MALWARE FAMILY

HOTWAX

Internal ID: win.hotwax

aliases

Last seen:Mar 17, 2026

Intelligence Profile

HOTWAX is a module that upon starting imports all necessary system API functions, and searches for a .CHM file. HOTWAX decrypts a payload using the Spritz algorithm with a hard-coded key and then searches the target process and attempts to inject the decrypted payload module from the CHM file into the address space of the target process.

Threat Analysis

HOTWAX 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://baesystemsai.blogspot.com/2017/02/lazarus-false-flag-malware.html

→https://content.fireeye.com/apt/rpt-apt38

→https://media.kasperskycontenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/43/2018/03/07180244/Lazarus_Under_The_Hood_PDF_final.pdf

→https://raw.githubusercontent.com/eric-erki/APT_CyberCriminal_Campagin_Collections/master/2017/2017.05.30.Lazarus_Arisen/Group-IB_Lazarus.pdf

→https://securelist.com/lazarus-under-the-hood/77908/

→https://www.virusbulletin.com/uploads/pdf/magazine/2018/VB2018-Kalnai-Poslusny.pdf

→https://www.welivesecurity.com/2017/02/16/demystifying-targeted-malware-used-polish-banks/

Quick Facts

TypeMalware Family

Aliases1

Also Known As

win.hotwax

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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