MALWARE FAMILY

EdgeStepper

Internal ID: elf.edgestepper

aliases

Last seen:Mar 17, 2026

Intelligence Profile

According to ESET Research, EdgeStepper is an adversary-in-the-middle tool, which forwards DNS traffic from machines in a targeted network to a malicious DNS node. This allows the attackers to redirect the traffic from software updates to a hijacking node that serves instructions to the legitimate software to download a malicious update.

Threat Analysis

EdgeStepper is a malware family tracked by threat intelligence researchers and catalogued in the Malpedia dataset. It represents a distinct malicious software lineage with identifiable code characteristics, behaviors, and victimology.

External References

→https://www.welivesecurity.com/en/eset-research/plushdaemon-compromises-network-devices-for-adversary-in-the-middle-attacks/

Quick Facts

TypeMalware Family

Aliases1

Also Known As

elf.edgestepper

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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