APT / THREAT GROUP

UNC2452

🇷🇺Russia-attributed

aliases

Last seen:May 20, 2026

Intelligence Profile

Reporting regarding activity related to the SolarWinds supply chain injection has grown quickly since initial disclosure on 13 December 2020. A significant amount of press reporting has focused on the identification of the actor(s) involved, victim organizations, possible campaign timeline, and potential impact. The US Government and cyber community have also provided detailed information on how the campaign was likely conducted and some of the malware used. MITRE’s ATT&CK team — with the assistance of contributors — has been mapping techniques used by the actor group, referred to as UNC2452/Dark Halo by FireEye and Volexity respectively, as well as SUNBURST and TEARDROP malware.

Threat Analysis

UNC2452 is a known-sophistication threat actor attributed to Russia, engaged in cyber operations with a primary motivation of unknown activity patterns.

External References

→https://medium.com/mitre-attack/identifying-unc2452-related-techniques-9f7b6c7f3714

→https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2020/12/evasive-attacker-leverages-solarwinds-supply-chain-compromises-with-sunburst-backdoor.html

→https://news.sophos.com/en-us/2020/12/21/how-sunburst-malware-does-defense-evasion/

→https://www.microsoft.com/security/blog/2020/12/18/analyzing-solorigate-the-compromised-dll-file-that-started-a-sophisticated-cyberattack-and-how-microsoft-defender-helps-protect/

→https://pastebin.com/6EDgCKxd

→https://github.com/fireeye/sunburst_countermeasures

→https://www.microsoft.com/security/blog/2021/03/04/goldmax-goldfinder-sibot-analyzing-nobelium-malware

→https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2021/03/sunshuttle-second-stage-backdoor-targeting-us-based-entity.html

→https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/atoms/solarphoenix/

→https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2024/01/25/midnight-blizzard-guidance-for-responders-on-nation-state-attack/

Quick Facts

TypeAPT / Threat Group

Origin🇷🇺 Russia

Aliases6

SourceMalpedia

Also Known As

Solar PhoenixMidnight BlizzardStellarParticleNOBELIUMDarkHaloUNC2452

Research Links

MITRE ATT&CK VirusTotal Google (news) Twitter/X search

Data sourced from Malpedia, Ransomware.live, RansomLook, and CTIWATCH OSINT collection. Actor attribution is based on available intelligence and may be incomplete.

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