This hypothesis posits that adversaries are leveraging VShell infrastructure to establish persistent command-and-control channels or host malicious payloads within the Azure environment. Proactive hunting is critical because early identification of these specific IOCs enables the SOC team to isolate compromised assets before lateral movement occurs, mitigating potential data exfiltration risks associated with this high-severity threat actor.
Malware Family: VShell Total IOCs: 5 IOC Types: ip:port
| Type | Value | Threat Type | First Seen | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ip:port | 115[.]190[.]80[.]27:18085 | botnet_cc | 2026-06-30 | 100% |
| ip:port | 1[.]117[.]77[.]166:8084 | botnet_cc | 2026-06-30 | 100% |
| ip:port | 173[.]211[.]46[.]220:53306 | botnet_cc | 2026-06-30 | 100% |
| ip:port | 45[.]196[.]233[.]245:50001 | botnet_cc | 2026-06-29 | 100% |
| ip:port | 121[.]37[.]101[.]160:9999 | botnet_cc | 2026-06-29 | 100% |
// Hunt for network connections to known malicious IPs
// Source: ThreatFox - VShell
let malicious_ips = dynamic(["1.117.77.166", "115.190.80.27", "121.37.101.160", "45.196.233.245", "173.211.46.220"]);
CommonSecurityLog
| where DestinationIP in (malicious_ips) or SourceIP in (malicious_ips)
| project TimeGenerated, SourceIP, DestinationIP, DestinationPort, DeviceAction, Activity
| order by TimeGenerated desc
// Hunt in Defender for Endpoint network events
let malicious_ips = dynamic(["1.117.77.166", "115.190.80.27", "121.37.101.160", "45.196.233.245", "173.211.46.220"]);
DeviceNetworkEvents
| where RemoteIP in (malicious_ips)
| project Timestamp, DeviceName, RemoteIP, RemotePort, InitiatingProcessFileName, ActionType
| order by Timestamp desc
| Sentinel Table | Notes |
|---|---|
CommonSecurityLog | Ensure this data connector is enabled |
DeviceNetworkEvents | Ensure this data connector is enabled |
Here are 4 specific false positive scenarios for the ThreatFox: VShell IOCs detection rule in an enterprise environment, along with suggested filters or exclusions:
Endpoint Protection Policy Deployment via Microsoft Intune
Process Name associated with the Intune agent (Microsoft.IntuneManagementService.exe) initiating the VShell installation package.Automated Patching Job via SCCM (Configuration Manager)
Parent Process is the SMS Agent Host (smss.exe) running during the maintenance window (e.g., 02:00 – 04:00 UTC).Cloud Infrastructure Provisioning via Terraform/Ansible Playbooks