From Extension to Infection: An In-Depth Analysis of the Evelyn Stealer Campaign Targeting Software Developers

The Evelyn Stealer campaign reflects the operationalization of attacks against developer communities, which are seen as high-value targets given their important role in the software development ecosystem. By embedding itself in VSC extensions and staging its execution through loaders and process hollowing, the campaign treats the developer environment itself as the delivery mechanism.  Reinforcing its attack chain with advanced capabilities such AES-256-CBC encryption, multilayered anti-analysis techniques, and an apparently disciplined operational security, the campaign underscores a level of maturity designed to evade detection while exploiting the implicit trust developers place in their tools.

As developers increasingly become prime targets due to their privileged access and cryptocurrency holdings, organizations must implement comprehensive security measures including extension vetting, behavioral monitoring, and zero-trust architectures specifically designed for development workflows.

The technical and operational maturity demonstrated by this campaign suggests that we’re likely to see more targeted attacks against developer communities in the future, especially as more teams and companies adopting AI-powered tools and extensions, which further expands the attack surface. Security teams must adapt their strategies to protect these high-value users who serve as gateways to critical systems and intellectual property.

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TCP: Trojan.Win64.EvelynStealer.A Runtime Detection

TrendAI Vision One™ Threat Intelligence Hub provides the latest insights on emerging threats and threat actors, exclusive strategic reports from TrendAI™ Research, and TrendAI Vision One™ Threat Intelligence Feed in the TrendAI Vision One™ platform.

Emerging Threats: Dissecting Evelyn Stealer: A Comprehensive Analysis of a Multi-Stage Data Theft Campaign

Dissecting Evelyn Stealer: A Comprehensive Analysis of a Multi-Stage Data Theft Campaign

Hunting Queries 

TrendAI Vision One™ customers can use the Search App to match or hunt the malicious indicators mentioned in this blog post with data in their environment.    

 Linux Hunting query for Evelyn Stealer C2

“eventSubId:204 AND request:\”server09.mentality.cloud\””

More hunting queries are available for TrendAI Vision One™ with  Threat Intelligence Hub entitlement enabled. 

Indicators of Compromise (IoCs)

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