{
  "family": "ciadoor",
  "sample_count": 1,
  "category": "trojan",
  "description": "<h3>Executive Summary</h3>\nCiaDoor is a stealthy Remote Access Trojan (RAT) and backdoor designed to provide threat actors with persistent, unauthorized administrative access to compromised Windows endpoints. Its name implies covert access, and it is frequently utilized in targeted corporate espionage and data exfiltration campaigns.\n\n<h3>Technical Architecture and Capabilities</h3>\nCiaDoor typically employs a client-server architecture, where the malware payload silently establishes a reverse connection back to the attacker's administration panel, bypassing inbound firewall restrictions.\n\nOnce installed, CiaDoor provides a comprehensive suite of malicious capabilities:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Remote Shell Access:</strong> The attacker is granted a remote command-line interface (CLI) to execute arbitrary commands with the privileges of the compromised user.</li>\n<li><strong>File System Manipulation:</strong> A covert file manager allows the attacker to browse directories, exfiltrate sensitive intellectual property, and upload secondary payloads.</li>\n<li><strong>System Surveillance:</strong> Advanced variants of CiaDoor include modules for real-time keylogging, capturing screenshots, and intercepting clipboard data to steal passwords and sensitive communications.</li>\n<li><strong>Evasion:</strong> It frequently utilizes process hollowing to inject its malicious threads into legitimate system processes (like `svchost.exe` or `explorer.exe`) to mask its presence from Task Manager and basic antivirus scanners.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<h3>Threat Impact</h3>\nA CiaDoor infection constitutes a total compromise of the affected endpoint. The attacker possesses the ability to monitor all user activity, steal data, and utilize the compromised machine as a pivot point for lateral movement deep within the corporate network.\n\n<h3>Detection and Incident Response</h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Behavioral Analytics:</strong> Deploy EDR platforms tuned to detect anomalous process injection techniques and unexpected child processes (like `cmd.exe`) spawned by standard system binaries.</li>\n<li><strong>Network Traffic Analysis:</strong> Monitor edge firewalls for persistent, anomalous outbound connections (beaconing) to unknown IP addresses over non-standard ports.</li>\n<li><strong>System Re-image:</strong> Due to the deep system hooks and the potential for secondary backdoor deployment, the most secure remediation strategy for a CiaDoor infection is a complete wipe and re-image of the compromised endpoint from a known good baseline.</li>\n</ul>",
  "cta": "Published by the SystemHelpdesk team.",
  "aliases": [
    "Backdoor.CiaDoor",
    "RAT.CiaDoor",
    "Win32/CiaDoor"
  ],
  "enrichment_level": "insufficient_information",
  "faq": [],
  "faq_count": 0,
  "mitre_attack": [
    "T1059",
    "T1071.001",
    "T1055.012",
    "T1105"
  ],
  "cisa_advisory": null,
  "last_updated": "2026-07-01T16:23:56Z",
  "type": "Backdoor",
  "target_industries": [
    "Global / Opportunistic"
  ],
  "motivation": "Opportunistic",
  "threat_actors": [
    "Unknown / Cybercriminal"
  ],
  "target_geographies": [
    "Global"
  ]
}