ThreatFox: KongTuke IOCs

Hunt Hypothesis

This hunt detects adversary activity involving specific indicators of compromise (IOCs) linked to the KongTuke threat actor, which is known for targeting enterprise networks through malicious payloads and lateral movement. Proactively hunting for these IOCs in Azure Sentinel allows the SOC team to identify early-stage infections or dormant threats that may have bypassed standard automated detections, thereby reducing dwell time and preventing potential data exfiltration.

IOC Summary

Malware Family: KongTuke Total IOCs: 6 IOC Types: sha1_hash, sha256_hash, md5_hash

Type	Value	Threat Type	First Seen	Confidence
sha1_hash	`4f70d46d66a362d4c0ddc1242443223f20b9ca9c`	payload	2026-08-15	95%
md5_hash	`082587256ff1ecbed29ca78dbfee706d`	payload	2026-08-15	95%
sha256_hash	`5ee2f468fac76514a39aac80f78a48a36a3a6585460017bfccca54e4afeb13c2`	payload	2026-08-15	95%
sha1_hash	`0e555954137d88bde2aac58051f507c1c886e2e6`	payload	2026-08-15	95%
md5_hash	`488e038d75bd71a749dcb98ca5f0006d`	payload	2026-08-15	95%
sha256_hash	`5320d565de984280aed253f7ba82c3a5f9d6a7be23300e746e10c63f2b583cbd`	payload	2026-08-15	95%

KQL: Hash Hunt

// Hunt for files matching known malicious hashes
// Source: ThreatFox - KongTuke
let malicious_hashes = dynamic(["4f70d46d66a362d4c0ddc1242443223f20b9ca9c", "082587256ff1ecbed29ca78dbfee706d", "5ee2f468fac76514a39aac80f78a48a36a3a6585460017bfccca54e4afeb13c2", "0e555954137d88bde2aac58051f507c1c886e2e6", "488e038d75bd71a749dcb98ca5f0006d", "5320d565de984280aed253f7ba82c3a5f9d6a7be23300e746e10c63f2b583cbd"]);
DeviceFileEvents
| where SHA256 in (malicious_hashes) or SHA1 in (malicious_hashes) or MD5 in (malicious_hashes)
| project Timestamp, DeviceName, FileName, FolderPath, SHA256, InitiatingProcessFileName
| order by Timestamp desc

Required Data Sources

Sentinel Table	Notes
`DeviceFileEvents`	Ensure this data connector is enabled

References

ThreatFox — KongTuke

False Positive Guidance

Here are 5 specific false positive scenarios for the ThreatFox: KongTuke IOCs detection rule, along with recommended filters and exclusions tailored for an enterprise environment:

Scenario: Scheduled Antivirus Definition Updates via Vendor Connectors
- Context: Enterprise Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) agents (e.g., CrowdStrike Falcon or Microsoft Defender for Endpoint) automatically download definition updates from the vendor’s cloud repository. If a KongTuke IOC matches a hash or URL used by the vendor’s update server, the rule triggers during nightly maintenance windows.
- Filter/Exclusion: Create an exclusion based on the Process Name (C:\Program Files\CrowdStrike\FalconSensor\csfalcon.exe or MsMpEng.exe) and restrict the alert to occur only outside of defined business hours (e.g., 02:00–05:00 local time) when updates typically run.
Scenario: IT Admin Performing Legacy Software Deployment via SCCM
- Context: System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM/MECM) or Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager pushes a legacy application installer to a workstation. The installer package contains a compressed archive or script that references a KongTuke-associated URL for license validation, triggering the IOC match during the deployment phase.
- Filter/Exclusion: Exclude alerts where the Parent Process is ccmsetup.exe (SCCM) and the source IP belongs to the internal corporate management subnet (e.g., 10.20.x.x).
Scenario: Automated Backup Jobs Accessing Cloud Storage Buckets
- Context: A scheduled backup job using Veeam or Rubrik connects to an Azure Blob Storage or AWS S3 bucket to verify integrity. The connection string or the specific API endpoint URL matches a KongTuke IOC, causing a