Threat Actor

UNC3886

Also known as: UNC3886

UNC3886 is a China-nexus cyberespionage group that has been active since at least 2022, targeting defense, technology, and telecommunication organizations located in the United States and the Asia-Pacific-Japan (APJ) regions. UNC3886 has displayed a deep understanding of edge devices and virtualization technologies through the exploitation of zero-day vulnerabilities and the use of novel malware families and utilities.

49
Techniques
8
Software
1
Attributed campaigns
0
indicators on this record

Properties

Last source
MITRE ATT&CK
STIX ID
intrusion-set--461b8e25-8f4a-4ea2-a4a8-e39df7ce6630
In Signal since
initial import (Sep 2026)
Retrieved at
2026-11-02T00:42:30+00:00
Origin source
attack_description
Type
intrusion-set
Origin country
CN

MITRE ATT&CK Techniques (showing 30 of 49)

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Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism (T1548)

Adversaries may circumvent mechanisms designed to control privilege elevation to gain higher-level permissions. Most modern systems contain native ele

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Archive via Custom Method (T1560.003)

An adversary may compress or encrypt data that is collected prior to exfiltration using a custom method. Adversaries may choose to use custom archival

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Archive via Utility (T1560.001)

Adversaries may use utilities to compress and/or encrypt collected data prior to exfiltration. Many utilities include functionalities to compress, enc

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Boot or Logon Initialization Scripts (T1037)

Adversaries may use scripts automatically executed at boot or logon initialization to establish persistence.(Citation: Mandiant APT29 Eye Spy Email No

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Clear Network Connection History and Configurations (T1070.007)

Adversaries may clear or remove evidence of malicious network connections in order to clean up traces of their operations. Configuration settings as w

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Compromise Host Software Binary (T1554)

Adversaries may modify host software binaries to establish persistent access to systems. Software binaries/executables provide a wide range of system

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Default Accounts (T1078.001)

Adversaries may obtain and abuse credentials of a default account as a means of gaining Initial Access, Persistence, Privilege Escalation, or Defense

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Digital Certificates (T1588.004)

Adversaries may buy and/or steal SSL/TLS certificates that can be used during targeting. SSL/TLS certificates are designed to instill trust. They incl

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Disable or Modify System Firewall (T1686)

Adversaries may disable or modify host-based or network firewalls to impair defensive mechanisms and enable further action. Once an adversary has gath

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Disable or Modify Tools (T1685)

Adversaries may disable, degrade, or tamper with security tools or applications (e.g., endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools, intrusion detectio

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ESXi Administration Command (T1675)

Adversaries may abuse ESXi administration services to execute commands on guest machines hosted within an ESXi virtual environment. Persistent backgro

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Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190)

Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network. The weakness in the system can be a

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Exploitation for Client Execution (T1203)

Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code. Vulnerabilities can exist in software due to unsecure coding

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Exploitation for Credential Access (T1212)

Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials. Exploitation of a software vulnerability occurs when an adversa

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Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068)

Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges. Exploitation of a software vulnerability occurs when an adversar

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Exploits (T1587.004)

Adversaries may develop exploits that can be used during targeting. An exploit takes advantage of a bug or vulnerability in order to cause unintended

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Fallback Channels (T1008)

Adversaries may use fallback or alternate communication channels if the primary channel is compromised or inaccessible in order to maintain reliable c

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File Deletion (T1070.004)

Adversaries may delete files left behind by the actions of their intrusion activity. Malware, tools, or other non-native files dropped or created on a

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File and Directory Discovery (T1083)

Adversaries may enumerate files and directories or may search in specific locations of a host or network share for certain information within a file s

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Hypervisor CLI (T1059.012)

Adversaries may abuse hypervisor command line interpreters (CLIs) to execute malicious commands. Hypervisor CLIs typically enable a wide variety of fu

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Ignore Process Interrupts (T1564.011)

Adversaries may evade defensive mechanisms by executing commands that hide from process interrupt signals. Many operating systems use signals to deliv

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Indicator Removal from Tools (T1027.005)

Adversaries may remove indicators from tools if they believe their malicious tool was detected, quarantined, or otherwise curtailed. They can modify t

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LSASS Memory (T1003.001)

Adversaries may attempt to access credential material stored in the process memory of the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS). After a

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Lateral Tool Transfer (T1570)

Adversaries may transfer tools or other files between systems in a compromised environment. Once brought into the victim environment (i.e., [Ingress T

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Local Data Staging (T1074.001)

Adversaries may stage collected data in a central location or directory on the local system prior to Exfiltration. Data may be kept in separate files

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Malware (T1587.001)

Adversaries may develop malware and malware components that can be used during targeting. Building malicious software can include the development of p

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Malware (T1588.001)

Adversaries may buy, steal, or download malware that can be used during targeting. Malicious software can include payloads, droppers, post-compromise

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Masquerade Task or Service (T1036.004)

Adversaries may attempt to manipulate the name of a task or service to make it appear legitimate or benign. Tasks/services executed by the Task Schedu

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Network Sniffing (T1040)

Adversaries may passively sniff network traffic to capture information about an environment, including authentication material passed over the network

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Non-Application Layer Protocol (T1095)

Adversaries may use an OSI non-application layer protocol for communication between host and C2 server or among infected hosts within a network. The l

Software & Tools (8)

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CASTLETAP [malware]

CASTLETAP is an ICMP port knocking backdoor that has been installed on compromised FortiGate firewalls by [

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MOPSLED [malware]

MOPSLED is a shellcode-based modular backdoor that has been used by China-nexus cyber espionage actors incl

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Medusa [malware]

MEDUSA is an open-source rootkit that is capable of dynamic linker hijacking, command execution, and loggin

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REPTILE [malware]

REPTILE is an open-source Linux rootkit with multiple components that provides backdoor access and function

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RIFLESPINE [malware]

RIFLESPINE is a cross-platform backdoor that leverages Google Drive for file transfer and command execution

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THINCRUST [malware]

THINCRUST is a Python-based backdoor tool that has been used by [UNC3886](https://attack.mitre.org/groups/G

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VIRTUALPIE [malware]

VIRTUALPIE is a lightweight backdoor written in Python that spawns an IPv6 listener on a VMware ESXi server

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VIRTUALPITA [malware]

VIRTUALPITA is a passive backdoor with ESXi and Linux vCenter variants capable of command execution, file t

Attributed campaigns (1)

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RedPenguin

The RedPenguin project was launched by Juniper in July 2024 to investigate reported malware infections of

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