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AquaTunnel is a Go-based reverse SSH backdoor derived from the open-source ReverseSSH project. It establishes an outbound reverse SSH connection from a compromised system to attacker-controlled infrastructure, enabling remote access across firewall and NAT boundaries. It was deployed following exploitation of CVE-2025-20393 in Cisco Secure Email Gateway and Secure Email and Web Manager appliances, alongside AquaShell, Chisel, and AquaPurge. Cisco Talos associated this activity with the China-nexus threat actor UAT-9686 with moderate confidence. AquaTunnel supports persistent remote access to compromised network-security appliances and was used with tunneling tools to facilitate internal pivoting.
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1 CVE Mallory has correlated with this family across public research and vendor advisories. Each row links to the full Mallory page for that vulnerability.
“AquaShell, a persistent Python backdoor; AquaTunnel and Chisel for reverse SSH tunneling; AquaPurge, a log-clearing utility to erase the evidence.”
2 distinct threat actors attributed by public researchers. Open in Mallory to see the full evidence chain and overlapping campaigns.
“AquaShell, a persistent Python backdoor; AquaTunnel and Chisel for reverse SSH tunneling; AquaPurge, a log-clearing utility to erase the evidence.”
Reported attacks also resulted in the deployment of the reverse SSH tunneling tools AquaTunnel and Chisel, which can enable unauthorized remote access...
4 distinct techniques documented for this family, organized by ATT&CK tactic.
11 indicators attributed across vendor reports, sandbox runs, and researcher write-ups. Full values are available in Mallory.
IPs, domains, and DNS infrastructure linked to this family.
File hashes (MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256) from samples and reports.
21 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.
A reverse-SSH tunneling tool used in the UAT-9686 campaign against Cisco AsyncOS appliances.
Reverse-SSH backdoor used to establish remote access/tunneling from the compromised appliance back to attacker-controlled infrastructure.
A reverse-SSH tunneling implant used to establish covert remote access channels from compromised appliances back to attacker-controlled infrastructure.
A Go-based ReverseSSH variant used to establish persistent reverse SSH access from compromised Cisco AsyncOS appliances back to attacker-controlled servers, supporting stealthy remote access and pivoting.
Match every observed IP, domain, and hash against your live telemetry.
Named campaigns wielding this family, with evidence pinned to each claim.
CVEs this family uses for access and lateral movement.
YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.
Every documented technique, ranked by evidence weight.
Reddit, Mastodon, and CTI community discussion around this family.