MALWARE FAMILY

SmokeLoader

Internal ID: win.smokeloader

aliases

Last seen:Mar 17, 2026

Intelligence Profile

The SmokeLoader family is a generic backdoor with a range of capabilities which depend on the modules included in any given build of the malware. The malware is delivered in a variety of ways and is broadly associated with criminal activity. The malware frequently tries to hide its C2 activity by generating requests to legitimate sites such as microsoft.com, bing.com, adobe.com, and others. Typically the actual Download returns an HTTP 404 but still contains data in the Response Body.

Threat Analysis

SmokeLoader 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

→http://security.neurolabs.club/2019/08/smokeloaders-hardcoded-domains-sneaky.html

→http://security.neurolabs.club/2019/10/dynamic-imports-and-working-around.html

→http://security.neurolabs.club/2020/04/diffing-malware-samples-using-bindiff.html

→http://security.neurolabs.club/2020/06/unpacking-smokeloader-and.html

→https://0xc0decafe.com/2020/12/23/detect-rc4-in-malicious-binaries

→https://any.run/cybersecurity-blog/crackedcantil-breakdown/

→https://asec.ahnlab.com/en/33600/

→https://asec.ahnlab.com/en/36634/

→https://bartblaze.blogspot.com/2017/08/crystal-finance-millennium-used-to.html

→https://blog.badtrace.com/post/anti-hooking-checks-of-smokeloader-2018/

Quick Facts

TypeMalware Family

Aliases1

Also Known As

win.smokeloader

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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