deployed in network of Ukrainian bank.
ESET detection signature Win32/KillDisk.NCX.
loader companion ARGUEPATCH named by CERT-UA using modified Hex-Rays IDA Pro win32_remote.exe debugger server sometimes renamed peremoga.exe + ESET detection Win32/Agent.AEGY) is a destructive disk wiper attributed to Sandworm (Russian GRU Unit 74455, also Mandiant APT44 / Microsoft Seashell Blizzard / Dragos ELECTRUM, curated separately as sandworm_team parent operator cluster), the third and most variant-iterated wiper of the 2022 Ukraine wartime wiper cluster.
Russian state-sponsored APT attribution via ESET canonical April 12, 2022 "Industroyer2: Industroyer reloaded" disclosure (Anton Cherepanov) + ESET February 24, 2023 "A year of wiper attacks in Ukraine" Sandworm attribution compilation with high confidence based on Industroyer2 co- deployment + operational TTP analysis.
standalone malware platform cluster paralleling whispergate + hermeticwiper in Ukraine 2022 wartime wiper cell; cluster-defining 9KB encrypted small-binary architecture (32-bit PE Windows binary vs. HermeticWiper 114KB, encryption thwarts static analysis until decrypted via ARGUEPATCH loader); cluster-defining ARGUEPATCH IDA Pro loader operator- trolling tradecraft, patched version of Hex-Rays IDA Pro reverse-engineering tool with single-byte XOR key derived from input key decrypting shellcode (per ESET signature defender-trolling: "We don't know why attackers choose to trojanized this piece of software, it might be a troll towards defenders")
cluster- defining Industroyer2 co-deployment evidence-erasure tradecraft per April 8, 2022 attack timeline (15:02:22 UTC Sandworm operator creates scheduled task + 16:10 UTC scheduled execution of Industroyer2 to cut power in Ukrainian region + 16:20 UTC scheduled execution of CaddyWiper on same machine to erase Industroyer2 traces + slow ICS console recovery per ESET: "intended to slow down the recovery process and prevent operators of the energy company from regaining control of the ICS consoles")
per TechTarget Black Hat 2022 retrospective with Anton Cherepanov + Robert Lipovsky: CaddyWiper "caused more disruption than Industroyer2" , wiper authors' mistakes allowed defenders to mitigate before blackout triggered (attack foiled by Ukrainian energy provider + CERT-UA + ESET + Microsoft collaboration per Victor Zhora Ukraine SSSCIP); multi-variant evolution through 2022 (March 14 first variant at Ukrainian bank + April 1 ArguePatch combo + April 8 Industroyer2-companion variant + May 16 ArguePatch deployed as modified ESET binary with digital signature removed + code overwritten + June 20+23 ESET- CERT-UA Ukrainian institutions deployments + October 3 x64 Windows variant)
cross-platform wiper family in Industroyer2 attack including ORCSHRED + SOLOSHRED + AWFULSHRED data-wiping scripts for Linux + Solaris ICS systems.
no major coding similarities to predecessors HermeticWiper or WhisperGate per ESET, distinct codebase suggesting separate developer team or development branch within Sandworm.
sample lacked digital signature (distinct from HermeticWiper signed driver approach)
PE header timestamp same day as deployment indicating just-in-time compilation pattern; May 20, 2022 ESET disclosure of ArguePatch updated variant "Sandworm uses a new version of ArguePatch to attack targets in Ukraine" included feature to execute next stage at specified time bypassing Windows scheduled task (operator stay-under-radar tradecraft); cluster fills most-variant-iterated wiper position in 2022 Ukraine wartime wiper chronology: WhisperGate January 2022 - HermeticWiper February 23, 2022 - IsaacWiper February 24, 2022 - CaddyWiper March 14, 2022 - Industroyer2 April 8, 2022.
canonical illustration of small encrypted binary architecture + signature ARGUEPATCH IDA Pro loader operator-trolling tradecraft + signature evidence-erasure mission alongside Industroyer2 + Sandworm continued destructive cyberweapon platform capability cited in essentially all 2022+ Ukraine wiper + Sandworm-platform industry analyses through 2022-2026 period.