Antisandbox
Overview
Executive Summary
"AntiSandbox" (often flagged as Generic.AntiSandbox, Trojan.Evas, or Riskware.AntiVM) is not a specific malware family, but a critical behavioral detection signature utilized by advanced Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions. It indicates that a file or process is actively executing routines designed to detect if it is running within a virtualized environment, a malware analysis sandbox (like Cuckoo), or under the scrutiny of a debugger. This is a massive red flag indicating highly sophisticated, evasive malware.Technical Architecture and Evasion Techniques
Modern malware (especially targeted ransomware and advanced banking trojans) relies heavily on evasion to bypass automated defenses. When a file triggers an AntiSandbox alert, it is executing specific environmental checks:- Hardware/Resource Checks: The malware queries the system for the number of CPU cores, total RAM, and hard drive size. Sandboxes often have minimal resources (e.g., 1 CPU core, 2GB RAM). If the resources fall below a threshold, the malware terminates itself.
- Artifact Detection: The code searches for specific files, registry keys, or running processes known to be associated with virtualization software (VMware, VirtualBox) or analysis tools (Wireshark, Process Hacker, x64dbg).
- User Interaction Checks: Advanced variants will not execute their malicious payload unless they detect human interaction, such as mouse movement, keyboard clicks, or a recently scrolled document, effectively bypassing automated, "headless" sandboxes.
Threat Impact
An AntiSandbox detection is a high-severity alert. Legitimate software rarely needs to actively hunt for virtualization artifacts or debuggers. When this alert fires, it means an executable has actively determined it is being watched and has altered its behavior—often shutting down silently to avoid generating Indicators of Compromise (IOCs).Incident Response and Advanced Analysis
- Immediate Quarantine: Treat the flagged file as highly malicious. Even if the EDR solution blocked the execution, the presence of evasive malware indicates a sophisticated threat actor.
- Bare-Metal Analysis: Standard sandboxes will fail to analyze this file. The binary must be extracted and analyzed on a physical, "bare-metal" forensic workstation that mimics a standard corporate endpoint to trick the malware into executing its true payload.
- Reverse Engineering: Security analysts must manually reverse-engineer the binary (using tools like IDA Pro or Ghidra) to identify the specific evasion checks and patch them out, forcing the malware to reveal its C2 infrastructure and destructive routines.
Known aliases
Threat reports may refer to this family under multiple names:
MITRE ATT&CK Techniques
This family has been observed using the following ATT&CK techniques: T1497.001 T1497.002 T1622
Generated Detections (Boilerplate)
These YARA and Sigma rules are auto-generated based on the family name and aliases. They must be heavily tuned before deployment in a production environment.
YARA Rule
rule MALWARE_WIN_ANTISANDBOX {
meta:
description = "Detects Antisandbox (ransomware)"
author = "SystemHelpdesk Boilerplate Generator"
date = "2026-07-06"
strings:
$s1 = "antisandbox" ascii wide nocase
$s2 = "generic.antisandbox" ascii wide nocase
$s3 = "trojan.evas" ascii wide nocase
$s4 = "riskware.antivm" ascii wide nocase
condition:
uint16(0) == 0x5a4d and any of them
}Sigma Rule
title: Suspicious Antisandbox Activity
id: dcd589b79444cee4851f521269b9e800
status: experimental
description: Detects generic indicators of the antisandbox malware family.
logsource:
category: process_creation
product: windows
detection:
selection:
Image|endswith:
- '\cmd.exe'
- '\powershell.exe'
CommandLine|contains:
- "*antisandbox*"
- "*generic.antisandbox*"
- "*trojan.evas*"
- "*riskware.antivm*"
condition: selection
level: mediumReferences & External Analysis
- Search "antisandbox" on VirusTotal (External Analysis)
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I remove the Antisandbox Ransomware from Windows?
Manual removal of Antisandbox is highly discouraged as it may leave persistence mechanisms intact. We recommend disconnecting the device from the internet and utilizing a professional incident response service or enterprise-grade EDR software to conduct a full forensic sweep.
Is Antisandbox a virus or a Ransomware?
Antisandbox is classified as a Ransomware. Unlike traditional viruses that infect files, modern malware like Antisandbox typically operates as a standalone payload designed to compromise systems, steal data, or deploy secondary stage implants.
What are the main symptoms of a Antisandbox infection?
Symptoms of Antisandbox can include unexpected system slowness, unauthorized outbound network traffic to unknown IP addresses, disabled security software, and suspicious background processes running from AppData or Temp directories.
Related Families (Category: ransomware)
Explore other malware families in the same category:
Protect Your Network Against Ransomwares
Want to prevent Antisandbox and similar threats from compromising your organization? Read our comprehensive defensive guide: Ransomware Protection Guide.
Machine-readable
Get this profile as JSON: https://jordanricky1604-ship-it.github.io/malware-families-catalog/api/antisandbox.json
Ecosystem & Interactive Environments
This profile is part of the Malware Families Catalog, a public dataset of 2,899 malware families. The catalog is also published across our ecosystem: Hugging Face, Kaggle, Zenodo, Replit, StackBlitz, CodeSandbox, and CodePen.