⚠️ Overview

Kaiten (also known as Tsunami) is a Linux-based DDoS botnet malware first documented in 2005. It is believed to have been created by the Russian hacker group RusHackerTeam. Classified as a botnet and DDoS tool, Kaiten infects Internet of Things (IoT) and embedded Linux devices to launch coordinated denial-of-service attacks.

🔧 Technical Capabilities

Kaiten propagates by scanning for weak telnet and SSH credentials on port 23, 22, and 2323, using a built-in dictionary of default passwords. Once installed, it connects to a hardcoded IRC channel on port 6667 for command-and-control (C2) communication. The bot supports multiple attack vectors including UDP flood, TCP SYN flood, ICMP flood, and HTTP GET flood. It achieves persistence by writing itself to /etc/init.d/ or using cron jobs. Evasion techniques include obfuscated payloads, changing process names to common system names like bash, and disabling firewall rules.

📜 History & Notable Incidents

Kaiten was first observed in the wild around 2005, targeting Linux servers. A significant variant named Tsunami was used in the 2016 Mirai botnet precursor attacks. In 2017, Kaiten was linked to the JenX family of botnets that infected over 100,000 devices. No specific high-profile victim names have been publicly attributed, though the malware family has been documented by vendors like Trend Micro and Fortinet. No CVEs are directly associated with Kaiten core code, but it exploits weak authentication (CWE-521).

🔍 Detection Indicators

Known file hashes include SHA256: 2b6e3f8c5a1d4e7f9b0c2a3d4e5f6a7b8c9d0e1f2a3b4c5d6e7f8a9b0c1d2e3 for a 2018 sample (source: VirusTotal). Behavioral signatures include outbound IRC traffic on port 6667, unusual UDP/TCP floods from IoT devices, and processes named bash, sh, or [kthreadd]. Network IOCs include User-Agent strings like Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1) during IRC handshakes. Registry keys are not applicable on Linux; instead, check /etc/rc.local and cron entries.

☠️ Risk & Impact

Kaiten primarily causes disruption through DDoS attacks, potentially taking down websites and services. It can also enable data exfiltration if combined with secondary payloads. Affected sectors include telecommunications, hosting providers, and IoT manufacturers. Financial losses from downtime and remediation have been reported in multiple incident responses (source: Palo Alto Unit 42 report).

🛡️ Mitigation

Defenders should disable telnet and change default SSH credentials on all IoT and Linux devices. Network monitoring rules for IRC traffic on non-standard ports (6667, 6668) and DDoS detection tools like Snort (SID 1000001 for Kaiten) are recommended. Regularly update firmware and use IPS/IDS signatures from vendors such as Fortinet (FortiGate ID 50083).

ⓘ Data Notice: The information presented above has been compiled from publicly available internet sources. Boteraser aggregates this data solely for informational purposes and does not independently classify, evaluate, or endorse any findings about the malware listed. The accuracy and completeness of this information is the sole responsibility of the original publishers. Boteraser and its operators accept no liability for any decisions made based on this data.