Nezha: The Monitoring Tool That's Also a Perfect RAT
Summary:
Nezha is a legitimate, open-source server monitoring platform designed to help administrators monitor and manage systems across Windows, Linux, and network appliances. The tool, initially developed for the Chinese IT community, has garnered nearly 10,000 stars on GitHub and is actively being maintained. It uses a dashboard architecture that enables operators to view system health, transfer files, and open interactive terminal sessions.
In recent incidents observed by Ontinue’s Cyber Defense Center, threat actors have repurposed Nezha as a post-exploitation remote access trojan by silently deploying the agent and configuring it to connect to attacker-controlled infrastructure. Because the agent is designed to run as root (Linux) / SYSTEM (Windows), adversaries can use these elevated privileges to execute commands and maintain persistent access without having to deploy additional payloads. As a legitimate tool, Nezha often shows zero antivirus detections, making detection difficult unless organizations proactively hunt for its presence and monitor for malicious post-compromise activity.
Security Officer Comments:
The latest development highlights a trend in actors abusing legitimate remote monitoring tools to evade signature-based detections. Tools like PsExec, PowerShell, AnyDesk, and TeamViewer have long been misused because they blend in with normal administrative activity and generate benign-looking network traffic. Nezha has garnered the attention of actors given its open source nature and ability to run with elevated privileges, enabling actors to gain full control immediately after installation. Unlike commercial remote monitoring tools that require customization or additional modules, Nezha provides comprehensive functionality by default, making it an attractive tool for cyber criminals.
Suggested Corrections:
https://www.ontinue.com/resource/nezha-the-monitoring-tool-thats-also-a-perfect-rat/
Nezha is a legitimate, open-source server monitoring platform designed to help administrators monitor and manage systems across Windows, Linux, and network appliances. The tool, initially developed for the Chinese IT community, has garnered nearly 10,000 stars on GitHub and is actively being maintained. It uses a dashboard architecture that enables operators to view system health, transfer files, and open interactive terminal sessions.
In recent incidents observed by Ontinue’s Cyber Defense Center, threat actors have repurposed Nezha as a post-exploitation remote access trojan by silently deploying the agent and configuring it to connect to attacker-controlled infrastructure. Because the agent is designed to run as root (Linux) / SYSTEM (Windows), adversaries can use these elevated privileges to execute commands and maintain persistent access without having to deploy additional payloads. As a legitimate tool, Nezha often shows zero antivirus detections, making detection difficult unless organizations proactively hunt for its presence and monitor for malicious post-compromise activity.
Security Officer Comments:
The latest development highlights a trend in actors abusing legitimate remote monitoring tools to evade signature-based detections. Tools like PsExec, PowerShell, AnyDesk, and TeamViewer have long been misused because they blend in with normal administrative activity and generate benign-looking network traffic. Nezha has garnered the attention of actors given its open source nature and ability to run with elevated privileges, enabling actors to gain full control immediately after installation. Unlike commercial remote monitoring tools that require customization or additional modules, Nezha provides comprehensive functionality by default, making it an attractive tool for cyber criminals.
Suggested Corrections:
- EDR Deployment – Ensure Defender For Endpoint is deployed
- Tamper Protection – Prevent attackers from disabling security controls or adding exclusions post-compromise.
- ASR rules table– Four specific rules that intersect with post-exploitation:
- Advanced ransomware protection
- Block credential stealing from LSASS
- Block process creations from WMI
- Block WMI event subscription persistence
- Controlled Folder Access – Protection if attacker deploys ransomware/exfiltrates
- Baseline authorized tools – If Nezha isn’t approved, any presence is suspicious
https://www.ontinue.com/resource/nezha-the-monitoring-tool-thats-also-a-perfect-rat/