Negasteal
Overview
Executive Summary
NegaSteal is a sophisticated Information Stealer (InfoStealer) and credential harvesting trojan. Often sold as Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS) on dark web forums, it is designed to silently extract a massive variety of sensitive data from infected Windows endpoints, including saved passwords, session cookies, cryptocurrency wallets, and VPN configurations.Infection Vector and Extraction Methodology
NegaSteal is heavily distributed via mass malspam campaigns. The phishing emails frequently utilize socially engineered lures (fake invoices, POs, or shipping manifests) containing malicious attachments—such as weaponized Excel documents, ISO images, or deeply obfuscated VBS/JavaScript droppers. Upon execution, NegaSteal performs rapid, automated data extraction:- Comprehensive Credential Theft: It systematically queries the internal databases of over 50 different applications, extracting stored passwords from major web browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Brave), FTP clients (FileZilla), email clients (Outlook), and instant messaging programs.
- Cryptocurrency Targeting: NegaSteal actively searches the file system for wallet files (`wallet.dat`) and browser extensions associated with popular cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum).
- Data Exfiltration: The stolen intelligence is aggregated into an encrypted archive (often a ZIP file) and covertly transmitted to the attacker's command-and-control (C2) server via HTTP POST requests, FTP, or even Telegram bots.
Security and Privacy Implications
A NegaSteal infection is a critical security breach resulting in the immediate compromise of both corporate and personal credentials. This stolen intelligence is frequently used immediately by the attackers to pivot laterally into corporate networks (via VPN or RDP) or sold on dark web marketplaces to Initial Access Brokers (IABs).Incident Response and Mitigation
- Credential Invalidation: Immediate, organization-wide password resets are mandatory following a confirmed NegaSteal infection. All active session tokens and VPN access keys must be forcibly revoked.
- Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR): Deploy EDR solutions configured to alert on processes attempting unauthorized, bulk access to browser profile directories (`%LocalAppData%\Google\Chrome\User Data`) and the `CryptUnprotectData` API.
- Email Security: Implement strict email filtering and sandboxing to block malicious attachments before they reach the end-user, disrupting the primary NegaSteal distribution vector.
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: T1555.003 T1003 T1048.003 T1566.001
Tactical Mitigations
Based on the techniques used by this family, consider the following defensive strategies:
- T1003: Monitor for LSASS memory dumping or registry SAM extraction. Enable Credential Guard on Windows systems.
- T1566.001: Scan email attachments for malicious macros, scripts, or suspicious archive files.
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_NEGASTEAL {
meta:
description = "Detects Negasteal (trojan)"
author = "SystemHelpdesk Boilerplate Generator"
date = "2026-07-06"
strings:
$s1 = "negasteal" ascii wide nocase
$s2 = "trojan.negasteal" ascii wide nocase
$s3 = "passwordstealer.nega" ascii wide nocase
$s4 = "win32/negasteal" ascii wide nocase
condition:
uint16(0) == 0x5a4d and any of them
}Sigma Rule
title: Suspicious Negasteal Activity
id: 8f6d5f847d466d09320a712bb004e06b
status: experimental
description: Detects generic indicators of the negasteal malware family.
logsource:
category: process_creation
product: windows
detection:
selection:
Image|endswith:
- '\cmd.exe'
- '\powershell.exe'
CommandLine|contains:
- "*negasteal*"
- "*trojan.negasteal*"
- "*passwordstealer.nega*"
- "*win32/negasteal*"
condition: selection
level: mediumReferences & External Analysis
- Search "negasteal" on VirusTotal (External Analysis)
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I remove the Negasteal Trojan from Windows?
Manual removal of Negasteal 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 Negasteal a virus or a Trojan?
Negasteal is classified as a Trojan. Unlike traditional viruses that infect files, modern malware like Negasteal typically operates as a standalone payload designed to compromise systems, steal data, or deploy secondary stage implants.
What are the main symptoms of a Negasteal infection?
Symptoms of Negasteal 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: trojan)
Explore other malware families in the same category:
Protect Your Network Against Trojans
Want to prevent Negasteal and similar threats from compromising your organization? Read our comprehensive defensive guide: Banking Trojan Protection.
Machine-readable
Get this profile as JSON: https://jordanricky1604-ship-it.github.io/malware-families-catalog/api/negasteal.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.