PoeLLM Malware Botnet Compromises More Than 3,400 Servers Using a Poem to Hide C2
Summary
Black Lotus Labs says PoeLLM has compromised more than 3,400 servers since April by targeting open-source AI services. The malware derives changing command-and-control addresses from words in a GitHub poem.
Key points
- Black Lotus Labs reported that PoeLLM has compromised more than 3,400 servers since April.
- The botnet targets exposed services including LiteLLM, Ollama, Gotenberg and Gitea; researchers first encountered its infrastructure while investigating an Ivanti Sentry vulnerability.
- PoeLLM extracts four words from a GitHub poem and maps them through a hard-coded dictionary to construct its command-and-control address.
- The threat actor can change the poem to rotate C2 addresses without updating the malware, making the infrastructure harder to identify through network monitoring.
- Researchers observed exploit scanning and cryptocurrency mining. The malware also has remote-code-execution functionality that could enable abuse of AI models and further compromise.
- The actor’s identity and activity beyond scanning and mining remain under investigation; researchers have not linked the campaign to other groups.
Article Details
- Event Type
- PoeLLM malware botnet targeting open-source AI services
- Impact
- Black Lotus Labs reported that more than 3,400 servers had been compromised since April. The botnet has been linked to exploit scanning and cryptocurrency mining; its malware can enable remote code execution and may allow abuse of AI models and compromised servers as proxies for further attacks.
People
Malware
Vendors
Products
GiteaThat discovery uncovered a sweeping exploit-scanning and cryptocurrency-mining botnet linked to multiple compromised services and tools, including LiteLLM, Ollama, Gotenberg and Gitea.GotenbergThat discovery uncovered a sweeping exploit-scanning and cryptocurrency-mining botnet linked to multiple compromised services and tools, including LiteLLM, Ollama, Gotenberg and Gitea.LiteLLMThat discovery uncovered a sweeping exploit-scanning and cryptocurrency-mining botnet linked to multiple compromised services and tools, including LiteLLM, Ollama, Gotenberg and Gitea.OllamaThat discovery uncovered a sweeping exploit-scanning and cryptocurrency-mining botnet linked to multiple compromised services and tools, including LiteLLM, Ollama, Gotenberg and Gitea.SentryResearchers first encountered PoeLLM infrastructure in June during an investigation into a maximum-severity defect affecting Ivanti’s secure mobile gateway product, Sentry.